EDF 1005 Service Learning Project-Interview Phase

I, Hannah Daw, interviewed Kristen Davis at Sims Middle. She currently serves as
a Dean, but has taught various elementary grade levels and in ESE classrooms. Her
answers were based on her time in the classroom.

1. Teacher Interview

What is the teacher’s view of the teaching profession? – She feels it is a

challenging profession that comes with many obstacles but huge rewards. It’s
about dedicating your day-to-day life to kids and to not only strive to teach
content, but also to empower students to take risks, ask questions, and
ultimately become productive members of society.

What are this teacher’s greatest rewards and challenges? – Not losing sight of
the goal with the more challenging students even when it doesn’t feel like
there’s adequate support from the school or district is the greatest challenge.
But the greatest rewards come from those same students. When you don’t give
up on them and you start to see growth from them – whether it be a gain on a
standardized assessment or simply participating in the classroom and making
friends – you know that you gave that student what they needed.

What are his/her opinions of the future of public education? – She feels it is
ever changing. As the standards are becoming more difficult at an earlier age
and class populations are becoming more diverse, new challenges present
themselves. But new technologies and new techniques also bring new
opportunities.

2. Climate and Culture of the Classroom

How does the classroom teacher create a positive learning setting for his/her
students? – The goal is to create a place for students to learn and grow while also
giving them a safe space to be themselves. Students learn best from a teacher they
trust. Establishing a relationship with each student is important. Additionally, in her
1st grade classroom, she had one rule: choose joy. She taught the students to put a
positive twist on everything: “I made a bad grade, but I can only go up from here.”, “I
was put on yellow today, but I know I can do better.”, “I don’t like this writing
assignment, but I’m grateful that I get to go to school and learn.” She also started each
school year with a lesson that being fair and equitable didn’t always mean that each
student was treated the same. Each class did an exercise to demonstrate that just
because Sally received more verbal support on a task than Suzie, didn’t mean that she
favored Sally, but that Suzie just didn’t see as much assistance on that particular task.
She also helped her class to celebrate mistakes, because they could only “fail forward”
and it helped students become comfortable with taking risks and made them less
afraid of failure.

3. Classroom Environment

How is their classroom designed? What does it look like, including furniture
arrangement, decorations, storage, etc. (You may include a drawing along with your
written description of the classroom)? – The classroom arrangement changes
depending on the goal. Normally, the arrangement is in four small groups to allow
students to collaborate with peers. It changes to two groups, rows, and flexible seating
depending on the activity for the day. The station tables are set up around the room in
order to keep them separate for students.

4. Lesson Objective and Activity

Give an example of a specific learning goal and the activity used by the classroom
teacher to teach this skill or accomplish the goal. Identify & include the related
Florida Standard associated with this activity. (HINT – your teacher should be able to
help you identify the benchmark!) – Students will learn to recognize and discuss how
models represent real-life systems. The teacher will have many models (a map, a
globe, etc). Students will go to separate stations to write about each model and how it
can help people. They will come together to discuss their findings, and then the
teacher will separate the students into groups and give each group a merge cube. One
group will use it to view a human heart, one an engine, etc. They will then complete
an activity to tie these 3D models to careers. The standard this is associate with is
SK.K2.CS.-CS.1.3 (Modeling and Simulation).

5. Philosophical Style

Which of the five educational philosophies discussed in the text (Chapter 4) best
describes this teacher’s approach to teaching? 

Perennialism–Focuses on knowledge of unchanging principles or great ideas

Essentialism–Focuses on knowledge of core subjects

Progressivism–Focuses on knowledge from student’s interest

Existentialism–Focuses on knowledge of what is important to the student

Postmodern—Focuses on knowledge that challenges historically constructed views of

reality
Social Reconstructionism–Focuses on knowledge about changing the social order
(Critical Pedagogy▪Feminist Pedagogy)

Progressivism best describes Kristen’s approach. Her main goal is to get students
engaged and excited about learning and that means constantly evolving her teaching
methods to interest the student and make it exciting for them.

6. Behavior Management Methods

Explain the teacher’s overall plan of classroom management. What is used for
reinforcement/encouragement for following the behavior guidelines and what
consequences and disciplinary procedures used in the classroom when needed?
Include a few of the rules of the classroom. If possible, cite a specific situation and
the way the behavior was handled. (Example may be
either positive or negative student behavior) – A color system is used to keep students
on track. Students are given warnings before moving their color, but she believes that,
like academics, behaviors are not created equally. Every behavior is a result of
something and she asks herself what is causing the behavior and if she can help the
student learn the appropriate way to handle the problem. Students who are on the right
track receive constant praise and she also praises “small wins” for the students who
are still struggling. Students earn paper stars for good behaviors and at the end of the
week, the stars determine who chooses something first, who goes first, etc. or could be
exchanged for rewards like taking shoes off or swapping chairs with the teacher for
the day. Stars were taken away when a bad choice was made, and students would have
to discuss the situation with her (after a break to reflect). Colors were moved, parents
were contacted, and privileges lost if necessary. The main rules were to choose joy, be
respectful, listen to others, try your best. She never cared about things like how a
student needed to sit in order to learn, as long as they were trying their best.

7. Technology in the Classroom

How is technology (computers and other instructional media) used by the students for
learning? Also, what types of technology does the teacher use for teaching and for
teacher related tasks (i.e. instruction, communication, record keeping, etc.). – Students
use iPads, laptops, osmo, and merge cubes. As a teacher, she used Nearpod,
boomcards, and kahoot often for instruction (all on a computer or iPad) and the
district systems were used for record keeping.

8. Inclusionary Practices

Ask the classroom teacher if there are any students in the class who have special
needs. Observe or ask the teacher how he or she adapts instruction for those students.
What attitudes or behaviors are presented by the other students in the classroom
towards this/these students? – She regularly had 5-6 students in her class with IEPs.
These students got more support to meet their goals but just because they had more
accommodations did not mean her expectations were less. They knew this, and it
helped them to know that she believed in them just as much as the next kid. She made
sure the other students in the class understood that they all had different needs and
some would just need a little more one on one time or small group time to get the
same learning opportunity and they all treated each other like family.

9. Summary

Tell me what you learned from the teacher that could help you become an effective
teacher.  

I learned a lot about positive reinforcement and running a progressive classroom. I

aspire to be a teacher that is constantly evolving and learning new methods to keep
kids interested in what they’re learning. I hope to bring new ideas and fun ways to
learn. Kristen gave a lot of great examples of how to support students emotionally and
help them to develop into caring and thoughtful people, not just good students. She
really stressed the importance of building relationships with her students and creating
a place of trust and safety for them and then the learning will come naturally.