04/26/13

Exit Interview Questions

1. How have your classes/coursework prepared you for the teaching profession? • • • • •

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The English content was really good; made me feel well prepared to teach it. Really enjoyed early childhood classes with Dr. Mosley & Dr. Martin. They scaffold us (students), teach us the way we should teach, practically showed how to do things, e.g. ‘read-alouds’ Prepared me pretty well, especially with reading & writing, literacy programs, special ed. Prepared us to be professionals. The program did a really good job of preparing me. I watched what my teachers were doing, learnt how to differentiate instruction, learned what some of the best practices are and why they are best practices, observed how to engage learners, and reflected on what works and what doesn’t. Teacher work samples set high standards, showed me how to reflect, use statistics, use different resources, philosophies, practicums, hands-on experiences. It was an eye-opening experience for me as a transfer student. Introduced a lot of relevant (new) concepts that we’re going to see in the districts Dr. Martin’s classes & concepts were the most useful The amount of time we get in other schools is great; it gives us exposure and helps us make sure this is what we want to do We had to construct in-depth lesson plans Balanced Literacy (Dr. Martin’s class) was great! Being able to go into classroom and tell them I knew what that was felt great! Dr. Martin does a lot with it, even shows us a video using it. I don’t feel prepared with regard to pedagogy. I never did any lesson plans until this last semester. Doing student teaching in both semesters might be good. Dividing foundation classes into two separate classes might be a good idea. I enjoyed learning about cognitive developmental stages but I’d have liked more chances to observe these classes. We are often taught the theory but rarely is it related to practical classroom applications We have lots of early childhood classes that are mostly theoretical. It would be nice to have an actual class on Methods & Strategies. We need authentic ways to become professional teachers in our early childhood classes. I can’t recall a lot of the theories I learned because there was hardly any application.

2. What suggestions can you provide for improving course content and delivery? • • •

Awesome delivery Please add more pedagogical content Need a bridge between English content (what to teach) and how to teach it. 1

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My weakest area is teaching Math. I know the math but I need to understand how to teach it. Maybe add more classes? The Math concepts class with Ms. Locke was great but it could be better. I need more training on how to use or work with curriculum. I never even saw one in cohort (2nd semester). Maybe give us this kind of training with our literacy class. Creating our own lessons was great! I need to learn how to integrate common core into the curriculum, how to adapt a prescribed curriculum to fit our philosophy. Expose teacher candidates to different curricula, e.g. everyday math – for better job prospects I don’t feel prepared to teach math. I had two Math courses, studied college level Math. But I’m not sure how to look at curriculum and decide on activities. Learning is different from teaching. I think I need more training to activate my students’ background knowledge. All professors were prepared and professional in class. Education is about hands on experience, actually being in the classroom. I didn’t get a lot of classroom experience. I’ve only been to Union so I don’t know what the other schools are like. I’m ELL and I had no practicum. Only did two student teaching and practicum at ORU. Dr. Martin did a great job showing us videos but it isn’t like doing the real thing! I don’t see any room or need for improvement. I wish I had been more prepared coming in. Maybe they should have some introductory information for transfer students, such as a video or seminar, to give them a better idea of what to expect. I felt overwhelmed because the department has such high standards. Since I switched to elementary education, I had to take a lot of new classes. Maybe a refresher course would have been nice, so that I could become familiar with the terminology. There are so many different branches in education; I’d have liked better information on what each meant It’s a good idea to break down the information at the beginning, to give us a heads up on what the different tests are and how much they cost Delivery – I wish I could see something other than PowerPoint. Professors should use what we see in our technology classes, e.g. skype, prezi, slide rocket I learned a lot of similar content in different classes. It’s better to identify and differentiate between the goals of each class The course content for early childhood needs to be updated There’s so much time spent on theorists and theories. While that is important at the developmental stages, it is also important to spend time on the application of these theories Maybe take a field trip to a Montessori school instead of just talking / learning about it Do practicum immediately after theory class, in order to add relevance to it Special ed. majors got placed at Little Lighthouse, which was great! Try to do that with all majors. I’m lacking in knowing how to teach math, science, and social studies. I would have loved a course on ‘Here’s how to teach….’ Rather than just learning about the concepts I have to teach 2

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I didn’t learn the things I’ll need to do/teach at the elementary level; instead, I learned high school math The college needs to have the kind of curriculum that we can actually use Move early childhood classes into one; that will give you room for other courses. For instance, maybe for 1 semester, here’s how to teach Science or Social Studies; or how to use Common Core to teach these lessons

