mentor teacher interview paper

7/28/2019 Mentor Teacher Interview Paper

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Mentor Teacher Interview

Marquetta Strait

April 04, 2013

EDUC: 421: Teaching Language Arts to Children

Mrs. Saxon


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Marquetta Strait

April 04, 2013

EDUC: 421: Teaching Language Arts to Children

Mrs. Saxon

Mentor Teacher Interview

While completing my field experience for Teaching Language Arts to Children, I had the

wonderful pleasure of being placed in Mrs. Benjamin-Daviss fourth grade classroom at

Denmark-Olar Elementary School located in Denmark, South Carolina. Mrs. Benjamin-Davis

teaches English Language Arts to three classes. She and her students were very welcoming and

increased my desire to teach. As a future educator, I asked her a series of questions to get a

better understanding of her teaching career and to get insight of what I will have to face when I

become an educator.

My mentor teacher, Mrs. Benjamin-Davis, has been teaching for thirteen years and five

years at Denmark-Olar Elementary School. When she first started her teaching career, she taught

in her home country, Jamaica. While in Jamaica, she was assigned to three different schools and

has taught first, second, third, fourth, and fifth grades. She is an ambassador of a cultural

exchange program. While in this program, the ambassadors are placed in the United States to

teach students, but it allows the students to learn about theirteachers own culture. In addition to

teaching, she is also attending Liberty University and studying Teaching and Learning. Mrs.

Benjamin-Davis began teaching because she had a true desire to meet the needs of students to

become successful. She reflected that she had influential teachers that served as role models in

her life. Since she was raised in a large family, she started to gain teaching experience by helping


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her younger siblings with their homework and class assignments. Teaching has been a

rewarding experience for her and she really cannot see herself doing anything else. Her

philosophy on education is that she believes that all students can learn. While maintaining high

expectations for all students, she believes that she can achieve her goals by offering rigorous

instruction in a disciplined, yet loving environment.

Proper lesson planning is important to meet the diverse needs of her students. One way

that she meets the needs of his students is by keeping her students engaged. In planning her

lesson plans, she tries to appeal to her students interests to keep the students motivated. In

conjunction with meeting the diverse needs of the students, there is also pressure in meeting the

state standards. Although there are challenges, she acknowledges that if you teach students based

on their varying learning styles and modalities, while being cognizant of their instructional

needs, the standards will be met.

The experience that she received while in college did assist her in being more effective in

the classroom. Both her Classroom Management and Elementary Curriculum and Assessment

courses were some of the main courses that helped her because she was able to keep her class

controlled and spend more time on the lesson than handling behavioral issues. She has a

behavior chart where she observes the students on their behavior. If the students have done well,

they will receive privileges, such as extra time at recess on Fridays or time to play educational

games on the computers. Another important method that is essential to her lessons is

incorporating Marzanos nine instructional strategies in her instruction. Although she was

prepared well in classroom management and planning lessons, she feels as though she should

have also been more prepared for working with other cultures. She learned more about working

with other cultures while teaching in the United States versus her home country.


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While assessing her students, she grades her students on a weighted system. The tests,

assessments, and projects are weighed higher than the classwork and homework. There is a

healthy balance of teacher-made and commercially made assessments. She creates Pass-like

assessments using both teacher-made and commercial made resources. The students results

from the assessments determine her instruction. If the grades are low, she will reteach the lesson

and if the grades are high she will continue to the next lesson. To make sure that everyone has

comprehended the concepts, she often spirals prior concepts into the new lesson or bell ringers.

Although her teaching experience has been great, she has had a few challenges. One of

her challenges is parental involvement. Most of the parents of his students have shown very

little interest in their childs performance. This is really disappointing. She maintains keeping

the parents or guardians abreast on the happenings within the class, but she feels like there are

too many children that do not get the motivation or support that they need from home to be ready

for instruction every day.

Being that I am a future educator, my mentor teacher offered several suggestions that will

be beneficial in my classroom. Mrs. Benjamin-Davis recommends that I plan ahead, be

knowledgeable of the standards and needs of my students, and do in-depth research and inquire

about resources that will be essential in teaching. It is important for me to assess my students

and conduct diagnostic interviews to help build the foundation so that students will grasp the

concepts. She recommends placing students in groups or partners because peer learning is very

essential in the classroom.

After interviewing Mrs. Benjamin-Davis, I was able to retain an abundance of

information. When I begin teaching, it is important to motivate my students, be able to educate

diverse learning styles within my classroom, have a good repertoire with the students, and try a


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variety of instructional strategies. I definitely need to try to involve my parents in the classroom

so that the students can see how important education is. I plan to continue to enhance my skills

as a future educator to better assist my students to become successful.

mentor teacher interview paper

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