Archive for January 29th, 2009
Interview Proposal
Thursday, January 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments
1. Who: Stacey Lynn Osborn
Title: Current Instructor, English Department Bowling Green State University (Taught my World Literature, ENG 262 class)
2. Method: We will be having a face-to-face interview next Monday at 4:30 pm. I chose to do a face-to-face interview because it was convenient for Stacey. She has a very energetic and interactive personality so I think the interview will be more successful if we are in person as well. I think I will also benefit because I will actually get to experience her enthusiasm for the topic and her genuine reactions to the questions I ask.
3. Goals: I chose to interview Stacey Osborn because has had the biggest impact on me in the college classroom thus far. I had never had a teacher who was as passionate about her job as her in my life. She was very enthusiastic and motivating every day. I also really admired her teaching style. She had a unique way of getting the entire class involved each day and we were always having a good time. I loved her teaching pedagogy and I cannot wait to learn more about it in the interview I conduct. Stacey is a person that I really look up to and aspire to be like someday. I hope I can mock her teaching style in my own classroom and I am very interested to see learn her teaching tactics and how she has become so successful at building and comfortable and fun learning community. One thing that will be very important to me as a future teacher of writing will be how to make the process exciting and fun and I think talking with Stacey will give me good insight on how to do that in the future. I am nervous for teaching writing and I hope she will give me good advice as far as feeling comfortable, how to respond to students writing appropriately, and how to motivate students to write well. Another thing that I love about Stacey is her infectious personality that always seemed to make students feel comfortable.
4. Working Questions:
1. How do you go about creating a successful and safe learning community that encourages students to share their voice and interact?
2. What tactics do you use to motivate students to write well, especially students who might not view themselves as good writers?
3. How do you want students to think of your class? Why?
4. How do you engage students, specifically quiet/reserved students?
5. What is your biggest challenge of teaching writing?
6. What did you feel unprepared for as far as the teaching of writing?
7. What is the one thing every writing teacher should know?
8. How do you respond to student writing?
9. How has technology (re)shaped your teaching?
10. What do you wish you had been taught in school, but you weren’t?
11. What is the biggest surprise about teaching writing?
12. What is your teaching philosophy?
13. What motivates you as a teacher of writing?
14. What advice do you have for me as a future teacher of writing?
15. Why did you choose to teach writing?
16. Are you an affect-centered, craft-centered, or balanced teacher of writing?
17. What rituals or routines do you have for your classes?
18. Do you share your own writing with students? Why or Why not?
5. Questions: Can we record the interview?
Question for Discussion:
In the interview Donald Graves talks about the backlash against teaching and education as a result of budget cuts. As teachers of writing, how to we cope with this issue considering our current economic state? How do we help students who are more at risk without the help of school funding?