Teacher A: Fifth Grade
TF: How long have you been a teacher for?
A: 13 years
TF: Where did you go to college?
A: Undergrad I went to William Patterson. And then for my
masters, I did half umm in NYU for a bit and then university of phoenix. That’s
where I finished off.
TF: What grades have you taught?
A: I taught pre-k, kindergarten, 3rd, and now 5th.
TF: And how long have you taught this grade for?
A: This is my first year in 5th grade.
TF: And what made you decide to become a teacher?
A: I’ve always wanted to be a teacher since I was
little…(laughter) so I don’t know exactly what made it happen, being a teacher,
I just liked kids and teaching.
TF: So you always had some inclination to being a teacher?
A: Yes, since I was little, I use to teach my mom said I use
to line up my dolls and teach them.
TF: What is your teaching philosophy?
A: Ummmm…it changes. As you’re teaching it changes. What you
realize is that your goals, for each child or each group of children you teach
change. So I would probably say, right now, what I feel is more important or
more relevant is providing them with a secure environment for learning. So
where they feel comfortable. Where they feel really conformable to investigate
and acquire knowledge without the pressure of you know…(mumble)…a lot of these
kids, depends where you teach. I teach in an area where you don’t know what
their life is like at home.
TF: What kind of writing assignments do you give your
students?
A: Ummm, there are two types of writing that we do in 5th
grade. One is called a speculative which is a story and the other is an
expository which is umm like expos, like explaining something, so you give
details about something without a narrative. And the two assignments, because
they are focused on non-fiction text, so everything…in 5th grade you
learn about the history, the wars, and everything in the United States. And the
NJASK is on the nonfiction text so we try to have them write mostly about
things that are relevant to them. For instance, we were writing a biography
last week, or two weeks ago, and they had to interview someone and write about
them. So every couple of week we change the assignments.
TF:When you sit down to grade their work, do you do it at
school? At home? A combination of both?
A: Mostly home because you really don’t have time during the
day to grade and during our prep time, we’re prepping for our next lesson or we
have meetings of something.
TF: Specific place at home where you do your grading?
A: Ummm I have a little office set up but honestly I just
sit on the couch. I have a great desk, its beautiful, but never do I sit on it.
I usually have the t.v. or music on.
TF: Does it happen during the week or during the weekends?
A: It happens everyday because if I let it accumulate but
the weekend I have no life. And I do have a life outside of school. So I try to
grade something every day. And the difference between 5th grade and
every grade I’ve taught, or 3rd grade and other grades, you’re less
hand on with the kids and more hands on when you’re outside of the classroom
like grading piles and piles of papers.
TF: Do you find it helpful to break up reading the papers to
give yourself a break and clear your mind?
A: Ummm…it depends, I mean, when I get burned out I just
stop. There is a point where I just can’t read anymore kid writing (laughs)…I
just, I can’t so I will put it down and pick it up the next day. Because if
you’re burned out, there is no way anything good is going to come from it. Its
not fair to them because then you’re just rushing through the work and you’re
not giving it the time in needs.
TF: Can you walk me
through the process of when you’re about to start grading a paper?
A: Okay if I’m at home, or if I’m here, which rarely
happens, I’ll sit at the back instead of here (her desk) and I’ll just read the
papers through. Especially if its writing. That’s what you’re asking right?
