Carver Middle School8th Grade Social Studies

Cynthia Davis & Arlene Webster (Joint Teaching)

Alexander Hardy(Observing)

Artifact 1Sheets such as these help students with words they might not encounter outside of a school.

Artifact 2Sheets like these help explore various levels of thinking and how to apply them.

Artifact 3Mini-Q’s such as these are helpful magazines that enhance student thinking with quotes from primary sources.

Lesson Plan (6 Pages)Due to scheduling conflicts earlier in the year, Ms. Davis and Ms. Webster were using a lesson plan for October after they decided to teach another subject earlier during that month, instead.

Picture 1Ms. Davis and Ms. Webster would often sit at different points around the classroom to better engage the students.

Picture 2Ms. Davis’ classroom was filled with African art, in an attempt to help her students regain some of their cultural heritage.

Picture 3Ms. Davis and Ms. Webster had numerous guest speakers come to class on Wednesday. They both set a great deal of goals to help motivate the class.

Picture 4Ms. Davis kept maps in easy-to-see places when giving her class surprise questions or holding team contests.

Picture 5Ms. Davis also had a painter write inspirational quotes by famous leaders to fill up negative space and immerse her class.

• 1. What challenges do you face as a middle school teacher?• 1) The most challenging aspect of teaching for me, is motivating students who are unmotivated

and do not have parental support at home to complete their assignments and/or to care about their education. It can be extremely frustrating when you give a h.w assignment only to have 1 student out of an entire class complete it. The lack of caring can also result in behavioral issues within the classroom as well failing grades for the student(s).

• 2. What effective classroom management strategies do you utilize with your students?• 2) Fortunately, I have always managed to have a pretty controlled and organized classroom. The

key to having effective classroom management is 1) Interesting lessons that do not allow a lot of down time, being clear about classroom procedures and expectations and instituting consequences for failure to adhere to said rules and procedures.

• 3. What forms of communication do you use with your parents?• 3) I use several forms of communication with parents. In general though, I call, text and schedule

parent teacher conferences when necessary. I find that texting is the most effective method nowadays. I text parents student's h.w assignments, positive comments as well as issues that I may be having with their child.

• 4. What effective teaching strategies would be good to utilize at this age/grade level?• 4) What I have found to be effective in teaching is to first hook them with an interesting and

intriguing question, that everyone can answer or contribute to in one way or another. Once an interesting conversation has started, then I connect it to the historical topic/subject that I am about to teach. Now, after that has been done, to maintain their interest, it must always be presented on their level and restated in several ways that they are able to understand. I provide modern day examples so that they are able to relate. Once the lesson has been taught, to deepen their knowledge, I assign a project where student's can display their comprehension of the subject matter.

At all times during teaching, humor and small challenges are effective. Students at the middle school level love to compete and play games. If you can turn a lesson into a game, it tends to be highly effective. Lastly, positive comments also tend to be effective. Call them smart, tell them they can do it, tell them that they are smarter than you (the teacher), challenge/bet them that they will not be able to come up with an answer, and/or have them all work toward a positive goal such as a positive letter or phone call home or food.

• 5. What forms of incentives do you utilize with your students in the classroom to enhance extrinsic motivation?

• 5) I think I actually answered this question in the above question. However, I will add, that I also try to motivate students by periodically reminding them why they are in school to begin with and how learning will ultimately get them the life that they want. I explain and we discuss, what will most likely happen if they do not learn as well as if they do do well in school.

Interview Questions