3. How has your field experiences/internships prepared you for the profession? • • • • •

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Great preparation! Grateful for this, even as a sophomore. Learnt to deal with grading and administration. Grew in leaps and bounds. Really enjoyable practicum & student teaching. Being in two different classrooms / atmospheres was great! There wasn’t anything for ELL. Also, being a transfer student, I found out too late that they teach Burmese students at ORU. I don’t feel comfortable being called an ELL specialist; I would need to do a lot more learning to be effective At my last placement, the teacher was great, always bringing me in, showing me what to do and how Prepared me in every way; I felt like an apprentice. I had some great teachers and I saw what it means to be a full-time teacher. I saw a lot of role switching and realized how many different roles a teacher has to play. So, I value my free time better now. Having two placements instead of just one is great and diverse experience. Going from a private school to a Title 1 school was a great experience in terms of adapting to different philosophies and different systems It was great, well-rounded experience I know now what school district I want to work in. I now know classroom management techniques. Every practicum reaffirmed my call and conviction that I am a teacher; I wouldn’t have minded doing a practicum every semester. It was great! Loved it! Need better, purposeful planning / scheduling I wish I had a say in where I was going. Being able to have practicums at a school of my choice. Please include observation days (in addition to practicums)

4. What suggestions can you provide for improving field experiences and internships? •

1st student teaching experience was great! But the 2nd experience was not so good because the teacher was not really prepared to have me there. Maybe it’s a good idea to do some preobservation of the teacher, make sure they are ready to have a pre-service teacher in their classroom 3

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It’s great! Love that they make us reflect (hated it when I had to do it but appreciated it later on) Student teaching – 8 weeks in the classroom, 2 different schools – great experience! Practicum didn’t really help. Observations don’t help as much as actual practice. I liked tutoring students before/after school. With teaching, it’s hard to step into another teacher’s world; much easier to connect through tutoring The College of Education does a great job! If the college of Education gave us a list of Title 1 schools, private schools or ELL high population schools, we could pick schools that matched our specialization We don’t know which teacher supervisors are the best; perhaps the seniors could advice us on that A couple of my practicum experiences were during the class’ independent reading periods so I had 15 minutes teaching time…please check class schedules before assigning practicums We have no say with where we get placed in student teaching. Please get our opinions/suggestions and try to accommodate them as far as possible. I would have loved to get more experience teaching in the kind of schools I want to teach in. Be purposeful in who you choose to be the cooperating practicum teacher, so that we can get better feedback. None of the teachers I worked with knew how to do shared reading, so they weren’t really able to offer advice/suggestions

5. What can the College of Education do to improve student services? (Availability of faculty, communication, resources) • •

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My advisor is in the English department. So, having a liaison, some kind of advisement or regular contact with educational faculty would have been helpful. Resources – I’d love to be able to see other curricula; Faculty – always available; especially Dr. Mosley was always willing to work with us; Communication – good, reliable, frequent emails back & forth The new children’s library is a great resource. In student teaching, there was a gap between what the students thought and what the administrators thought, so we were a kind of guinea pig. Perhaps it might help if we have better communication through the pipelines I came in as a junior and transfer student but Dr. Dunham worked closely with me to help me get all my work done in time. It may be a good idea to offer some kind of orientation for transfer students, to give them a clear picture up front, so they know what to expect The College of Education always tries to be thoughtful of us but things always fall through the cracks; communication can always be improved. It’s improved a lot from my freshman year; for example, the children’s library, e-portfolio Good, comfortable class sizes, so we can get familiar with the professor It’s hard to have class here in the children’s library because it’s one long row; maybe it’s a good idea to change the layout

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I’m in secondary; pedagogy classes are offered on Thur. 5 – 7, and that has many conflicts with Thursday night classes. Maybe pedagogy could be offered at the beginning of the week or have shorter sessions for two nights The university supervisors need to have a more unified approach. They all need to meet together and assess students on a les subjective level. Some students met with their advisors multiple times whereas some had no meetings at all. It’s good to ensure all the supervisors have a similar understanding of the rubrics I often felt isolated, didn’t feel I could ask my supervisor any questions and I didn’t get any clear answers Please have Dr. Martin continue to offer OSAT training sessions – they’re great! I attended some professional workshops in my senior year. It’s a great idea to start workshops in the freshman year – that will add credibility to our experience during the job application process. Please focus on some professional courses that the state requires every year. I want to know what the current curriculum looks like, how to develop assessment, how to use it. For example, every day math is beneficial because it’s so prevalent. So, please don’t teach us just the idea of curriculum but also how to use it. Do a survey among the schools, find out what curricula are being used University supervisors need to be more proactive instead of putting the onus on students. This was a phenomenal experience; I’d recommend this program to anyone! I feel well-prepared to teach. Strength – Dr. Martin’s Balanced Literacy class. Most teachers are impressed that I know this. We had very conversational classrooms, model lessons; we learnt the most when Dr. Martin answered our questions. Great positive relationship with Dr. Lindberg; it was very easy to ask her questions Sometimes I didn’t ask some professors any questions because we had no relationship, and so, I felt uncomfortable.

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