1 Classroom Discipline y there are always two sides to every story, so if the action involves discipline of two students,

you must listen to both sides. Indicate that you try to get the students to resolve their own disagreements, which may involve compromise. And end the discussion by asking them, "How will you handle the situation next time?" y Develop ground rules the first week to establish what is and isn t acceptable behavior y Rules discussed and agreed to makes students accountable and responsible How do you teach beginning reading? y Letter recognition and sound association y Assessing reading ability y Leveled Literacy = Selecting developmentally appropriate books y Uninterrupted time with guided reading group y Guided Reading = sell it as a book club y Predictions y Picture Walk y Vocabulary y Read together How do you assess beginning reading, both formally and informally? y ORF (Oral Reading Fluency) y Running record y Reading A to Z (paper book series) Training in alphabetic basics To read, children must know how to blend isolated sounds into words; to write, they must know how to break words into their component sounds. First-grade students who don't yet know their letters and sounds will need special catch-up instruction. In addition to such phonemic awareness, beginning readers must know their letters and have a basic understanding of how the letters of words, going from left to right, represent their sounds. First-grade classrooms must be designed to ensure that all children have a firm grasp of these basics before formal reading and spelling instruction begins. y Early in first grade, a child's reading materials should feature a high proportion of new words that use the letter-sound relationships they have been taught. If the books children read only give them rare opportunities to sound out words that are new to them, they are unlikely to use sounding out as a consistent strategy y children practice reading independently with texts slightly below their frustration level and receive assistance with slightly more difficult texts. y It's as important that children find joy and meaning in reading as it is that they develop the skills they need. Reading pleasure should always be as much a focus as reading skill. Research shows that the children who learn to read most effectively are the children who read the most and are most highly motivated to read. Strategies for teaching comprehension y Learning to read is not a linear process. Students do not need to learn to decode before they can learn to comprehend. Both skills should be taught at the same time from the earliest stages of reading instruction. Comprehension strategies can be taught using material that is read to children,

2 as well as using material the children read themselves. Before reading, teachers can establish the purpose for the reading, review vocabulary, activate background knowledge, and encourage children to predict what the story will be about. During reading, teachers can direct children's attention to difficult or subtle dimensions of the text, point out difficult words and ideas, and ask children to identify problems and solutions. After reading, children may be asked to retell or summarize stories, to create graphic organizers (such as webs, cause-and-effect charts, or outlines), to put pictures of story events in order, and so on. Children can be taught specific metacognitive strategies, such as asking themselves on a regular basis whether what they are reading makes sense or whether there is a one-to-one match between the words they read and the words on the page. Writing programs y Creative and expository writing instruction should begin in kindergarten and continue during first grade and beyond. Writing, in addition to being valuable in its own right, gives children opportunities to use their new reading competence. Research shows invented spelling to be a powerful means of leading students to internalize phonemic awareness and the alphabetic principle. Still, while research shows that using invented spelling is not in conflict with teaching correct spelling, the National Academy of Sciences report does recommend that conventionally correct spelling be developed through focused instruction and practice at the same time students use invented spelling. The Academy report further recommends that primary grade children should be expected to spell previously studied words and spelling patterns correctly in final writing products. Curriculum-based assessment y y In first grade and beyond, regular curriculum-based assessments are needed to guide decisions about such things as grouping, the pace of instruction, and individual needs for assistance (such as tutoring). The purpose of curriculum-based assessment is to determine how children are doing in the particular curriculum being used in the classroom or school, not to indicate how children are doing on national norms. In first grade, assessments should focus on all of the major components of early reading: decoding of phonetically regular words, recognition of sight words, comprehension, writing, and so on. Informal assessments can be conducted every day. Anything children do in class gives information to the teacher that can be used to adjust instruction for individuals or for the entire class. Regular schoolwide assessments based on students' current reading groups can be given every six to 10 weeks. These might combine material read to children, material to which children respond on their own, and material the child reads to the teacher individually. These school assessments should be aligned as much as possible with any district or state assessments students will have to take.

How would you help the struggling reader? y Assess where need is y Check comprehension and fluency y Need to be heard everyday y Book Talk y Confidence Reward little chunks of progress y Beginning word recognition

3 y Ask yourself if this child is having difficulty with pronunciation or other aspects of language. Children with oral language difficulties are at much greater risk for reading and writing problems and should be evaluated by a speech and language specialist. This is a student who probably needs support from a professional reading specialist.

