1)      Matthew LeFevre – English 7 – AP at Toledo Islamic Academy

2)      I hope to conduct the interview in person, but may have to do so over email if scheduling conflicts

3)      Goals

a.       Learn about aspects of teaching writing that the teacher may find difficult or problematic

b.      Learn about aspects of teaching writing that students might sometimes find difficult or distasteful

c.       Learn about the differences in teaching writing through grades 7 – 12, all of which my interviewee teachers and all of which I will be licensed to teach

d.      Get perspective on how the Adolescent/Young Adult Integrated Language arts program succeeds or could improve in preparing one to teach writing, as my interviewee is a graduate of the same program in 2004.

e.      Get any suggestions or piece of advice from a practicing teacher that I might not receive as part of classroom instruction or a textbook.

4)      Tentative List of Questions

a.       What are some general problems or things that have not gone to plan in your experiences in teaching writing?

b.      How do you make your decisions on specific elements of writing that you will teach? What is the influence of standards? The school/administration? Other teachers? Personal decisions? Other factors?

c.       If you have found the school to be especially involved in the process, how has your current school’s treatment differed from that where you did your student teaching?

d.      If outside influences have affected or made demands of your teaching in writing, have you generally agreed with what you were directed to do?

e.      How do the materials you cover and your expectations for writing differ in the wide range of grades that you teach?

f.        Conversely, what principles or concepts do you find it important to maintain consistently across grade levels when teaching writing?

g.       Are there any topics or concepts that you find students find especially difficult in teaching writing?

h.      Are there any topics or concepts that you find students frequently resist or find distasteful, even if they don’t necessarily struggle with them?

i.         Are there any elements in the teaching of writing that you felt the AYA/ILA program at BGSU prepared you very well or not so well for?

j.        As someone who is currently teaching writing in the grade levels that I will soon be teaching myself, are there pointers or useful bit of information that you think I would find especially helpful as I prepare for my first experiences?