Mock Interview

In our Social Studies Methods class, Dr. Smirnova planned for us to conduct mock interviews at a job fair. Dr. Smirnova took the role of a journalist, documenting the fair. I volunteered, along with 3 of my peers, to be an administrator looking to hire a new teacher. Dr. Smirnova told me I would be looking to hire someone well suited for a job involving the use of differentiated instruction and technology. I was asked to create a professional profile of myself. 

Here is my profile:

Profile:

Hello everyone, nice to meet you all. My name is Dr. Jennifer Masini. I received my doctorate in childhood special education and administration in 2010. I taught grades 1-5 post-graduation and I have been the principal of South Elementary School for 3 years now. I am looking to hire a special education teacher that is able to provide differentiated instruction and use technology to meet the needs of all of students in a third-grade classroom with 20 students. 5 of these students have IEPs and are below grade level. I look forward to getting to know you all!

I created several warm up questions that I would ask to each group of interviewees to see who would take initiative in answering. These were my warm up questions:

Warm up questions:

• What is the first word that comes to mind when I say “differentiated instruction” and why?
• How do you plan to make a positive difference in students’ lives?

• What is something that makes you unique?

I created six questions specific to the topic of differentiated instruction and technology to see how much each interviewee knew about these subject areas. These were my specific questions:

Differentiated Instruction/Technology Questions:

1. What does differentiated instruction mean to you and why is it important to use differentiated instruction in a classroom?
2. How would you plan to incorporate technology into a Social Studies lesson about the United States Government in a third grade classroom?
3. How could you provide differentiated instruction using technology in the classroom I described earlier?
4. Why do you think it is difficult /challenging to provide differentiated instruction, such as accommodations and modifications, every day in the classroom?
5. Imagine you are teaching a direct instruction lesson. The independent practice part of the lesson requires students to complete a fill in the blank activity with new terms from the lesson. You notice one student is struggling to recall any information from the lesson. The student becomes frustrated, starts to cry, and disrupts the whole class. The student tells you that they cannot remember anything they just learned. How would you react in this situation?
6. How are you going to keep track of the diverse students in your classroom?

This experience was so helpful and meaningful to me. I got to learn about the different things that administrators pay attention to during an interview. This was definitely an experience I learned a lot from and I will keep it in mind when I prepare for job interviews in the future.

Interview Information & Preparation: Principal Panel

There was a principal panel on Wednesday, April 24th. Dr. Smirnova asked James, who attended, to come speak in front of the class and share his experience with us.

James explained that the first question the interviewers asked was "What sets you apart from the other applicants?". I found this interesting because I never considered being asked this.
James mentioned that you want to bring a portfolio with a good lesson plan or other works you're proud of. James said you should bring a copy of each type of lesson plan you've created, as well as a writing sample. James also said that it would be important to conduct research on the school you are interviewing at. You should know about their curriculum, their students, and the problems they are facing.
They asked about differentiating instruction, classroom management, they gave a scenario "the whole class is engaged except for Johnny in the back who is sabotaging the lesson, how would you handle the situation".
They asked how you would incorporate technology into the classroom. they all expressed the idea that technology should only be a supplement to the lesson, not the whole lesson.
it is important to know the family life of your students and their social and economic backgrounds. You have to create a sense of equity in your classroom.
The first 45 minutes every morning at HOH is dedicated to intervention. Teachers check in with each student to find out if they ate, if they slept, if there was an adult home, and how the students feel in general.
The interviewers want to see your engagement, motivation, and passion to teach. James explained that its hard to sell yourself, but you need to express all of your strengths and all of your accomplishments; and what makes you different.
One thing not to do during an interview: do not talk negatively about your experience, even if they probe you. They will try to pull a negative experience or answer out of you, DO NOT DO THAT. "That must have been so hard/so awful" - switch it and say it was challenging but I gained knowledge, i gained experience, we were successful, I enjoyed the experience and what i gained from it. Show that you are positive, you are a learner, and you are willing to make things better. Show that you are reflective and have the ability to learn and grow. You should explain how you want to start a club or help develop a club that already exists, or how you would like to create more community among the school (bringing in guests, creating experiences)
The cover letter is your opportunity to differentiate yourself. Dress professionally. Be on time. Come to the interview alone. First impressions never change.

Earth Day

For the Celebration of Earth Day 2019, Dr. Smirnova shared an article from Wonderopolis with our class. The article is titled "Where Is the Best Place On Earth?" and it can be read by clicking here.

Earth Day Facts:

• Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22nd around the world
• Earth Day began in 1970 as an effort to promote awareness of air and water pollution
• Earth Day was successful and eventually led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Act

Wonderopolis is an excellent resource for the classroom. Educational articles on a plethora of topics can be used in any lesson, particularly inquiry. The website is child friendly, so students can use the website to conduct research and collect information. 

The end of the article also lists different activities related to the article that children can take part in with a family member or a friend. These activities can be used to conduct the rest of an inquiry lesson. The suggested activities could also be used as a final check for understanding.

Earth Day and the topic of sustaining the environment is a topic that needs to be discussed thoroughly in today's society. Children need to understand that the environment is changing rapidly and that they will be negatively affected by some changes. Teaching children about the problems the environment is facing and teaching them how they can help sustain and protect the environment is so crucial and should be discussed often, not just on Earth day.

This article is an excellent way to introduce the idea of Earth Day and protecting the Earth to students. It also inspires students to think of their own ideas and opinions about the topic. Wonderopolis is a very helpful tool that I will definitely use in my classroom. 

