Education I NEED HELP ON MY HOMEWORK

Interviewer: Feiyu Pang

Interviewee: Cheryl Takahara

Date: March, 11th, 2024

Feiyu: Hello Ms. Takahara. Nice to see you! I am interviewing you as part of a class assignment for the course ED 150, Teaching Teachers. Thank you for letting me interview you. Is it OK if I record this interview? [pause and wait for response] 

Teacher: Yes

Feiyu: Great! I want to assure you that what you say will be held in confidence. Your responses will only be used for the purposes of completing this assignment and they will not be used for any publications. If there are any questions that you would prefer not to answer, just let me know and we’ll skip them and move on. Do you have any questions before we get started? [pause and wait for response] 

Teacher: No

Feiyu: Great! Let’s begin!

Throughout the semester, I've come to realize the multifaceted role of educators. Not only must they be well-versed in their specific subject areas, but they also need a deep comprehension of the psychological and emotional frameworks that shape student learning. This dual expertise underscores the necessity for educators to pursue professional development in areas such as linguistic proficiency and developmental psychology. Reflecting on your own teaching journey, have you identified these areas of knowledge as pivotal? Could you share instances where this understanding significantly impacted your teaching approach? Additionally, I'm curious about the strategies you've employed to support your students' holistic development.

Teacher: Oh, that’s a lot questions. Yes, I definitely have become more aware of the social emotional realm and that has been crucial because these are coming up. Well now more and more and more needs in in this area. My own children needed more of this teaching and that's what started it for me. It's very important, Aren't they teach these little children how to how to figure out their bodies and their needs and express themselves and navigate it their journey surgery if.

Feiyu: Throughout the quarter I learned that teachers are required to have expertise in subject knowledge and a broad understanding in understanding children on a social emotional level. I'm wondering At this age, social-emotional learning is just as important as academics. Can you give an example of how social-emotional learning is integrated into the classroom? How do you support students to develop empathy and collaboration skills?

[Pause for teacher to explain whether they find those knowledge useful]

Teacher: Okay, well, we do have a program that we're given, and it slowly teaches students you can hold up cards with pictures of two students having a problem, let's say a problem that needs to be solved in they're angry, or a child that sad and the other child is coming to help them. Then you ask the children through a meeting them using the same puppets and, and and practice seeing their emotions. You have them talk about what do you notice? And and what would do so but so we have that. But in addition to that, I think mainly, it's just how do you deal with the problems when it happens? And in the moment, children are you know, maybe crying or are just flipping their lid and they can't think straight. So what I use is a game. It's like a It's maybe like a chart up on the wall that has a spinner. It's a spinner. Magnetic spinner, and it has all the feelings around the outside and the children take turns spinning it and they have to say this sentence. I feel like it might say frustrated, frustrated when Iwhen and then they have to think of a situation when they might have been frustrated. When the boy takes my toy I'm playing with in the sandbox. Then the children get practice even though it's not something that happened but they get practice before they start flipping their lead, and if they have practice, then they can learn in the moment how to talk about their feelings. taking deep breaths is another one too. Have a lot that I could say. It really also the other thing with the little guys, I think this is true for older kids too. I used to try to bring them off to a corner and have a private little talk and that is silly. We want to do is bring them to the front of the classroom and say, Oh, these two students are having a problem. So we're all going to watch how to solve the problem in front of you. Because that's how you're going to learn and that's how they're going to get their problem solved. And it works. Okay, you're going to be looking, looking without talking. Look at them their eyes, and then you're going to say what your problem is. And now you get a chance to talk and now you get a chance to see if they're okay and then you're going to say you know it goes back and forth it in front of the other kids. Oh, and sometimes I do puppet shows. if something happened during the playground time, for instance, I take those stuffed animals and i i reenact it the kids all know what the problem was that the playground time, but then it's a chance to go over and see whether kids went correctly and where they can do something different make different choices.

Feiyu: Teaching is a profession that is constantly evolving with new research, techniques and methods. How do you keep up to date in education? Can you share a recent change in your teaching practice?

[Pause for teacher to talk]

Teacher: Mostly, I think I change when we have new programs that are brought to us because I don't have a lot of extra time to go to conferences and to a little bit can happen when I might see a workshop or I might read a book, but mostly the school district says, Okay, now we're going to try this social emotional program called step. here's how it works. Then you open it up and you try it. So those have been my biggest changes.

Feiyu: I believe that communication with parents and guardians is an integral part of the teacher's role. How do you communicate with parents and guardians, especially when discussing the child's progress or solving problems? Can you share an example of a successful partnership you had with a parent or guardian?

Teacher: Mostly, I communicate by talking face to face, sometimes before school, but in one case, it's been really helpful for their mother and it's picking up their child after their after school program. She just stops in every day. And we have an exchange. We talk for maybe sometimes five minutes, sometimes 15 minutes and the child has a difficult time with transitions. So if we have something new the next day, like when we're taking we like when the first time we went over to have our school pictures taken, then I can talk about it with the spillway before he falls apart. The next day. So he's ready for it. Or sometimes I asked her for ideas. I'll say move he's going under the table when he needs to be with the class listening. What do you do at home when you see him? Say no, and go under a table or, you know, what do you do when you have a defiant view in your house? So then I can get the parents ideas too. Sometimes the parents are not helpful and they just cause more stress for the child. And then I just stopped communicating with the parents as much. We have conferences two times a year. But some parents you have to put it into it. It's also some parents are very sensitive. So you, I call it a compliment sandwich. You put the naughty behavior in between compliments. You say something the child is doing well, then you say the bad thing. Then you say something else they're doing well. And then the parents can take that with them and you know, think about the naughty thing at home. But my success would be that partnership of that parent that comes by every afternoon to talk with me just so that we can prepare him for the next day. Yeah.

Feiyu: Is there anything else that you would like to share about your experiences as a teacher? 

Teacher: Well, I guess one thing my kids say is that if the teacher has anxiety, or is frustrated with a child's behavior, the child will figure it out and their behavior becomes bad or worse. And the trick is to be like a firefighter that means to just stay calm, and your voice tone stays the same. And you attend things with a wise and maybe a slowness and It will go a lot farther.

Feiyu: That concludes the interview. Thank you again for taking the time to talk to me about your experiences.