I conducted my Teacher Interview with Ms. B from GH Hood Middle School. She is a Reading Strategies Specialist there, and I was able to observe two classes before sitting down to talk with her. My experience was unique in the fact that I actually got to have conversations with about 4 other professionals as well. My interview was pretty informal, but witnessing/participating in classes and being immersed in stimulating conversations, I feel I walked away with a lot of information.
Going into GH Hood Middle School I was prepared with the following questions:
1. What technology is available to to the students?
2. How many computers per classroom are there?
3. Do you think technology is a good tool for assessing students?
4. Is there better communication within the school?
5. Are parents more involved?
After I arrived at the school and acquired my Visitor's Pass, I made my way to Ms. B's classroom. Since she teaches Reading Lab, she is in the one of the two lab classrooms. The classroom is equipped with 10 Mac computers along one wall, and then desks and tables fill the rest of the room. In her first class she is more of an assistant to another teacher. This teacher is just three weeks shy of her internship being finished so it was really great to talk to her on her perspective because she had to log in Field Experience hours at a few different schools before her 16 week internship. From what I gathered from her, and from a wonderful woman who is a paraprofessional, GH Hood Middle School is fairly advanced with technology.
Now each person I spoke with would quickly correct me and say that they still have a long way to go. Diane, a Spanish teacher at the Middle School, is so advanced that every single lesson she has is accessible to her students online. She spent the summer converted absolutely all of her information, and all of her videos to youtube so that there is one single spot the students can access the information. I was amazed at how much out of her personal time she put into doing this, and it's all to make learning easier and more interesting for her students. She added that there is no excuse if they were absent one day because all the information is available to them, which I thought was funny.
I think what is really helpful for this school is that they have a Laptop User Group. It is a group of teachers who are willing to embrace technology. What I find most admirable of this is that some teachers, like Ms. B, may not be particularly tech-savvy, but are willing and brave enough to attempt to integrate it into their teaching. This group works hard to make cases for why technology is important in the classroom, and how it can be easy to use.
The Laptop User Group was influential in making sure all of the teachers have school issued laptops. It's really cool because they are all using Google as their main program. I asked if Gmail (and email in general) made it easier to communicate with everyone and Ms. B said it perfectly: "Well, it's great because you are always connected, and it's not so great because you are always connected". I can definitely see how that statement applies to life. She explained further that it makes a lot of things go smoother, but that you also have to carve out extra time for catching up on emails. Another positive note is that all of this communication helped start breaking down some barriers in the school. It's not so much the classroom as a separate planet from another, instead they are corroborating, and I think that is great.
Ms. B explained that she loves using their technology for assessing students. They have a program called the Power Teacher Grading Program, and I got to take a peek at how it all works. It's unreal! There is everything and more available for a teacher to use. Aside from the grades and roster, I thought it was particularly great that each child had their entire schedule in the program. All the information is so thorough. Looking at that program, I asked if the parents could also see the grades. The parents can be involved and see grades, but through another program. I thought this was very innovative because it really brings the parents in to participate firsthand. I do understand the downfall would be that not all parents utilize it, but I hope they would.
Overall, this was an amazing experience for my first Field Experience requirement. I really enjoyed introducing myself to, and interacting with the students. I am very appreciative for the time I spent at GH Hood Middle school, and I'm appreciative of the wonderful staff who let me into their world!
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