Educational Psychology: Teacher Interview

 Teacher Interview

February 2nd, 2022 

Interview Link

*Before you watch: This interview was filmed and recorded on the day of our terrible winter storm. Internet connection is an issue and there are a few moments where audio cuts out.* 

Being new to anything is always a scary experience. Going into a brand new field is something that is sure to keep new teachers on edge and always wondering if we are doing the right things or if we are on the right track. Being able to talk to a seasoned teacher who has 15 years of experience under their belt is definitely a good way to gain some confidence, especially since I am going into pre-student teaching this semester as well as student teaching in the fall. For my teacher interview I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Adam Winchell who at one point was my old tennis coach in high school and is currently my boss for my summer job at the Oak Lawn Park District and my coaching position at the same high school he coached me at. Being Mr. Winchell's assistant in tennis is almost like a student teaching experience in and of itself. I get to see on a first hand account how he handles a team and his approaches to managing behaviors. In this interview I was able to go more in depth about how his classroom management works and how not so far off it is from coaching. 

Mr. Winchell believed at one point that the motto "don't smile till Christmas" was something to live by as he was still getting adjusted to being a first time teacher. He soon realized that it's not always the case. The first few weeks of the new school year for Mr. Winchell is the time to lay down the ground rules and make sure that he and his students are on the same page when it comes to discipline and following what rules have been placed. Otherwise, when it comes to gaining respect from his students he likes to treat them with respect and does the best he can for them. "The aim of classroom management is to maintain a positive, productive learning environment," (Woolfolk 511). When he comes across students that don't share that same respect back he finds that having a one on one talk with them separately is a great way to give them respect and to get on the same level. This can lead to a better classroom environment and better teacher-student relationship

One of the more interesting topics that we were able to talk about was the reward system. I found this question to be a great topic especially since we talked about it in a discussion post recently. Mr. Winchell is not a huge fan of the reward system, however, he did mention that his school has a school wide reward system. He always tries to provide positive reinforcement to his students and does the best that he can to make sure that they know they're on the right track. "Examples of positive reinforcement include the behavior of a pigeon pecking on the red key leading to the presentation of food," (Woolfolk 268). Mr. Winchell finds that using positive reinforcement is important in the classroom and that a reward system may not always be the way to go.  

My overall thoughts on this project is that I enjoyed working on this and interview Mr. Winchell. I am starting pre-student teaching and I find myself very anxious, but also very excited. Even before this semester I always had questions about student teaching and being able to know someone in the field helps out a lot. I usually go to Mr. Winchell first about any sort of teaching questions because he always gives me great advice and and idea of what I need to do or other ways to solve a problem.