How would you teach writing? y Here, taste, smell, sensory writing y Children s books to support (descriptive do something like it. Model, list descriptive words, break down into senses, sensory images) y learn the reasons why people write y First-graders should keep a journal, making entries several times a week, since journal writing helps children build writing skills and develop ideas for stories. y Students should learn about the mechanics of writing, which means spelling and punctuation, and teachers will focus on writing techniques and strategies, like how to use descriptive words and correct punctuation. Kids should learn how to write using the following steps:  Prewriting  Drafting  Revising  Editing  Publishing  Sharing  These steps often help kids organize their thoughts. How would you integrate the two? y How would you teach sight words? y Fry s List Master first 50 100, then go on to next step y Also using common phrases y Identify in writing y High frequency words most frequently occurring in reading material. y Word Walls y Word List drills y Poetry y Games y Flash Cards y Pointing out words in stories y Site word notebook How would you combine teaching decoding, so they CAN read, with comprehension, so the understand what they read? y Teach skill in isolation y Then, find books that contain phonics skills

4 What type of classroom management system would you use? y Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation, and Success y Structure and organize all settings for success y Clarify expectations for student behaviorv y Teach expectations directly to studentsv y Interact positively with students v y Correct misbehavior calmly, consistently, and immediatelyv y Begin communicating and teaching school and classroom behavior expectations on the first day of school.v y If more than 3 days off visit and restate/re-teach expectations.v y Continue reminding, re-teaching and recognizing expected behavior throughout the school year.v What types of centers would you use? y Reading y Writing y Math y Meaningful centers that reinforce what is being learned in the classroom How would your ideal day be structured?

Have you ever worked with remedial/special education staff? How would that look? How would you teach and assess math? What types of developmentally appropriate activities do you include/use in your teaching/day-today work with the kids? How would you include parents? y Parent newsletter y E-mail y Communication calendar y Special events y Make myself available y Constant contact What types of technology have you used/are you comfortable with? y Power point y Internet resources (Success Maker, IXL Math, etc.) How would you integrate technology into your classroom?

5 How would you collaborate with the other teachers in your grade/other team members (special ed, speech, remedial teachers, etc.)? How would you assess students at the beginning of the year? y running record with comprehension questions y reading fluency test y high frequency words test y writing sample (scored with six traits) y spelling assessment that focuses on sounds y math test What would you do with a student who obviously isn't ready for 1st grade but is in your room anyway? y Peer buddy y Small Groups y Close contact with parents y Want all kids to be working at their independent level What about the student who is ready for 2nd grade but in your room? y Challenge y Higher order thinking How would you teach/integrate science/social studies? What about a 6 year old's social/emotional development ~ how would you teach/ensure that?

Why our school? Reputation for guided reading Successful Principle has a vision and a plan to reach that vision...combined with the ability to bring faculty members together to form a cooperative team and motivate them to reach district goals and objectives. be visible... the principal's presence should be evident on a continual basis. He or she must be easily accessible to both students and teachers. has a great sense of humor, and can relate well to a diverse group of individuals. y genuinely cares about the students, teachers, parents, and the district. What would someone see walking into your classroom? y Print rich environment y Children engaged in meaningful learning (whether through centers, lecturing, or hands on learning) y Upon entering my classroom, you will find a lively and colorful room y Sight words

6 y y y y y y y y y The alphabet Interactive word walls (Julie Jackson) Bulletin boards displaying student work Numbers Abundance of age appropriate reading materials Student mailboxes Small group station Parent communication Seating arrangement

Greatest Weakness: y There are so many creative activities I plan for my students and class time is limited. I have had to learn to prioritize the lessons that are most important to enhance my student learning. Guided Reading y The teacher helps students learn to use reading strategies, such as context clues, letter and sound knowledge, and syntax or word structure, as they read a text or book that is unfamiliar to them. The goal of guided reading is for students to use these strategies independently on their way to becoming fluent, skilled readers. y Before reading: Set the purpose for reading, introduce vocabulary, make predictions, talk about the strategies good readers use. y During reading: Guide students as they read, provide wait time, give prompts or clues as needed by individual students, such as "Try that again. Does that make sense? Look at how the word begins." y After reading: Strengthen comprehension skills and provide praise for strategies used by students during the reading. Student/Teacher Relationship y A teacher s job is to guide the student as best they can down the path of knowledge and it is the student s job to follow as best they can. All other aspects of their relationship as teacher and student stem from this.

Questions for Oveta Colt Hobby Elementary School

y Community Support y Parent Involvement y Services available for struggling students y What their school's model is for working with special ed. and remedial students. y Process when there is a concern about a student (RTI) o Referral Process y Student/Teacher Ratio y Support personnel on staff o Support System for beginning teachers o Professional Development or Types of training if hired o Technology Training y When do you hope to reach a decision as to who the successful candidate will be, or what is the next step in the hiring process?