Teacher Interview!

Teacher Interview With Christine Denson!

Summary: 
I had the opportunity to interview one of past coaches Christine Denson! She is an overall amazing person and cares so much about all of her students and players. Christine teaches 5th grade ELA at a Palos school district. She has so much experience seeing as though she has been teaching for 9 years and was a paraprofessional before she began at her school district currently. She has worked with grades K-6, spending 4 years in a 2nd grade classroom and just recently switched to 5th grade which she has been teaching for about 2 years. I hope you enjoy the video and gain some much needed advice like I did!

Reflection:

After getting the amazing opportunity to interview Mrs. Denson, I have learned so much about her different styles of classroom management seeing as though she doesn’t believe she has one set philosophy. I love that right away she stated that she values relationships and respect because that is something I am very passionate about as well. She mentioned that she tends to think of herself as the strict teacher but sometimes this is crucial when teaching. Recently we all watched a video that showed a teacher who had lost control of his classroom. We are not sure what exactly triggered this but it was evident that he had lost control of his classroom early on in the school year. Christine stressed the idea that from the beginning of the year, you need to hold your students to very high expectations because they know what is expected of them right away. 
One item as well as others that I will remember from this interview is the idea that she starts off the day with a high five. Whether it’s a high five or individual conversations, you want your students to get that one on one interaction to show them that you are excited to see them for the day. This way, the students will start the day off on a positive note, maybe turning their terrible morning into a better one! Christine starts off the year by going over classroom rules but expressed that these rules are very general. 1. Work hard. 2. Be kind to one another. 3. Have fun. It was intriguing to see her talk about how rules aren’t that important to her because her students already know right and wrong. She explained that making a lot of rules right off the bat means remembering to give consequences for those rules. Sometimes we can get in over our heads trying to explain rules. “If you break this rule.. This will happen”. When beginning her day, she likes to have an assignment posted but expressed the importance of giving the students time to socialize with their friends. In the future, I want to do something like this in the morning. Students don’t usually get a chance to socialize with their friends about their night or what they had for dinner until recess. It is stated in chapter 13, Managing Learning Environments, that "At the elementary school level, teachers must lead 20 to 30 students of varying abilities through many different activities each day. Without effcient routines, a great deal of time is wasted dealing with the same questions and issues over and over" (Woolfolk, Pg. 514). By allowing students to put their stuff in their lockers, socialize with friends and then begin on the assignment posted on the board, her students know the routine. They understand that after this time is allotted, they must begin their work for the day without having any disruptions. 
Earning respect in Christine’s classroom comes from her ability to respect them. She explained that this rubs off on the students: “If they see I respect them, they believe they should give me that respect back”. Something not included in the interview that she has expressed to me is that she often involves them in her personal life; to an extent. She expresses that she is human just like them who makes mistakes. This is where that student- teacher relationship is established. Once they get to know each other, they begin to respect each other and their actions. I think giving students some aspect of our lives is super important. Evertson and Emmer (2017) give an example in chapter 13, Managing Learning Environments, of a classroom rule that should be shown in an elementary school. "Respect and be polite to all people. Give clear explanations of what you mean by "polite", including not hitting, fighting, or teasing" (Evertson & Emmer, 2017). This creates a positive classroom environment that enables trust and respect towards one another. Christine explained later in the interview that she has a list of consequences in her classroom. I think giving students a chance to change their actions like she does is super important. Giving them a verbal warning first and then moving to a hallway talk is the best way to talk to the student one on one to see why they are behaving a certain way. This way, no student is called out in front of the whole class and degraded in any way. It was stated in chapter 7 of Educational Psychology by Woolfolk that "The reasons for problem behaviors generally fall into four categories" (Barnhill, 2005). The first one states that students begin to behave a certain way to receive attention from others, especially teachers and peers. I believe Christine's idea of pulling the students into the hallway will eliminate the need for attention. When she pulls the students out of the classroom, she gives the students that opportunity for them to tell her exactly what is going on. It gives them the one-on-one time to express their feelings, even if it is just to gain some attention. This is how I will handle students who are disrupting the class during a small group or full group lesson. 
She also discussed that she does use a token system but for individuals. Once they get a ticket for their good behavior, it goes into a bowl to which she will pick at the end of the week. In chapter 7, Behavioral Views of Learning, Woolfolk states that "Often, it is difficult to provide postitive consequences quickly for all the sutdents who deserve them. A token reinforcement system can help solve this problem by allowing all students to earn tokens for both academic work and positive classroom behavior" (Woolfolk, Pg. 278). Christine gives student's tickets as a reward for their good behavior and challenges them to work harder to receive her small prizes. I love this idea because instead of giving a whole class token system like a marble jar, she has the students write their name and put it in the bowl. This gives the students an opportunity to earn it for themselves instead of blaming others for not receiving prizes. Something that was mentioned off camera was that Christine's school district has a PBIS approach. PBIS is a postive behavior intervention approach with supports for students. She mentioned breifly that they often have assemblies for the students as often as every two weeks to reward students for their good behavior. I also was involved in a PBIS elementary school. The students get super excited to see a performance or just to listen to the principal. In chapter 7, Woolfolk mentions that "Research shows that disciplinary referrals decrease when the whole school uses PBS approaches for all students, but the improvement are especially evident for students at the greatest risk for behavior problems" (Bradshaw, Waasdorp, & Leaf, 2015). I hope that my future school district also uses this type of approach for my students. 
Anybody who knows me knows that I like to talk! I think Christine’s advice on venting with other teachers is a great idea only because you cannot take any anger out on your students. Going into the classroom the next day, it needs to be a fresh start! New behaviors emerge and some students may act a completely different way. Another item that stood out to me was the idea of being super consistent! If you are not consistent or true to yourself, your students will pick up on this. Students get used to the way things are ran in the beginning of the year so switching up this factor can change the way your students act. Beginning the school year with a routine is the best way to allow your students to understand what is expected of them. Overall, Christine’s advice to myself included building a strong relationship with your students. This is what I base my classroom management style currently off of. I think having that relationship makes going into this profession so special. We get to make these student’s day for 8 hours a day. We build that secure, trustworthy relationship that many students may not have at home. We need to encourage the students and strive for them to become successful inside and outside the classroom. 
Lastly, I'd like to apologize for how abrupt the video ended! I did thank her and expressed my thoughts and opinions on student-teacher relationships. YouTube did not allow me to post a video any longer than 15 minutes unless I was verified! (Mine was 15:30!) Thanks for watching and reading my post!