Teacher+Interview

Joseph Schimmel ENG 409 11/23/11

__Teacher Interview__

“Formative assessments should include a variety of journal entries, writing workshops, peer reviews, and essays.” This quote if from the teacher I interviewed at Canton High School. Mrs. Thomas is a 11th and 12th grade English teacher and has worked at the school for nearly 5 years. I have been able to observe her class multiple times and really enjoy the way she sets up shop. During my observations, I have not been lucky enough to witness the writing workshops, but from having talked to her about them, they sound very useful. The question I would ask is, “What benefit do students attain from reading their classmates’ work and how may those experiences alter a student’s writing style?” A writing workshop is something that I was never introduced to in high school. I have also had very little experience with them in college. I feel slighted. I thoroughly enjoy working with my peers and reading their material. I have learned quite a bit from doing so. I also hope that my work may have been influential. I believe that learning is most effective with a variety of sources and techniques. Students can get quite tired of the same old, same old; Teachers standing up in front of the class telling students the way things are grows stagnant. Allowing the students to learn from each other, without wasting too much time, can act as a nice change of pace. So, I wonder – what sort of affect do writing workshops have in our high schools around the country? The interview I conducted with Mrs. Thomas felt more like a conversation than anything else. We talked about the struggles her students faced and what she was doing to help them along. I had talked with several other teachers at Canton High School over the years and was refreshed with her enthusiasm and spirit. Her classroom setting was unlike any I had seen before. She had couches for her students, freshly brewed coffee and tea that they could have, white Christmas lights hung from the ceiling, lamps (along with the X-Mas lights) provided the necessary illumination and she did not use the mundane ceiling lights that flickered every so often. She gave her room character – character that reflected her own style and the teaching methods she brought into the classroom. Above all else, Mrs. Thomas required her students’ engagement. When passages needed to be read, her students read them. When questions needed to be answered, her students answered them. Mrs. Thomas guided the instruction, but never took full control of it. She told me in her interview, when I asked about the students who sleep on occasion or simply don’t participate, that she makes a point to talk with those students privately and if so, talk to their parents. She may notice that they hand in quality work or even pay attention, but that is not enough for her. She doesn’t value assessment as cut and dry grading in robotic fashions. She’s not big on, “OK, here is a test…answer these questions accordingly and you will receive a grade based on the answers that you provide”. Her assessments, formative and summative require student participation in the areas I mentioned above – journal entries, writing workshops, peer reviews, and essays. Now, some of this material requires independent work, but they are all founded upon class discussions and group work. “Formative assessment depends upon cognitive diagnosis for good quality feedback, but in the absence of an empirically‐based model of learning, it could be argued that the questioning component of formative assessment supports teachers to build informal models of learning” (Baird, 2). Cognitive diagnosis, in my opinion, cannot be assessed through one method. A variety is needed. Mrs. Thomas uses multiple assessment strategies in her classroom. Her students respond differently to the methods used. Her classroom is also an “integrated” classroom. Some of her students receive special education services. There are different Para-professionals that are in and out of her classroom. These students may require a little more attention and they absolutely deserve it. Without naming names, I have meet and observed teachers who will absolutely not give any student more attention than any other student. I have meet teachers who feel that treating them all the same is beneficial to their growth. There are aspects to this way of thinking that I agree with, but not enough to win me over. Mrs. Thomas, as I’ve mentioned before is quite refreshing. She does not feel this way. If some of her students struggle a bit more than others and require her attention in ways the rest of the class does not, she provides it. Participation. In our interview, it was evident to me that seeking her help was included in the realm of participation in her eyes. I agree. “For the past two decades, state education agencies and local districts have instituted assessments based on state and/or district standards. Such assessments have been termed “high stakes assessments” because of the consequences for schools and students associated with the results of these assessments” Sitlington, 1). State standards and regulations regarding testing makes for interesting conversations among teacher, so I’m told. My mother is a teacher consultant at Canton High School and worked as a teacher before that for many years. My wife is a counselor at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor and worked as a teacher for 7 years before that. I have two uncles who are retired teachers and 4 cousins who teach currently in different states across the country: Michigan, Illinois, California, and Oregon. Our family reunions are lively, sometimes heated, but always entertaining and informative. In my interview with Mrs. Thomas, we talked about state standards and assessment. It was very clear to me that Mrs. Thomas believes setting standards are important, however there is too much emphasis placed on the requirements. Personally, I have not done enough research on this subject and because I am not a teacher yet, I’m not jumping at the chance to take a stand. However, I will be working in the field of special education so this is a topic I take very seriously. Here is a standard I found that I like: Number 10. “//Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.”// This standard comes from the Writing Standards portion, grades 6-12. “Writing routinely”. There doesn’t always have to be a purpose for writing. Students shouldn’t feel the need to sit down and write to complete an assignment. Also, reflection and revision will allow students the opportunity to work throughout the writing process. Here is where writing workshops may play pivotal roles in the enhancement of student writing from a secondary level. Revision does not simply mean, fixing errors or rewording sentence structure. A revision may be as in depth as a second attempt at something. Writing workshops, and again my experience with them is extremely limited, gives students a chance to work on something again and again until he or she is completely satisfied. Their peers and teachers review their work – it is molded, shaped, groomed. The students are able to see this process and witness the transformation of their work into something complex and rewarding.

__Works Cited__

Baird, Jo-Anne. //“Beliefs and Practice in Teacher Assessment”.// 2010. Volume 17, Issue 1. DOI: 10.1080/09695940903562682. Print.

Sitlington, Patricia L. “Students with Reading and Writing Challenges: Using Informal Assessment to Assist in Planning for the Transition to Adult Life”. 2007. DOI:10.1080/10573560701753153. Print.