Interview with a teacher:

Conducted over the course of multiple days and edited heavily, statements copied down by hand
include any misstatements which I noted during the interview. Names of students and teachers
redacted.

Myself: Youve taught for over twenty years, in two different states. With that in mind what has
been the number one change in how you approach teaching?
Teacher: Since I started there has been a greater and greater push from above to just pass
students. Thats probably the biggest change is you cant fail anyone. And the students know this.
The students know that if you fail them all they have to do is complain and theyll move on and
youre not going to fail them anyways.

M: So, when you approach your classroom knowing you cant fail any students how do you
present material differently?
T: Its not a question of, its not about the students who cant fail because most of them will not
do anything outside of class. This isnt a regular classroom, this is honors and AP and even they
wont work.

M: But you still teach them (the students)

T: You still teach and you teach the same way. Youll develop a sense for presenting material as
you do this longer. You want to engage students by having them be involved as much as possible
during the class. Thats what weve been doing for so long but my son is in a private school and
you can see the difference there.
(Extended story about his son, the Bayeux Tapestry, and Comicon, concluding in the moral that
public schools are in a death spiral. Interview continues a separate day)

M: Youve been teaching some of this material for a long time, is there some that is more
successful than others?
T: The book that were using now (YA Novel Private Peaceful) is always really popular with
students and they tend to read it. They made a movie a few years ago, I havent seen it yet but I
need to so I can re-examine test material. I also used Killer Angels (Historical Fiction) and didnt
mind if they instead watched the film because it was so long anyways but they dont have the
attention span any more.
M: You present information to students in a variety of ways, jigsaw, lecture, and novelization
Ive seen. What methods am I missing and which is most successful?
T: (After collecting an example document) So with this kind of document, which we use for
things like cause and effect or if your unit is drastically shortened by some other issue, theyre
(the students) having to collect the information themselves. You must cover it all with them again
though so it takes a lot longer but it makes them read. (The document in question is a block of
text which I have since described and discussed in our course. It doesnt seem to have much
success with the students in my observation.)

M: Ive sat in on several other classes at your school and there is a significant behavior
difference (Described at greater length in our conversations previous), what causes the difference
(extremely well behaved classrooms in the case of this teacher)?
T: Well you sat in on (First year History teachers) class and hes a first-year teacher and I think
youll find in your student teaching and if you start teaching that your classroom is more like
that. What I have is a fluke classroom where all of my students are honors and you know how
that filters students into a certain behavior and I also have taught for much longer so my
classroom management is practiced. Its a matter of, and if you had been here when I had
(previous Student Teacher) you would see behavior was more of an issue because the students
still had to learn what was expected because outside of here they do whatever they want.

M: So when you start with a new classroom what steps do you take to demonstrate what
behavior you expect from students?
T: (Generally unrelated comments excised accounting for oddly phrased response to initial
question) You have to follow your process so if you write up a student and they go to the front
office you have to be consistent and do that every time. They may not even do anything at the
office but you just keep sending them there and make it clear why theyre going.

M: What student groups and activities do you take part in outside of your classes because you
seem to have a repoire with students who arent in your current classes?
T: Do you remember (a student) who came in a few months ago? I have his chess club and the
board game club which, luckily, are very student led. Youre almost guaranteed to have
something but most of the time when a student wants to start a club they never get the paperwork
together so its a crapshoot. I have a very generous policy for retakes and late work and so most
of my former students also remember that. Its those things, those two things, that probably
account for that.
Interview with a Student
Student of the Dysart School District, not in my placement class who were unavailable. Lacking
inspiration and familiarity with the subject of the interview the questions are more general
questions not related to my own teaching. Also the interview was conducted at my workplace
with a busser so his language is less professional than it would have been on campus.

Myself: Tell me about the teacher you learned the most from, what did they do to help you?
Student: In high school? I guess my AP Physics teacher, she went at any length to learn a concept
to the point that we were doing after class sessions and (expletive) we were going in 2-3 times
per week basically I understood the concepts worlds better because of her teaching and
showing me how things looked.

M: Can you tell if a teacher likes some students better than others? How?
S: I think that a teacher is more likely to actually help a student if they try.
M: So, you mean they like those students more if they try?
S: Yeah.

M: Besides a grade, what would make a homework assignment worth your time to work on?
S: (Laughing) I guess to be honest I only do homework because they give me credit. If it wasnt
going to give me an A or a B I dont give a (expletive).

M: What makes you want to learn something?

S: Uh, its something interesting and unique that piques my interest? Well that and also a teacher
having enthusiasm for the subject.

M: When do you feel like youre learning something that matters?

S: When I see it applied to the real world.

M: Was there ever a time in your life when you hated school? Why?
S: I dont know if there was, I guess maybe early middle school? I think I just stopped caring.
M: Was there ever a time when you loved school? Why?
S: Um, hmm, grade school and highschool? My senior year has been solid. My AP classes have
the same people in them and I like working with them. I only have one class I dont enjoy.
M: Why dont you enjoy it?
S: I take it back, its English and I just dont like English. I like the books but I dont like
the flowery writing in test prep.

M: Do you feel comfortable asking questions in class?

S: Yeah.
M: Can you elaborate?
S: I guess put simply if I didnt ask question I wasnt going to (expletive) get it.

M: If a teacher disrespects a student, what should the teacher do to fix the situation?
S: Depends. Ive seen it where they said something and regret it and they hold them back and
apologize after. Unless its something that is more public and they address that its not how you
treat people.
M: Did that happen?
S: Rare but like 99% of the time the teacher would say Oh (expletive) and immediately
correct it.