Inquiry: A Trip to the Bank

On Thursday April 4th, my group and I taught an inquiry lesson to a second grade class at BDMS. Our inquiry lesson focused on the same topic, "A Trip to the Bank".
We began the lesson with a quick review of the material taught in our direct instruction lesson. Once this was completed, we introduced our problem. We told the class that Plankton has a problem; he wants to open his own restaurant and he needs to go to the bank to do so. However, he has never been to a bank before and he does not want to ask Spongebob for help. We told the second graders it was their job to write Plankton a letter explaining what he should do at the bank and how the bank works.
The students were extremely engaged. They quickly pointed out that they did not want to help Plankton because he is the "bad guy". We explained that Plankton is asking for help and he is going to change, and that it is our responsibility to help anyone who needs our help.
We asked the students questions about the problem solving process before we explained the process and our expectations to them.
We broke up into groups. One college student sat with a group of 3 second graders. The child in the class with an IEP was placed in a group of 4 second graders and 2 mount students. One of my peers and I were the teachers helping this group. Each group was given two articles to read and take notes on. This section of the lesson could have been improved. We could have printed more articles and the articles could have been enlarged so that the students could read them more easily. Instead of asking the student with the IEP to read the articles, I read them to her while the other mount student in our group worked with the other 3 second graders.
Overall, this part of the lesson went well. We completed it on time and all of the students gathered ideas and information. On the bottom of their note taking sheets, they were asked to draft ideas that they wanted to share with Plankton. I assisted the student with the IEP by writing some, but not all, notes for her.
Once this part of the lesson was over, each student returned to their desks. One of the mount students in my group explained the letter writing activity to the class. We provided each student with a template and a writing checklist that was easy for them to understand and utilize. The purpose of the writing checklist was so that students knew they were following all directions and meeting expectations. The lesson ended with the students writing their letters, using their checklists and note sheets to help them.
Overall, my group and I were proud of the execution of this lesson. Everything went exactly as planned. The two improvements that could have been made to this lesson were mentioned earlier.

Direct Instruction: A Trip to the Bank

On Tuesday April 2nd, four of my peers and I taught a Direct Instruction lesson to a second grade class at BDMS. The topic of our lesson was "A Trip to the Bank". Our lesson focused on bank terminology and definitions. We taught the following academic vocabulary: deposit, withdrawal, saving, spending, loan, taxes and interest.
We began the lesson by activating the students' prior knowledge. We did this by asking them questions about ideas they learned in the 6 previous lessons taught by our peers. We then assessed students' prior knowledge by asking them questions like "has anyone ever been inside a bank?", "what is a bank like inside?", "does anyone know why people go to the bank?", and "does anyone save money in a piggy bank?". We felt that these questions would not only assess prior knowledge, but also engage the students in the lesson.
To engage the students in the lesson, we explained that Spongebob and Patrick were going to join us on our trip to the bank. The students enjoyed this and were excited by it. While teaching the terms, we took "Brain Breaks" to check for understanding before moving on.
During the development of the lesson, students were taking notes on a fill in the blank sheet that matched the powerpoint notes. We walked around the classroom to make sure that the students were on task and copying notes correctly.
Our guided practice activity involved students coming up to the smart board, matching terms to pictures, and explaining why they made that match. This part of our lesson could have been improved. We could have selected different pictures or described scenarios instead.
Our second guided practice involved explaining scenarios that Spongebob was in and asking the class if spongebob should save money, spend money, or take out a loan. This part also could have been improved because each scenario was somewhat vague. We conducted a final check for understanding, and then we moved on to independent practice.
Our independent practice asked students to "fill in the blanks" on a worksheet. One student identified as having an IEP was given a different independent practice sheet. Her independent practice sheet had pictures instead of terms.

We finished our lesson on time. Everything went exactly as planned. Overall, my peers and I are proud of our lesson. After hearing professional feedback from our peers and Dr. Smirnova, we definitely realized some areas in which the lesson could have been improved. 

Current Events Presentation

For our current events assignment, Dr. Smirnova asked us to find an article from newsela.com that discussed a current and relevant event/information. Two of my peers and I decided to select an article about the different types of government that exist. Newsela.com is an excellent resource to use in a classroom. There are an abundance of articles about various social studies topics. The articles are organized by grade and reading level as well as content area. Each article has an assignment attached to the end. Four multiple choice questions allow teachers and students to check for understanding after reading the article. After reading the article and taking the assignment, my group and I determined how we would use this article to teach a lesson in a classroom. We decided to use a KWHL chart. We asked students questions that prompted them to fill in the KWHL chart, such as "what do you know about the type of government the United States has?", "what do you want to know?" and "how will you learn about this?". Students were then asked to read the article together in small groups to complete the KWHL chart.
My group and I gave this presentation to our class through the Big Blue Button online class. Giving the presentation was challenging at first, but eventually our peers began to participate in the discussion and fill out KWHL charts together. Overall, our lesson was successful. It went as planned and we met all of our goals. Click here to see the slideshow we created!

PIGS, SIM, CL

In social studies methods, Dr. Smirnova allowed us to learn about PIGS and the Social Interactive Model along with Cooperative Learning in a way that allowed the class to truly experience the process. Dr. Smirnova had us break up into groups and each member of the group was assigned to be part of an expert group. There was an expert group for each letter in the PIGS acronym. The expert groups had to work together to learn about their aspect of PIGS. Once this was done, we would return to our original groups and each member of the expert group would teach the other group members what they learned.
My expert group had the task of researching the Cooperate Learning lesson plan requirements and outline. I worked with three of my peers. Together, we familiarized ourselves with the CL lesson plan. Becoming familiar with this type of lesson plan and then explaining it to our peers was crucial because prior to this class, none of us wrote or conducted a cooperative learning lesson plan. Click here to see the slideshow I created with the members of my expert group!