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Section 6:
Teacher Candidate Teacher Interview Video

Teacher Candidate Interview Video

Please find a link to my screencast-o-matic video here.

Teacher Candidate Interview Questions & Responses

Hello, and welcome to my final section of my Capstone Portfolio. My name is Emily

Schumacher and I am excited to share with you my experiences I have had at Medaille College

and teaching techniques I have learned while completing my Masters of Science in Elementary

Education. In this video, I will showcase some of my teacher website as well as answer some

interview questions and answers to give you a better understanding of who I am and more about

my working experience with children. The link to my weebly website is

http://mrsschumachersclass.weebly.com/.

This site was created in my technology class and is something I plan to use in my own

teaching career. I think having an online website, especially in the day and age we are in, is a

great way to communicate with families, share important resources and take on the flipped

classroom design. I am a very organized person and you will see this organization throughout the

website. Each page has a specific purpose and the headings. The headings are textures minimize

the business of the page and to keep it from becoming visually overwhelming for the viewer. I

have put a lot of effort into creating a very useful tool for myself, future employers, families and

students.

Here in the top bar you can click on many different pages including a page about me, a

blog for our classroom, a page for the students where the students can link to the page where

they will find links to their resources or can use the drop down menu to choose the student page

they wish to view, parent’s page where they can view their resources and other links to surveys
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for volunteering and to tell me more about their student, there is a contact page where parents

can send me a message and finally a page for my personal capstone portfolio.

The welcome page is where students and families will have the chance to hear a welcome

message, welcoming them to our class and classroom website. I believe student and parent

engagement is important for a positive classroom community. Scrolling down you will find a

Padlet I created for my cohort inviting them to share with the class what their plans are for the

summer other than school. For my class I would change up the questions to continue the family

engagement. This is also a great way for students to check in if they have missed any classes.

Moving on to the About Me page, you will find a quick 60 second video to introduce me

to my students and families. I want to make sure the families have the opportunity to get to know

me even if they are not able to make it into the classroom for different meet the teacher

opportunities. I have wanted to teach since I was in grade three. I had a teacher who made my

learning fun, applicable outside of the classroom and I always felt like she really cared about me

as a student and as a person. I started my teaching path at Laurier University where I was

studying Psychology. After the first year I was struggling with the program so I changed majors.

I thought that would make me feel better. Unfortunately it didn’t and I decided I needed a change

in programs and schools. I started my Early Childhood Education Diploma at Conestoga College

and in April 2013 I graduated on the Dean’s List. Immediately after finishing my Diploma, I

entered into the Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies program at Ryerson University. I was

lucky enough to complete my entire degree online so I could work and gain experience at the

same time. It took me a little longer to complete my program but the experience I gained is

invaluable. After completing my Bachelor’s Degree I started at Medaille College and the rest is

history.
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There are many current trends when it comes to education and there are a few I see

myself using in the future. As an Early Childhood Educator I see value in project based or

inquiry based learning. I know for some students, if they are not interested in the topic then they

may struggle with motivation to complete the task. To try to curb this dip in motivation, I plan to

give my students choices as often as possible. THese choices may come in the form of topics or

presentation type. If we are looking at influential people, I will give the students a list of people

they can choose from as well as a few different presentation styles. This way the students are

meeting the curriculum goals that I need them to meet but they are also taking control of their

own learning with the freedom of choice. Another trend I would like to implement in my

classroom is flexible seating. I am a person who does not work best sitting at a desk all the time.

I enjoy the freedom of sitting on the floor, on the couch, at a table etc. I would like to give my

students the same freedom. There would be high expectations the students would be expected to

uphold while sitting in the flexible seating and it would be taught as a privilege that can be

removed if the student is not using the seating appropriately. One last current trend I see value in

is the flipped classroom. As a student who struggled with specifically math, I would have loved

it if my teacher had sent us home with an introductory video or assignment to start to look at the

topic we would be learning the next day. I like the idea of sending students home to do some pre-

learning before coming to the lesson. I think giving students a heads up as to what is being taught

is a great way to ease some anxiety and set the students up for success.

My portfolio tab is next. In this tab I have uploaded each section of my capstone

portfolio. This shows my philosophy of education and many different artifacts allowing me to

showcase my ability to plan and implement engaging lesson plans that align with curriculum

standards and students of all abilities will be able to complete the task and feel supported. When
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I was writing my philosophy of education, I was reminded of my time at Medaille College.

