ed522: interview with val sheridan comer (version 2!!!!)
TRANSCRIPT
Interview with a Val-pire
By Wyatt Hall, with the great help of Valerie Sheridan ComerED522
June 21, 2012Prof. Lynne Wissink-Tressler
Just the Facts, Jack
• Interviewed Valerie Sheridan Comer
Just the Facts, Jack
• Since 2006, she has worked at Holy Trinity School, which is located in Georgetown
Just the Facts, Jack
• She is a reading instructional assistant
Explain a typical Monday in your classroom.
• Empty classroom at 7:30 AM (because she’s a reading specialist)
• DLR: daily language review
• Picture walk with predictions for story
Explain a typical Monday in your classroom.
• Introduce spelling pattern of the week
• Brainstorm words and pre-test
Explain a typical Monday in your classroom.
• Reading together from chapter books
• Draw and Write
What are some of the biggest problems you had to face this past year as a teacher?
3rd Grade:• Almost half of the
students have special needs
What are some of the biggest problems you had to face this past year as a teacher?
• 3rd Grade:• Almost half of the
students have special needs
• Those needs are addressed by school through observations and rearrangement of student’s class schedule
What are some of the biggest problems you had to face this past year as a teacher?
4th Grade:• Males - beginning of
pecking order• Females - beginning
of cattiness
What are some of the biggest problems you had to face this past year as a teacher?
4th Grade:• Males - beginning of
pecking order• Females - beginning
of cattiness
• Intake year for a few new students
• Questioning why most things need to be done
What ideas or activities from your graduate classes are you implementing?
Storyboard, i.e. digital
storytelling (ED554)
Running records (ED522)
Is there not enough of something in the classroom?
Physical space!
What advice would you give to a teacher who was just entering the
elementary school system, specifically 2nd to 4th grade?
LISTEN!
Not necessarily just in words
but also behavior,
gestures and other actions
Kids will try to communicate to the best of their abilities.
Recap questions
• Where does Val teach?
• What’s a DLR?
• What’s the main difficulty with her third graders?
• What should new elementary school teachers remember to do, and why?