D097 - 2
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School
Western Governors University *
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Course
D097
Subject
Arts Humanities
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
5
Uploaded by AmbassadorStrawSalamander23
1
Teacher Interview
Assessment #2
Hannah Gibson-White
Elementary Education, Western Governors University
D097: Educational Foundations
Colleen Story
August 20, 2023
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I interviewed Kate Todd, who is a sixth grade teacher in a gifted learners unit. Kate
teaches at Centerville Elementary, located in Centerville, Utah.
As a public school teacher in the
state of Utah Mrs. Todd follows the Utah Core Standards in her teaching, these standards can be
found at https://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/utahcorestandards
Mrs. Todd’s views of the application of the state content standards is that it is difficult to
truly delve into all the material that they are expected to teach and still have time to cover all the
expected material before end of year testing. She states that although they don’t “teach to the
test” the district wants to see scores improving each year. She is often left with no material left to
cover after end of year testing because they testing is done so early in the last month. She often
will take this time to delve into something she didn’t get to cover as fully as she wanted during
the year.
Mrs. Todd’s classroom population is unique in that she is part of her school districts
gifted program called, “Spectrum”. Her class tends to be a bit smaller than those of general
education in her building. Her students are multi exceptional, many being neurodivergent. She is
grateful for the opportunity to work with students who view the world so differently from many
of their peers. The diversity of her students leaves her feeling that sometimes the standards are a
disservice to her students because she often has to quickly cover a subject instead of diving deep
into as she and her students would prefer to do.
She works hand in hand with both Spectrum teachers and same grade level teachers at
her school to make sure their classes are following similar trajectories throughout the year. She
enjoys the time she has to meet with them as they plan to make sure that there is common
language between the general ed and Spectrum classes.
Achievement gaps are addressed by looking at the data and often working one on one
with the student who is not grasping the subject. She appreciates being able to use many different
modalities to help her students grasp the subject they are struggling with. Since she teaches in the
gifted program, where most of the students are self motivated, she recognizes it is not always an
available option for teachers to work one on one as she does.
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She says her school community is a good one. The faculty work well with each other and
their is a feeling of respect between them. The students caregivers are often happy to volunteer
time and support to her class.
She works hard to teach the state standards in a deep and meaningful way so that her
students might be able to have a “360” understanding of it. She wants them to think about the
subject from all sides.
She appreciates the clear cut instruction that the state, and her district,
provide on what is to be covered.
Mrs. Todd does not work at a Title 1 school but is grateful that they exist to provide more
equity across her district, the state, and the nation. She believes passionately in the right to a free
and public education for all in America.
While frustrated with some local book bans Mrs. Todd is mostly grateful for the laws in
her state that protect her students and her as an educator. She believes that while the system
could be improved she is grateful for the safeguards she has.
She views herself as being able to truly understand and teach students with multiple
exceptionalities better than her peers. She feels if she compares her self to her colleagues she has
more patience to understand her students. It goes back to her training and her experience but also
to being liberal and open minded to changing when it is in the benefit of the student. She works
as a “change agent” to help each student in her classroom succeed.
She works hard to have a
dialogue with her class and that is evident in the way the respond to her.
She is grateful for continued training and feels that most educators are life long learners
who want to keep learning new ways. She has a district that is constantly sending teachers emails
with opportunities to deepen their education through trainings. She also recommends getting
endorsements, like the one she has for teaching gifted learners.
While I am comfortable around Mrs Todd I was a bit nervous to interview her. That went
away quickly when she didn’t talk about teaching and chose to focus on how she helps her
students learn. She was able to quickly and clearly talk to be about the states standards. Because
I work in the school our discussion about the student population was brief but I was struck by the
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deep love you can tell she has for her students, both former and present. I felt inspired during the
interview by the way she talked with joy about working with her peers and the students each day.
Her ideas of helping fill achievement gaps felt manageable and well informed in their pedagogy.
She walked me through what a state assessment is like for the students and helped me understand
how to use the date in my own future classroom.
She explained her passion behind things like
Title I funding
and laws for education that have impacted where she is teaching.
It was obvious
that Mrs. Todd is very knowledgable and is happy and willing to share that knowledge with those
who want to pursue education as well.
The interview went as I thought it would. I had picked Mrs. Todd because I know that she
really knows her stuff and is a passionate teacher. Something I felt went really well during the
interview was Mrs. Todd being able to give specific examples of times she has implemented
some of the Hattie’s mindframes in her class, helping me grasp how I can do the same one day. If
I were to do something differently in the interview I would have gone over the reading on page
50 immediately before the interview instead of reviewing them in the morning like I did. If I did
that I believe I would have had better questions and follow up questions for Mrs. Todd. It would
have helped me to get a better understanding about what it is like to run a classroom like hers
and that knowledge would help me to be better able to decide if getting an endorsement for
gifted learners is something I would like to pursue after my time at WGU.
I would say I agree with Mrs. Todd about the states standards. Many subjects are given a
time allotment that they are supposed to be taught each day but often the time is not actually
manageable if they want the teacher to be able to cover all of the subjects, in full, each day.
I
think allowing educators to make rules over education is much more beneficial than leaving it to
people who aren’t working in schools and don’t understand the needs of teachers and students. I
do agree with Mrs. Todd about many of the promising and challenging things in our district.
I
am grateful to work with so many educators who are change agents, including Mrs. Todd. I look
forward to being able to implement the things she explained to me about using assessments to
help me know where to go next in helping my students learn. I am grateful for all the ways she
shared with me about continuing my education. I think that she is right that most educators want
to keep learning and improving their craft. I think that using the resources that the state and
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district provide will be a wonderful way to continue my education when I am done with my time
at WGU.
One of the greatest things I have learned from this interview is some examples of how
Mrs. Todd builds trust with her students, their caregivers, and her fellow educators.
If I were to
conduct the interview again I would come with more questions for her about what she has done
that has worked and what hasn’t worked. I would want to know more about how to best apply
state standards when putting lesson plans together.
Mrs. Todd talked about the importance of asking open ended questions, or having a
dialogue vs a monologue.
This supports her in her success as a teacher because it does many
things. First, it allows the students to look at a subject more deeply, to try to look at it from
multiple sides. Second, it allows her to get to know her students better. As she sees the way they
view the world and respond to it she is better able cater the lessons she prepares to the students
who are in her classroom.
I know that this will be something I will have to work on incorporating to my lessons. I
sometimes will ramble on about something or forget to ask engaging questions. I know that if I
am better about having the class engage in a dialogue it will help all of us to have a better
understanding of the material we are learning, create opportunities to find connection and
community, and strengthen my bond with my students. I know that my empathy and desire to
connect with those in my sphere will be an asset in these dialogues. I will be able to share from
my lived experiences, listen to theirs and we can connect in more profound ways as we discuss
things.
My goal is to work on being a better listener when I am working with students at the
school. I will be able to measure this goal by asking my coworkers to observe me and provide
me with feedback on how I am doing. I will work on this each school day until the end of
September. I will have a weekly check in with my supervisor where we will brainstorm ways I
can improve or keep working on this skill. I know that this is something I can achieve. As I work
to improve my listening skills it will help me be a better Behavioral Aide and help me in
preparing to be an impactful teacher.