Teacher Interview Blog

interviewed two middle school teachers. The male teacher teaches Physical Education in an urban Title 1 public school in Macon. The female teaches sixth grade in a wealthy public school in a suburb of Atlanta. He will be beginning his eleventh year of teaching when school starts this year. The female teacher has just completed her first year of teaching.

Both teachers love teaching. The male became a teacher because he loves being around kids. He likes the idea of being able to be a positive influence in the lives of middle school students. The female teacher chose to teach because she wants to make an impact on kids for Christ. Both see the middle school student as impressionable. The Physical Education teacher says that much of his day is spent as a counselor. The female says that she spends a great deal of the day in the lecture mode. She said that she believes in being a student-centered teacher but she finds that she is using lecture more than she though. She admits that she is struggling with classroom management. She says that the students talk too much when doing group work. The male feels that he is a student-centered teacher and enjoys using group activities. He feels that corporative grouping activities give his students opportunities to learn from each other and become more responsible for their own learning experiences.

Both believe that the purpose of school is to prepare students for the future. She advises new teachers to find a mentor. She is glad that she was able to be in a mentor program for her first teaching experience. She reminds new teachers coming into the profession to see teaching as a rollercoaster experience. Some days you may not think that you’re accomplishing much, but others you do and you get to see that you’re making a difference. The male teacher reminds new teachers to watch the great teachers in front of you and to borrow their techniques.

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