Teacher Interview: Moraine Junior High School

Teacher Interview

For this interview, I interviewed a teacher, Mrs. Berry, who has been working at Century Junior High for the past eight years. She teaches at a junior high school, which according to the textbook, Introduction to Education, provides a curriculum that is distinctive for adolescents (Kauchak, 2014). She actually is an alumnus of Moraine Valley Community College which she attended from 1982 to 1984. Then, she attended Illinois State University from 1984 to 1986 and obtained a liberal arts degree. After that, she attended Trinity Christian College from 2005 to 2007 and obtained a teaching certificate. Recently, she attended Concordia University from 2012 to 2014 in order to obtain a Masters degree in education. Before she became
Berry how she got the school year started, she replied by saying that she makes sure she has the copies of her art contract that the students and parents need to sign. She decorates her room, orders art supplies, plans new lessons, and makes sure that all of the supplies are organized. I also asked Mrs. Berry if she could tell me the rules of her classroom. She replied by saying that the rules were to be on time, be respectful, use inside voices, keep hands to yourself, and be prepared to learn. After this, I asked her if she could describe her management plan. She said that students are placed on behavior steps if they do not follow the rules. The first step is a verbal warning, the second step is a written consequence which the questions for this are what did you do to earn the step and how can you change your behavior to avoid steps in the future, the third step is either a call home or contact the team leader because every student belongs to a group of teachers which are part of a certain team, and the fourth step is an office referral. When I asked Mrs. Berry to describe her teaching style, she said that she was more of a demonstrator or personal model/facilitator. Mrs. Berry provided me with good answers, and I learned a lot about the classroom
Berry how she meets the needs of her individual students, and she responded by saying that she tries to read their individual educational plans, otherwise known as IEP’s. According to the textbook, Introduction to Education, an IEP is a plan that includes multiple aspects such as schedules for the initiation for the plan, measures to evaluate whether the plan is functioning the way it is supposed to, and it is commonly for students who have exceptionalities (Kaufman, 2012). Mrs. Berry also added that she tries to read their 504’s and takes time to talk to their other teachers in order to see what other accommodations she could provide. She also mentioned that she tries to utilize a variety of teaching methods so that she can reach every learning level and preference. According to the textbook, Introduction to Education, teachers should try to use different strategies in the classroom and incorporate every learning style (Kaufman, 2012). She also mentioned that some students are visual while others are kinesthetic, meaning hands on, which is why she tries to figure out different ways to teach the lesson. I also asked Mrs. Berry what techniques she uses in her classroom in order to motivate her students, and she replied by saying that she makes sure that every single student has a chance to participate in class, play games, and show off their work in the hallway or art