Elsie Castro's Interview with a Fourth Grade Teacher

"Good management, skills, structure and discipline are key essentials for becoming a successful teacher." Mrs. Z gives me this advice on the day of her interview. Currently, she teaches at an elementary school that is located in the East Side of Salinas. The grade range of the school is K-6 with an average class size of 19-24 students. Student enrollment is 732 with Latinos comprising 98 percent of the student population. Nearly 75 percent are English language learners and 86 percent are low-income. Eight out of ten students qualify for the Federal Free Lunch Program.

Mrs. Z is a well structured, disciplined and passionate teacher who has high expectations for all of her students. A California State University alum, Z is entering her eighth year in the teaching profession. At the start of her college career she did not exactly know what she wanted to study. As a child she remembers playing school and she always wanted to play the teacher part, but it wasn't until a friend suggested teaching to her that she considered that path.

After receiving her B.A, she earned her teaching credential and began teaching. She taught at three other schools before finally arriving at her present school, where she has now taught for four years. Mrs. Z is a fourth grade teacher; and prior to teaching fourth grade she taught kinder and first grade. She prefers teaching fourth grade because they cover more content and students are reading to learn as opposed to first grade where they are learning to read. Her current class is a bilingual class. The class is taught in English only with the exception of the last hour being in Spanish.

Mrs. Z is very enthusiastic about teaching; there is not one day where she tells herself "I don't want to go to work today." Her students and the connectedness of parents, school staff and faculty is what keeps her motivated and interested in teaching.

"Everyone can learn, so everyone should be given the same opportunity" is Mrs. Z's philosophy. ╥As a teacher you need to look at the class as a whole, but also look at the individuals and their needs,╙ Mrs. Z tells me. ╥If you see a student distracted re-engage them. Also, as a teacher, on occasion you will have students that will understand a material very fast and will be able to move on their own, and at other times you will have students that take longer to learn and we need to be prepared as well.╙

Being well prepared for the material and having good management skills is a real strength of Mrs. Z. She believes in the power of public education, sending her own kids to the public schools. "It doesn't matter where you teach or where you learn I think you get the same benefit if the teacher puts the effort" Mrs. Z lets me know.

Mrs. Z's classroom is very structured, with lots of materials all in there place. The back wall is divided in three sections Writing, ELD and Math. In the Writing section, she has samples of student writing. Currently they are working on personal narratives. There is also a picture included with each essay. In the ELD section she has posted the parts of speech. There are also science materials there, as she combines science with ELD. She uses science to focus on comprehension and language. For the Math section she has several orders of operation as well as hints for math word problems posted.

Mrs. Z mostly uses a teacher-centered instructional approach. She uses an Elmo╤I type of overhead projector. The Elmo allows her to put examples of the work students are doing so they know exactly what the teacher is talking about. The Elmo can project color images, and it can also be connected by a computer and project a PowerPoint presentation.

After interviewing Mrs. Z and spending two days out of the week in her classroom I have realized that she is very passionate about teaching. She spends her recess break and part of her lunch break with students that need extra help with material she has covered.

Mrs. Z is all about helping her student improve both academically and personally. I have never seen a teacher be so strict with her students and the students actually acknowledge and appreciate it. Students that have moved on to upper grades still come and visit her. After school her classroom is full of students that want to talk to her and let her know how they are doing in school. Mrs. Z willingness to help students is evident as she met with me for her interview the day of her birthday.