Blog 23: 2014 Interview

I interviewed 2 Juniors: Noah Nikielski and Juan Rizo, both from North House.

Noah:
M: What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?
N: I want to do electrical engineering or mechanical engineering. They are what I know the most about.

M: What do you plan to do for your ten hour mentorship experience?
N: I was planning on volunteering with my mom's friend. He is getting a PhD in mechanical engineering.

M: What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?
N: I hope to see someone doing engineering or at least architecture.
M: There is a presenter who is sort of doing both. The presenter is Andy Guan, and I believe his senior project is architecture, but he also covers much of the engineering involved in it.

M: What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project?
N: Is it hard? Hahaha.
M: It's actually not that hard if you meet all your deadlines and work on it throughout the year. There is a lot of preparation for the 2-hour presentation, including the 10 minute presentation, the 30 minute presentation, presenting on activities, templates, research checks, etc. Finding mentorship for engineering is tough, but since you're mother's friend is going to help you with that I'd say you are good to go.

Juan:
M: What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?
J: To play sports and baseball. I really like sports.

M: What do you plan to do for your ten hour mentorship experience?
J: To go around asking all the coaches, like minor league coaches, so they can help me out with my project.

M: What do you hope to see or expect in the 2013 senior presentations?
J: To see intellectual presentations and to teach us Juniors how to run our projects when we're seniors.

M: What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project?
J: Who do you make a presentation that is 2 hours?
M: It's easy because they break it down. They don't just say, "Here, present it." They give you a template. It's really just an outline and you have to fill it out. You're supposed to put basic ideas of what you will talk about, so it helps you be organized. It's sort of like preparation for your powerpoint. You have about 2 hours for the actual presentation, but that counts for getting set up, activities, and speaking time. It's really easy, especially when you work on it throughout the year. The first one you do is a 10 minute presentation, then a 30 minute presentation, followed by a couple of activity presentations. So by the time you actually do it, you'll be ready.

Blog 17: Fourth Interview Questions

1. What is the best way to teach mathematics so that it is retained?
2. How do you connect the mathematics with real life?
3. Do you try to tie emotion into the concepts?
4. What are your steps for teaching the standards?
5. Can you tell me any specific points of the new algebra standards stated in Common Core?
6. What is most important to teaching the Common Core algebra standards?
7. What is your most important goal for the students by the end of the year?
8. How do you ensure that these goals are met?
9. How do you place the standards into your lectures/teachings?
10. Do you have any trouble teaching the these standards?
11. If so, which ones in particular?
12. What are your thoughts on our current algebra standards?
13. Can you explain to me the new strategies that Common Core suggests?
14. Do you believe that Common Core is an improvement to previous teaching methods?
15. What is the biggest challenge of transitioning from the California algebra standards to the Common Core algebra standards?
16. How do you connect with your students?
17. How do you earn their respect?
18. Do you consider algebra more important than any other math class?
19. Why or why not?
20. What do you believe is most important to maintaining a healthy learning environment?

Third Interview Questions

1. What is most important when teaching the California algebra standards?

2. What is your most important goal for your students by the end of the year?

3. How do you ensure that these goals are met?

4. How do you imply the California algebra standards in your lectures?

5. Do you have trouble teaching any of the standards?

6.  Which ones?

7. I understand you have some classes with high students and some classes with low students. Please explain your teaching strategies for each one.

8. Tell me your thoughts on the CST.

9. Do you try to improve the CST scores of your students every year?

10. How do you determine if the California algebra standards were taught well?

Second Interview Questions

My mentor is Mrs. Murillo. She works at Rivera Middle School, and works for El Rancho Unified School District.

• So Mrs. Murillo, tell me a bit about your education.
• How and why did you choose your career?
• Did you have trouble finding a job?
• Can you give me some history about El Rancho Unified School District?
• I heard you have recently gone back to college to study more. How is that going?
• How will going back to college affect your career?

Blog 3: Interview Preparation

1. I plan to interview Mrs. Murillo, my mentor from my summer mentorship homework. It seems like a logical choice because she is an actual algebra teacher. It is also nice to start off simple and work your way up to higher authorities.

2. I would ask about 8-12 questions. I think that might be stretching it, but I do want to get as much information as I can. These are some of the questions I might ask in addition to the 5 original questions:

• "Why are you so comfortable in your classroom?"
• "How do you grab the attention of your students with math?"
• "What does Algebra mean to you?"
• "Tell me about your teaching strategies."
• "What is your relationship with the students?"