This is a combination of our interviews of educators.

1. Educator Interviews
Belen Garcia
Talin Elmedjian
Xiaoyu Sun
MTE/501 The Art and Science of Teaching
May 15, 2017

2. Belen Garcia-Rubio
Prof. George Morse
MTE 501
05.13.17
Introduction
I interviewed my sixth grade elementary school teacher and her name is Mrs. Castro. She
went from being a sixth grade teacher, to an assistant principle, and went back to teaching
sixth grade.
Interview Question 1
Mrs. Castro explains to me how many teachers are aging out into retirement. She
emphasizes her worries on how much education has changed. When she was my teacher,
she was still able to incorporate life lessons for us and allow us to build our social
behaviors. Now, with the changes, she explains how difficult it has become for a teacher
to guide students into becoming behaved-students, meaning they thought about their
actions before acting out. She states how teachers are being forced to teach so much on
testing material, that it causes students to rush through rather than actually analyze the
lesson, and how days are being cut out to help with school costs that teachers are not able
to add extra learning beyond what the core is.
Mrs. Castro still has hope with things changing to what it was when like when she
was teaching years back. She explains how the roles have simply changed, where it is no
longer the teacher focusing on life lessons for the students, but rather the counselors at

3. school. She explained to me how there is a need for counselors and just how important
their roles are at this point. Children are facing more problems than they were before, and
those are issues that need to be addressed according to Mrs. Castro. If there is no support
from counselors, the students are left with very minimal to rely on, and unfortunately
there are not enough counselors to attend to all the students on campus. Mrs. Castro is an
individual who never gives up on her students and wishes for the best outcome for her
students.
Interview Question 2
Mrs. Castro has always maintained an expectation from her students, and does not
put holds her students responsible for their actions. For example, students who refuse to
do homework or do not have it completed, face a lecture, which tends to frighten them to
the point where they regret not doing their homework. Accountability is what is
important to Mrs. Castro, as she expects her students to be accountable for what they
have done. For example, if a student has not earned the privilege to play or has earned
detention, she doesn’t forget and also does a follow up on the student in making sure they
wrote their sentences.
Mrs. Castro explained to me why she believe it was important to show students at
a young age to develop the sense of responsibility and why it was important to hold them
accountable for their action. She stated how there are many parents working hard to
provide for their children, and she could see how this affected the students. She described
scenarios where some parents barely have the opportunity to see their children or at least
have a conversation with them. So how could she expect to be upset at the parent for not
being able to stay on top of each student’s homework?
She grew up in an environment where her mother and father did everything they
could to provide for her and her siblings. She explains the struggle she had when she
asked for help with her homework and her parents couldn’t help her because they didn’t
understand English. Mrs. Castro understood that her parents were doing their part in
providing food, shelter, and clothes for her. She explained, “The best way for me to do
my part in this family was to do well in school, so that my parents had one less thing to
worry about.” The thing that stood out the most to me was when she also said, “What
kind of a daughter would I be if I repaid my parents back by not trying in school?” The
experience, Mrs. Castro went through, created sympathy towards the parents, and
allowed her to build into a strong-minded, and independent person.
These are reasons as to why she has such high expectations for her students. She
understands everybody has their own struggles they face at home, but the best she can do
for these children is educate them. Not only is she focused on their academics, but also on
their goals and behaviors. She believes that every student can succeed in life no matter
the challenges they face, just as long as they are guided along the way and as long as they
remain focused. She knows how much she can influence her students, as they are with
her five days out of the week for about six-seven hours consistently throughout the day.

