Teacher Interview: Reach out to a teacher who is currently in the classroom and conduct an interview either face-to-face, via video chat, over the phone, or through email. Ask at least five of the following questions. You may substitute one of your own as well.
- How do you build a positive classroom climate in your own room? Does it relate to a larger school program? If so, tell me about that program.
- How do you get to know your students in the beginning of the year? How does that impact your classroom management approach?
- What kinds of behaviors most often interfere with your teaching?
- What is your “go to” move when a student is off task?
- What approach is surprisingly successful in helping you maintain a positive classroom environment? Why?
- What popular approach or technique doesn’t seem to work for you? Why?
- What do you wish someone would have told you about managing a classroom before you started teaching?
Summarize the interview and conclude by addressing the following questions.
- Based on what you have learned in this interview, which of the three theories of classroom management we studied seems to influence this teacher the most? What evidence from the interview supports this conclusion?
- How does this teacher enact teacher leadership?
- After completing this interview, what questions do you wished you had asked? Why?
Three major theories of human behavior:
- Behaviorist Theories of Classroom Management
- Constructivist Theories of Classroom Management
- Social-Emotional Theories of Classroom Management