TF: yeah yeah
A: but if I am at home, I’ll make myself comfortable, make
myself a cup of coffee or tea, turn the tv on because I always need to have
background noise on, I grew up in a very urban area so there is always
background noise. Tv will be on and then what I do is, I don’t look at the
child’s name. I turn the page over or I tell them not to write their name on
the first page, because I usually grade their rough draft. So I’ll tell them, I
don’t want to see who it is, because we naturally tend to judge their writing
by who they are. Especially if I know a child has potential to do better. Or if
a child who is very low does a really good job or does their best job you kinda
tend to so you kinda tend to give them the benefit of the doubt , a child who
is low, because you’re like, omg look how good he is doing, this is great! Even
though its not what another child who is not average would achieve so what I do
is, I will cover the name, I will read the story without knowing who it is and
give them a grade that way. And I have a rubric, a writing rubric that I can
give you a copy of, its very specific and then you average out the grade. The
numbers and you give them a score. I also have a student rubric that they
created. And I have them grade their work. A couple ago we got together, the
students, and I told them that we needed to create a classroom rubric that they
could use on their work. It’s a guidline so they can, because something I can
say something until I’m green in the face, it doesn’t matter, they have to do
it, they have to know, they have to take ownership of their work. So I have
them, they created the rubric, they are the ones that came up with everything
on the rubric. I just wrote it up. And they’re supposed to give themselves a
score. And they do, they give themselves a number. One, two, there, four,
five or six. And then an average. And
its worked out really well because now they are taking ownership…they’re like
oh, she’s gonna read this, this is what we all decided what. How we’re gonna
grade this. So I take that and average it with my score, or I take their score
into consideration and then I give them the grade. That’s it.
TF: Do you follow the same process for all papers?
A: Ummm…I do. Well, writing is a very complicated process
for kids. They need structure so we do things the same way all the time, to
keep them, because then the NJASK comes in May, they need know how to do this
and it has to be (snapping fingers) immediate. They have 30 minutes to write a
five paragraph essay, adults can’t do that, and they are expected to d o it.
11:19 TF: has you method of grading papers evolved
A: Absolutely, when you starts (laughs), everything they
give you in textbooks looks beautiful. And they make everything sound soooooo
perfect and that’s never that way it works. You have students that are great
thinkers. They have all this stuff they want to express, they just can’t write
it down. Or if they do write it down, its all choppy so you, at the beginning
I’d look at something and think, ugh, that’s failure failure fail and now I take a look at what the ideas
are, what their thought process is, now I can read them, I know what they’re
trying to say, even if they didn’t write it so, it definitely has evolved since
I first started. And that comes with experience.
TF: So do you focus more on whats on the paper and the good
that is there than what might not be on the paper?
A: ummm…it depends on the student. For the most part, I tend
to look at whats on the paper and then cuz what happens with writing, is that
we have conferences, when we start writing they will write their rough draft
and we will conference. We will talk about their writing, they will read it to
me, we’ll edit it. Anything they think is, you know, repetitive or any
grammatical errors that they have or you know if something doesn’t sound right
or if a period is missing in a place. If a sentence doesn’t flow than you know
we will conference about it. What that does, that gives me an idea where they
are in terms of their writing and their editing skills. Which are two totally
different skills. And so from there then they go on their own and do their
final copy, their final and that what they hand it but what I grade them on is
their rough draft because that is actually what has been, that’s their thoughts
and their, you know
TF: So you don’t grade their final?
A: I do grade their final. I’ll read it and make sure that
everything is there but their grade, the grade I put into the computer, their
final grade is their rough draft. Because that’s, once we conference and I tell
them and we talk about ideas, and what do you think you should do better,
that’s not their grade now, that’s their grade with my help. So that’s not, I
don’t think that’s fair to them. If I help you write and you know, its gonna be
beautiful of course, if you’re ten, you know? I mean but then their writing
is…how else are they going to know how to improve if they always get 5’s or
100’s? They’re gonna say, oh we’re perfect. So what I do, once I read their
rough draft, I ask them what score do you think you’ll get looking at the
rubric. And then from there they give me their score but I already know, in my
mind, what score I am going to give them.
15:00
TF: The rubric that you use in your class, did the school
with you that? The district? Or did you implement that? Or how about their own
rubric?
A: The district gives that ones that I use. The one we
created, Mr. Titlebaum is big on student self assessment and one of the things
he feels is most important in student learning is them to assess their own
work. So its student made, by them, so they take ownership of it.
TF: Now I am curious, when you do corrections, do you use
side margin feedback or comments, or do you make comments at the end? And does
it change between draft and final?
A: Yes, it does. I usually, during the conference, I comment
to them verbally, I don’t write anything down. Then when I read the final copy,
I will usually write it on the back because I usually, what happens is that
their writing gets hung up so I don’t want them to be embarrassed or read and
others, even though it may be positive, but this way other students don’t look
at it and say, oh this student got you
know, at the top of the page they get a number 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 and that’s all
they have on their paper.
