Case Study Interviews:
I was very happy to get the opportunity to interview students at Lesher as it allowed me another opportunity to interact with the students and get to know them better. During our tour with Dr. Dodd he emphasized the fact that the only motivating factor that will allow for success in the field of teaching is a desire to support the academic and personal growth and success of students. My time at Lesher and my experience interviewing these two students has reaffirmed my desire to be a teacher to interact and learn from students. It is important to note that my interviews did not yield too much information the informed my methods as an instructor, they were more centered on the idea of getting to know the students as people.
The first student I interviewed is a sixth grade male student that I met while interacting with the year book ELO. I befriended this student by asking him about his hockey sweatshirt that he wore quite often. From this I learned that he is a goalie for a local youth hockey team, during each class we would talk about sports and how his season was going. Additionally I had the opportunity to help him with his yearbook assignments throughout the semester. In interviewing this student I learned how difficult it can be to formally interview an individual that you have an established relationship with, as you can see many of the answers are very short and not indicative of the congenial conversations that me and this student often had. I also learned about the importance of striving to create engaging lessons for students to create a sense of fun and the relative challenge of this slightly ambiguous goal.
Q: How long have you lived in Fort Collins?
Student A: 12 years
Q: How many brothers and sister do you have?
Student A: 1 sister
Q: Do you to get along well?
Student A: yeah kinda, we do now that we have gotten older but we used to fight a lot.
Q: Who do you live with?
Student A: Mom and Dad
Q: What is your favorite class? Why?
Student A: German, the teacher is great
Q: What is your favorite activity outside of school?
Student A: Being hockey goalie
Q: What do teachers do to make you excited to learn?
Student A: They are fun and spontaneous and not boring, they don’t make us just read
Q: As a future teacher what advice do I need from you?
Student A: Don’t be boring, be fun
Q: If you had to eat the same meal every day for a month what would it be?
Student A: Macaroni and cheese, but only KRAFT macaroni and cheese
The second student choose to interview demanded attention as soon as you walked into the room and was very different form the individual I interviewed in my first study. This second student was much more outgoing and extroverted, often leaving his seat to go talk with other students and end up distracting them in their work. I worked this student often in an attempt to keep him on track and focused on his work. In my interview with him I learned about the wonderful perspective that these students have on the world and how certain questions can be more difficult for students in different circumstances again illustrating the diversity of Lesher.
Q: How long have you lived in Fort Collins?
Student B: Off and on for all my life, I was born in Denver moved when I was like 3. I have lived here 10 years.
Q: How many brothers and sisters do you have?
Student B: I have step siblings, three sisters and one brother, two of my sisters are older and the rest are younger.
Q: Who do you live with?
Student B: Grandparents and I like that.
Q: Do you like school? Why or Why not?
Sister B: Not really, school is annoying and I don’t really like the principle. I get caught for stuff that people do all the time and I get in trouble but they don’t.
Q: What is your favorite thing about Lesher and why?
Student B: I like my friends and being able to see them and hang out with them.
Q: What is your favorite class at Lesher and why? What makes it fun?
Student B: Gym because I like to be active and run around
Q: What is your least favorite class and why? What is hard about it?
Student B: Math because it is hard, it’s hard conceptually. It seems complicated, and it is taught in a complicated way.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do outside of school and why?
Student B: Sports, basketball and baseball, because I grew up playing them.
Q: What is one thing that teachers do that make you excited to learn?
Student B: Nothing much. They don’t do anything fun but basic stuff. Sometimes they design experiments. I like hands on and active, like high school chemical reactions and stuff.
Q: What is one thing that teachers do that makes you not want to learn?
Student B: They act different around parents than kids, they yell and stuff like that.
Q: As a future teacher what advice would you give me?
Student B: Be nice, let us work with partners sometimes because people like that and it works too.
Q: What's one place you would like to visit in your lifetime? Why do you want to go there?
Student B: Hawaii, because it is nice and warm, I used to live in Cali and I like the weather.
Q: What's your favorite TV show and why do you like to watch this show?
Student B: Cleveland show, because it’s funny.
Q: If you had to eat the same meal everyday for a month, what would it be?
Student B: Roman, chicken flavored
Q: What's one thing you would like to change about your neighborhood that would make it a better place to live?
Student B: I would make it nicer, clean it up. Make it a nicer place to live.
Q: What worries you the most about the world you live in today?
Student B: Bombing’s and stuff it’s scary.
Q: Name one thing you could teach someone else how to make or how to do?
Student B: I teach my little brother how to be a better person, he has slight autism. I teach him how to stand up for himself and I make sure he does not get bullied.
Q: What's your favorite holiday of the year? What makes this holiday your favorite?
Student B: I like Christmas, I get presents.
Q: What's one thing that you would like to change about your school that would make it a better place for you?
Student B: The principle, I don’t get along and I get in trouble for stuff that I don’t do.