Before my first day of classes at Medaille, I felt confident in my ability to gain a relationship

with my students and families but planning engaging activities that still align with the curriculum

standards, differentiating instruction and having great classroom management made me nervous.

I also knew the need for technology in the classroom but I was not confident with how to

implement the use of technology without it seeming like an afterthought. But through my time at

Medaille the professors taught me valuable lessons and put my mind at ease. I now feel ready to

take on student placement head on and gain as much experience as possible planning,

differentiating, using technology and managing a classroom so I am ready for my own classroom

in the near future. We have an amazing cohort! Together we came into the program as strangers

but we are leaving as a close group where we know we can look to each other as a source of

support and resources. This will translate to working with coworkers at the school I am working

at. I will be a brand new teacher soon and I hope to look towards coworkers for support and

friendship. I currently work in schools as an Early Childhood Educator and when I was at one

school covering a leave I became so close to many of the teaching staff. They were, and still are,

great friends to have because they understand what your day is like and are able to bounce ideas

back and forth because they understand the school and students. I am looking forward to this

when I start teaching.

Knowing how to connect to parents without needing them to come into the classroom is

important to me. I understand how busy parenting can be, I also understand how busy my

teaching day can be so having a class blog allows me to keep all of the families in my class

updated on what is going on in our classroom in a few clicks. The blog will be my main form of

communication between myself and families for messages that affect the whole class. Other
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methods of communication such as email or written notes will be shared back and forth for

individual student specific needs.

The students page has links for important information I would like to share with the

students. Before looking at the links, the students have a survey to fill out for me to get to know

them a little better. The first link is cyber safety which takes you to the cyber safety presentation

I created for the students. As an educator in 2019 and beyond, technology is a part of life.

Teaching students how to be safe online is a huge priority as they will continue using technology

in new and exciting ways beyond their time in my classroom. This presentation is also good for

parents to see so they can enforce the cyber safety dos and don’ts at home. Students will have

homework throughout the year and the homework tab will take students and parents to the

assigned work. This tab leaves out the questions. It will be very clear on this part of the site what

is due, when it was assigned and when it needs to be completed by. This holds myself and the

students accountable and helps the parents too. In this tab there is an edpuzzle for a flipped

classroom lesson. This lesson would be briefly introduced in the classroom and then the students

would have the chance to watch a video at home and gain some understanding of what the lesson

is in the coming days.

The author study I completed using the books written and illustrated by Todd Parr is

linked here, as well as readings of three of Todd’s books and a link to Todd’s website. This

author study was completed using the SMART Notebook software and is intended to be used on

a smartboard. As you click through the notebook there are activities showing my ability to use

the SMART Notebook technology and implement engaging activities. As you can see, this

SMART Notebook has three lessons covering four subjects; math, ELA, Art and Social Studies.

For the purpose of the video I will show you the first lesson which is a math lesson on graphing
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and intertwined with a social studies standards of family dynamics and celebrating holidays. This

hide and reveal has the students erase the box to reveal The Family Book which will supplement

this lesson. Each student would then have the opportunity to drag and drop their family members

into the graph. We would talk about how to create a graph and properly input the data. We would

then count up the results to see everything on one page and talk about the results. Next the

students would each share the holidays they celebrate in their family. Holiday options and family

members represented change depending on the students in the class. I would be sure to do my

research before the lesson to make sure each student is represented. The final piece of this lesson

would be talking about the results and how they differ. This would be the beginning of a

graphing unit in math and family dynamic lesson in social studies.

Finally, the final page on my website is a contact form. Giving the parents an opportunity

to contact me when they think of what they need to say is important. As a parent myself I

appreciate being able to relay a message as soon as it comes to mind. I would like to offer this to

the parents in my class too.

I believe my creativity, strong work ethic, enthusiasm and team mindset are a few of my

greatest assets for any school board. I like to work with others who have a common goal and see

a task through to the end. I am able to think on my feet and have flexibility ingrained in me. I

have high expectations for my students but I will do everything in my power to help them

achieve these expectations and be the biggest cheerleader for my students. I hope this gave you

an idea of my planning, teaching and overall personality. I enjoyed this capstone project because

it gave me the chance to really reflect on my time at Medaille College and all I have learned in

the last 12 months. Thank you for watching and have a great rest of your day.

Conclusion
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Section six brought more reflection and showing skills gained in the process of

completing the program. I feel that I am ready to take on student teaching and I am excited to

learn even more from my great teachers.

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