4. Conclusion
Mrs. Castro continues to be a huge influence in my life and I consistently ask her
questions around the education field. Her and her husband give me the advice in order to
help me make a decision and to give me the opportunity to explore my options in the
education field. I admire the work they have put in all these years and the time they have
dedicated to their students. Mrs. Castro enjoys what she does and explains to me that no
matter how difficult of a challenge she faces with her students, there is never a day where
she didn’t enjoy her job. People like Mrs. And Mr. Castro are the reasons I stay
motivated and continue to push myself. I want to be able to help children the way they
helped me when I was just growing up, and even now as an adult they continue to help
me in order to achieve that goal of one day giving to other students what they gave to me.
Interview by: Xiaoyu Sun
I interviewed Laura Orabi who is third grade teacher in my school. This year is
her 12nd in our district. She said sigh language is the most beautiful language she has
ever seen.
Her teaching philosophy focuses on each student and their educational needs, the
teaching strategies to them achieve their goal, the development of positive character and
social success which are essential in becoming a productive citizen in today's society. She
also believes parent engagement could help students in their academic success as well as
social success.
She thinks in the future, technology is key. Now she has 9 laptops in her classroom and
the ratio of students and laptop is 3:1. In the future she said every student should have a
laptop computer. A laptop computer is the student’s library, homework, data storage, and
connection to the wilder world. Good news is our school will add the budge on the laptop
purchasing. She also thinks in the future, school should assist the creation of a

5. community of parents and teachers who communicate with each other and support each
other in improving schools. Teacher, parents and students are a triangle. Parent
engagement in schools has not only helpful for student’s academic success, but life
success. But in our school room parent or parent engagement is still a challenge.
Her own experiences also shape her teaching philosophy. She has an 8 years old son who
is in mandarin immersion program in his school. After school he goes to Japan jujitsu
team. Her son loves them so much. She think today’s society is diverse. A teacher must
be aware and sensitive to the multicultural differences in order to better understand the
society and achieve his potential.
Educator Interview
By: Talin Elmedjian
I had the opportunity to interview Natalie Bedo, a 2nd
grade teacher in the city of
Northridge. She has been teaching Elementary students for 14 years.
Teaching Philosophy
Mrs. Bedo explained that in her 14 years of experience of teaching she has
learned that education and teaching are ever changing. It is crucial that a teacher learn to
adapt to his/her environment and curriculum. She believes that improving herself as an
educator is equally as important as improving herself as a role model. She continued by
stating students look at their teacher as an example of academic and personal excellence
and as teachers they must show their students what education is through modeling often
and showing interest in all subjects. She said, as a teacher she takes great pride in sharing
her life experiences with her students and always strives to offer them the academic
experiences she has learned.
The Future of Education
Mrs. Bedo believes that education is definitely more difficult to control with the
enormous amount of distractions life has presented. The ease of technology and short cuts

6. has increased tremendously. However, technology can also be beneficial. She feels that it
is essential that teachers continue to teach. Not only should students be offered strong
daily lessons, but should be given the opportunity to speak what they have learned. The
Internet and technology can enhance learning if it is controlled. Students still need to
learn to read, write, and most importantly think. She thinks that technology can help in a
classroom, but the beauty of teaching is the old fashion way, which is without the help of
technology. She continues by saying “If we want our student to grow and succeed we
need to offer them the opportunity to think about topic and calculate their own visions.”
(Bedo)
This is a very difficult combination because society has changes greatly and
student’s needs and learning styles are more diverse. Teachers need resources and
continuous support in order to successfully teach in the classroom.
Life Experience
Mrs. Bedo says that in past years she has learned that she needs to change her
lessons and class dynamic depending on the needs of her students. Her experience has
taught her that the most effective way for her to support her students is to incorporate
small group instruction a couple times a week. This is the best way for her to design a
lesson to differentiate her instruction. By creating small group instruction it is also
allowing her to assess students more closely and re teach any necessary skills. Being
flexible and adapting is key and allows her to be a successful teacher.

7. Our team came to see that the teachers we interviewed had many things in
common. These three teachers share a passion for teaching and educating children. They
are aware that technology has taken over, but like the original way of teaching children
more. From here on out teaching is only getting more advanced and more technological,
but that doesn’t stop these teachers from teaching the way they were taught several years
ago. The philosophies mentioned were all similar in a way. Although each teacher had a
focus on something different, the overall understanding was that by sharing their own life
experiences, these teachers are helping children understand learning.
After interviewing and discussing our findings we have come to see that it is very
important to connect with students and engage with them individually. To better
strengthen teaching and learning in the classroom we must create our on philosophy
about how passionate we are about getting children to learn and think. Technology is not
going anywhere and will be used for years to come. As future teachers we must learn the
right way to use technology and how to incorporate it in a useful way with out curriculum
and agenda.