first year teacher interview pres
TRANSCRIPT
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Interview ProjectBy: Ciara, Dashia, Jessica, & Susanna
Teacher's First Year
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Linda Fyffe: Former Math TeacherTaught 7th Grade Pre Algebra, 8th Grade Algebra, and 9th Grade Fundamentals of Math near Fort Worth
Advice to Future Teachers: “Your beautiful and you need to watch 15
and 16-year-old boys flirting with you. Anything that looks inappropriate avoid.
Avoid anything that seems weird. Be professional always, don’t spew politics or
religion.”
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Education Background
“Greatest accomplishmen
t is helping a student who
doesn’t understand the
material
and while
helping them,
seeing the light bulb go off.”
Earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education
Minored in MathDuring first years working,
earned a Masters in Counseling Started as a substitute and
received a position as a math teacher
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About the School and TeachingMiddle School near Fort WorthTaught math for three different grade levelsDemographics:
Mostly Hispanic studentsLower SES level
Began teaching at 23 years old, about 25 years ago
Eventually began counseling students in sexual education and working with Planned Parenthood
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Overview of Teacher’s 1st YearHardest part was discipline
This lead to wanting to educate in counselingTeaching students was more than teaching, also
help to shape character Developing relationship with parent and child,
understands more now that she is a parent how they must have felt
Biggest work load:Paper work, planning, and gradingTook papers home to grade, didn’t stay after school
too lateColleagues were supportive, parents were not as
involved because school wasn’t as much of a priority and worked a lot
My Teacher: Mari Burke
Age: 27
Current Occupation: 7th grade English
Began Teaching: 2008
Demographics of FISD:•Student enrollment: 37,281•58% white, 15% Hispanic, 12% Asian, 10% African American•12% on free lunch•Average Home Value: $241,179•More than 2, 600 teachers with over 3.8 years experience.
• Had a lot of support from colleagues, and administration
• She said that the key to surviving the first year was the feedback she got from administration on her teaching styles and the reassurance that she was on the right track
• Her colleagues helped with her lessons and activities, so did the internet, and the school district database called Eduphoria with resources.
Her First Year•First hired as a long term sub in Mckinney and the teacher left no plans, and she was hired three days before school started.
•Transferred to Roach Middle School in FISD in the second six weeks where her starting salary was $45,000
• Would go back in her first year and instill a good routines and procedures system.
• Didn’t anticipate the hours it would take to thoroughly grade all the papers and assignments with proper rubrics.
• She said her first official day was a blur and was six hours of needing to go to the bathroom, and doing her first day song and dance.
•Age: Approx. 35
•Years Teaching: 6
•Area of Focus: Kindergarten but can teach up to grade 4
•Current occupation: Kindergarten Teacher
•Began teaching in 2006
•Graduated from the University Of North Texas
•Teaches at a north Texas elementrary school in a low SES area with a large percentage of hispanic and asian students making up the student body; 93% of the students are in the reduced or free lunch program; Title II School
•Got her job with luck as she student taught there and landed a job the next semester
Mrs. Rimmel
Mrs. Rimmel’s First Year Teaching
• Mrs. Rimmel started out her teaching 2 months into the school year and had some problems establishing her “new” rules once the old teacher left.
• She tried hard to make the first year perfect but felt as though it was a very beneficial learning experience.
• On her first year with her rules in place at the beginning of the school year she found getting the children to respect her was much easier.
Challenges faced
• She faced a few boys who did not agree with her rules in the beginning with the change of establishment in the class room but soon she found through patience and enforcing the rules they soon complied before the year was over.
• In later years she was faced with a very violent student whose actions begin to put the other children in danger through his outbursts. By sticking to the book and filing the paper work to get action taken, the boy was removed from the class and placed in a class that had a higher teachers to student ratio to keep him in check and programs to outlet his energy.
Important Advice for New Teachers
• “Don’t beat yourself up. It’s so stressful no matter what you do the first year and don’t try to make it perfect.”
Kelly Folsom, Age 36Physical Education Teacher, Hawk Elementary, Denton ISD 6yrs
Graduated Oklahoma State with All Level Certification Physical Education and Health
Starting Salary $32,000 (Denton ISD)
Lee Elementary 2001-2005
Title 1 School (improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged)
low Socio-economic
Phys Ed K-5
Used ‘Love and Logic’
Philosophy or Mission
“The primary goal of the Physical Education Department at Lee Elementary is to provide students with a safe and fun learning environment. By establishing a positive environment the students will be able to accumulate the knowledge and skills necessary to lead healthy, active lifestyles.”
First Year Woes
time management, parental contact, organizational skills lacking
(in college) more interactions/observations with teachers
dealings with CPS
lack of parental support
budget and class sizes
First Year Surprises
Starting Salary in Denton $32,000 vs starting salary in Oklahoma $24,000
support from teachers and administration then and now
lack of parental support
Common ThemesLack of parental support
support from colleagues and administration
classroom management concerns
time management concerns
all felt prepared after college
paperwork load unexpected
student teachers were offered jobs
difficult to manage children because of the ‘case by case’ situations
Advice....
Love and Logic-form of classroom management that makes students responsible for their own actions
“Focus on the positive! Fix the negatives that can be fixed, but stay tuned to the positive, you will see great things happen each day!”
be flexible and ask questions
patience