I was very happy to get the opportunity to interview students at Lesher as it allowed me another opportunity to interact with the students and get to know them better. During our tour with Dr. Dodd he emphasized the fact that the only motivating factor that will allow for success in the field of teaching is a desire to support the academic and personal growth and success of students. My time at Lesher and my experience interviewing these two students has reaffirmed my desire to be a teacher to interact and learn from students. It is important to note that my interviews did not yield too much information the informed my methods as an instructor, they were more centered on the idea of getting to know the students as people.
The first student I interviewed is a sixth grade male student that I met while interacting with the year book ELO. I befriended this student by asking him about his hockey sweatshirt that he wore quite often. From this I learned that he is a goalie for a local youth hockey team, during each class we would talk about sports and how his season was going. Additionally I had the opportunity to help him with his yearbook assignments throughout the semester. In interviewing this student I learned how difficult it can be to formally interview an individual that you have an established relationship with, as you can see many of the answers are very short and not indicative of the congenial conversations that me and this student often had. I also learned about the importance of striving to create engaging lessons for students to create a sense of fun and the relative challenge of this slightly ambiguous goal.
Q: How long have you lived in Fort Collins?
Student A: 12 years
Q: How many brothers and sister do you have?
Student A: 1 sister
Q: Do you to get along well?
Student A: yeah kinda, we do now that we have gotten older but we used to fight a lot.
Q: Who do you live with?
Student A: Mom and Dad
Q: What is your favorite class? Why?
Student A: German, the teacher is great
Q: What is your favorite activity outside of school?
Student A: Being hockey goalie
Q: What do teachers do to make you excited to learn?
Student A: They are fun and spontaneous and not boring, they don’t make us just read
Q: As a future teacher what advice do I need from you?
Student A: Don’t be boring, be fun
Q: If you had to eat the same meal every day for a month what would it be?
Student A: Macaroni and cheese, but only KRAFT macaroni and cheese
The second student choose to interview demanded attention as soon as you walked into the room and was very different form the individual I interviewed in my first study. This second student was much more outgoing and extroverted, often leaving his seat to go talk with other students and end up distracting them in their work. I worked this student often in an attempt to keep him on track and focused on his work. In my interview with him I learned about the wonderful perspective that these students have on the world and how certain questions can be more difficult for students in different circumstances again illustrating the diversity of Lesher.
Q: How long have you lived in Fort Collins?
Student B: Off and on for all my life, I was born in Denver moved when I was like 3. I have lived here 10 years.
Q: How many brothers and sisters do you have?
Student B: I have step siblings, three sisters and one brother, two of my sisters are older and the rest are younger.
Q: Who do you live with?
Student B: Grandparents and I like that.
Q: Do you like school? Why or Why not?
Sister B: Not really, school is annoying and I don’t really like the principle. I get caught for stuff that people do all the time and I get in trouble but they don’t.
Q: What is your favorite thing about Lesher and why?
Student B: I like my friends and being able to see them and hang out with them.
Q: What is your favorite class at Lesher and why? What makes it fun?
Student B: Gym because I like to be active and run around
Q: What is your least favorite class and why? What is hard about it?
Student B: Math because it is hard, it’s hard conceptually. It seems complicated, and it is taught in a complicated way.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do outside of school and why?
Student B: Sports, basketball and baseball, because I grew up playing them.
Q: What is one thing that teachers do that make you excited to learn?
Student B: Nothing much. They don’t do anything fun but basic stuff. Sometimes they design experiments. I like hands on and active, like high school chemical reactions and stuff.
Q: What is one thing that teachers do that makes you not want to learn?
Student B: They act different around parents than kids, they yell and stuff like that.
Q: As a future teacher what advice would you give me?
Student B: Be nice, let us work with partners sometimes because people like that and it works too.
Q: What's one place you would like to visit in your lifetime? Why do you want to go there?
Student B: Hawaii, because it is nice and warm, I used to live in Cali and I like the weather.
Q: What's your favorite TV show and why do you like to watch this show?
Student B: Cleveland show, because it’s funny.
Q: If you had to eat the same meal everyday for a month, what would it be?
Student B: Roman, chicken flavored
Q: What's one thing you would like to change about your neighborhood that would make it a better place to live?
Student B: I would make it nicer, clean it up. Make it a nicer place to live.
Q: What worries you the most about the world you live in today?
Student B: Bombing’s and stuff it’s scary.
Q: Name one thing you could teach someone else how to make or how to do?
Student B: I teach my little brother how to be a better person, he has slight autism. I teach him how to stand up for himself and I make sure he does not get bullied.
Q: What's your favorite holiday of the year? What makes this holiday your favorite?
Student B: I like Christmas, I get presents.
Q: What's one thing that you would like to change about your school that would make it a better place for you?
Student B: The principle, I don’t get along and I get in trouble for stuff that I don’t do.