TF: And you mentioned this before but you conference with
students every time for writing assignments?
A: Yes, every time we meet. I meet individually with each
student its about, doesn’t take more than 5 minutes because whatever time it
takes for them to read their writing.
TF: I found it very interesting that they read their own
writing. Do you feel that it helps them catch their own mistakes?
A: Absolutely, I’ve had students start reading and they’re
like, that doesn’t make any sense, and I look at them and say, if that doesn’t
make sense and you’re reading it imagine how I am reading it. What it sound
like when I am the one who is reading
what you wrote that makes no sense. Its funny. It’s a great way to have them
catch themselves.
TF: What’s you overall goal in providing feedback to your
students?
A: I think its just to have them self assess their writing
and to have them become, know…I guess I don’t even know if knowledgeable is the
right word, but have them become aware of what they’re writing and how it is
affecting their writing. Because if you
write something just to write it and hand it in and that’s it its’ over. You
have no attachment or its not something that is personal to you than that’s not
gonna be good writing. But if you, by conferencing with them and by talking to
them and by having them read it, its now personal. Now its something that is
directly affecting them. I can look at it and say , they can look at it and
say, you know, I guess my goals is to have to just be more aware of what
they’re putting down on papers.
TF: Do you feel like your students follow your suggestions?
A: Yes, ummm for the most part they do. The ones that are
less, ummm because in a classroom you have the students that are high, the
students that are low, and then you have your average. For the most part, the
more average to high will follow the suggestions, and I know that’s a terrible
way of looking at it, but that’s reality in a classroom setting where we have
them now, we’re an inclusion class, we have all sorts. So students who want to
learn, who have it in them to learn and to want to you know, be encouraged,
they will follow your suggestions. And all kids have the capability of learning
its just that thing of wanting to learn. And that’s what our job is.
TF: Do you see an improvement from one draft to another?
From one assignment to the next?
A: oh absolutely,
when we’re writing, for example, now we’re focusing on the introduction, that’s
our main goal. Forget about everything else, well not forget about everything
else but that’s our main to make that introduction something that people want
to read. And I have them pick any chapter book that they want and I have them
always read the 1st paragraph to me. I ask them do you now want to read
the rest of this book?......Now we’re focusing on the introduction so as the
assignments progress next month or in the next couple of months, I’ll notice
their introductions are much better, they’re more …instead of one day, first.
So…
TF: So giving your feedback now, do you focus more on the
introduction or do you give feedback on the intro but also focus on everything?
A: I do both, if my focus is introduction then I’ll read
over the introduction and give them positive and definite feedback on that and
then rest of the paper we will focus on another time. So even though I expect
that same kind of writing, if I am looking at the introduction as my main, this
is what we’re working on, this is what we’re focusing on, this is what I really
want them to you know, do, and do well, then I am going to give them feedback
specifically because we take the paper in parts, the essay, but writing is
different. When you interview
someonebody else in a different grade, everyone’s focus is different. So in 5th
grade, my focus is getting their writing to flow, to be more detailed, to have
a better opening and closing, to just make more sense, to align their ideas in
order, where they follow through…
TF: do you feel that this type of process that you, the
rubric, and the conferences, would be something that you used in 3rd
grade?
A: oh no absolutely, I used it in 3rd grade. When
they come from 2nd to 3rd grade, that is the biggest
writing step, because by now they all know they need an intro, a body, a
conclusion, needs details. They know all of this but when they go from 2nd
to 3rd, they go from
TF: When you said that you conference with them and its all
verbal. Do they make notes on what you said?
A: When they conference and we’re working together I give
them, they are allowed to have pens, they have to write everything in pencil
but they can have pens and they edit everything, they can add everything they
want, I don’t touch anything on the paper, I don’t do anything, on the rough
draft. I tell them, pretend you’re me and edit this paper. And also, what I
will do, I will have them swap papers, so they’ll be reading their peers’ work
and so as long as they are respectful, I have them write comments on another
piece of paper not on their writing. It gives them an insight because they are
all so competitive at this age, I use to my benefit
