Interview Protocol

Teacher
Interviewer: Jessica Barron
Interviewee: William Jamison
Date: February 22, 2016
Time: 12:33pm
Planning Questions
How do you write a typical lesson plan?
Since we teach reading, writing, math, science, and social studies, we dont typically write a
single lesson plan for just one day. We write weekly plans that include the common core
objective being taught, materials, teacher-directed activity, student independent work, and small
groups the teacher will work with for reteaching or enrichment.
What types of materials do you need available when you plan lessons?
We need the pacing guide, recent assessment data on the skills being taught or retaught, and the
final assessment students will be tested on. These resources will allow us to develop instruction
that will meet all students needs and ensure success on the assessment.
In what ways do you plan to accommodate individual differences in the classroom?
When some students data shows them to be far ahead or behind their peers in a skill, we use
workshop time to pull individual or small groups of students for reteaching, extra practice, or
assigning them project-based learning activities to keep them motivated in class.
Instructional Questions
What are some of your instructional challenges as a teacher?
Within the same grade, a wide range of academic ability exists. A small group of students will
already know how to do what you plan to teach. Another group of students will not know the
prerequisite skills required to learn the new skill. You will have students who finish the work
and are ready to move on, while other students do not finish at all.
What have been some of your instructional successes as a teacher?
Creating individualized instruction where the activities are differentiated have helped students
grow the most academically. Once I learned to stop teaching at the whole class and looked at
individual students, my teaching improved.
How often do your students receive social studies/science instruction?
I teach science 45 minutes per day, four times a week. I integrate social studies with our daily
literacy block, so I am able to cover many of those concepts. Last months novel study books
were about the American Revolution. This month we are reading books about the Civil War.
Are you satisfied with the amount of time that you currently allot for social studies/science
instruction? Explain.

No. I wish I had more time to go more in depth with these concepts, especially science. But it
would be hard to take time away from literacy or math.
What social studies and science topics/units will be studied during the second week of my
clinical experience? What are possible goals/objectives I could address for my lessons? Do
you have any instructional resources that would support these goals/objectives?
We will be still working with the Civil War in social studies. Students have textbooks that you
could use as a resource. I use books checked out from the public library to supplement the text.
I also have a lot of background knowledge from books I have read in the past.
In science we should be starting Structures and Functions of Living Organisms (Ecosystems). I
will share with you the CMS Science Wiki page for the pacing and resources.
What does reading instruction look like in your classroom (e.g. readers workshop, basals,
etc.)?
What reading topics will be studied during the 2 nd week of my clinical experience? What are
possible goals/objectives I could address for my reading lesson? Do you have any instructional
resources that would support these goals/objectives?
We have 30-45 minutes of Writing Workshop each day. Students are at different parts of the
writing process, drafting, getting feedback, revising, etc.
Students then have about an hour of guided reading. When you are here we will be working on
drawing conclusions and inferencing. During guided reading I pull small groups of students to
work on specific skills, and to discuss their novel study books.
The last 30 minutes or so of the literacy block is word work. Our group learns stem words and
their meanings. I can share with you the CMS literacy wiki page that includes resources for
language arts.

Classroom Management Questions

What motivation tactics do you use to ensure a desire to learn?
Having a good classroom management system will help keep students on task. If students

become distracted they will not be as productive. In math we have a weekly Sunshine Math
problem page where the students earn stars for correct answers. We keep track of stars on a
standings chart, and at the end of six weeks the top three students earn prizes. This is one of the
ways to help students maintain motivation for their work.
Tell me about the classroom community. What are the class rules? How is student
behavior monitored? In what ways is positive behavior reinforced? In what ways are
negative behaviors prevented? Tell me about the consequences for negative behavior.
Be safe
Be respectful
These are very general rules, but the students know if they are out of their seats or talking loudly
they are being disrespectful to others. We have a Think Trail list in our room. If a student is offtask or bothering others they are put on the list. During recess they walk for ten minutes before
having free-play.
We also keep track of table points. Tables earn points for good behavior and for answering
questions during class. Winning tables choose from the prize box at the end of the day.
Tell me about the pacing of lessons and interaction in the classroom- use of time- and other
aspects of timewait time, and time using teacher talk and student talk. What works well
with your students?
Having workshop time during class for both reading, writing, and math helps all students to
learn and grow academically. Students who have mastered skills dont have to wait for other
students to catch up. Students who need more practice and one-on-one time with the teacher can
get this during workshop.
If there is a skill that many students are struggling with then we will spend more time with that
skill before moving on as a class.
Reflection: One of the things I like the most is learning that Mr. Jamison and the other 5 th grade
teachers work together to create weekly lesson plans, instead of daily lessons. I know this saves
them a lot of time and energy while still being able to effectively teach and differentiate with the
students. Ive also learned that no matter what grade is being taught that teachers often have the
same challenges, which is meeting the needs of all the students. I know this is something I will
have to constantly work on during my career because students are all different. Although this is a
challenge for Mr. Jamison, it is also something he believes that he has been successful at. He is
able to create lessons based on the needs of this students and see positive results in their

academic abilities. He also makes effective use of workshop times which allow him to meet with
students individually and allow them to have more practice on what has been taught. I have also
been able to observe how Mr. Jamison integrates social studies, as he mentioned in his interview,
into other subject areas. Ive learned that often times science and social studies are not covered in
depth and integration is Mr. Jamisons way of making sure his students learn as much as they
possibly can. Mr. Jamison also keeps his classroom rules simple and it works for his class. He is
able to manage his classroom and keep order by things such as a thinking trail list and table
points.