For my internship I chose to go to Cajon park (a traditional school) which is a school in Santee that teaches students from kindergarten to seventh grade. Today was my site visit and the goal of it was to get to know my mentor, Hannah Fields, the students, and get to know what happens in an average fourth grade classroom. Mrs. Fields was my fourth grade teacher which is one of the reasons why I chose her. The other reason I chose her were because she genuinely cares about her students in a way that is not seen often. She stuck out in my memory because she was a great teacher and because she was always very kind and fair towards students. After being with her for just an hour I realized that I could not have possibly chosen a better mentor. She made me feel very welcome. showed me how things were run and just made me immediately feel like a part of the classroom.
Mentor Interview Questions 1. What is a typical workday like?
Her immediate answer was that there are a lot of transitions because she is their only teacher for the whole day that when they switch from one subject to the next it may take a while and it takes a lot of work on her part to teach them all that they need to do and keep it a fun environment. Her other answer was “Teaching to the whole child”. She is not just the person that stands at the front of the room and gives a spelling test or whatever she is teaching at the moment. She is also helping and teaching them to grow emotionally. 2. What are your main duties and responsibilities?
Her main duties are to teach the California standards and to connect with the child. She wants the students to really feel like they are their own person “not just a child in room 25”. 3. How is the organization structured?
The school itself teaches kindergarten to eighth grade, there are four 4th grade classes, heer class has its own daily schedule, in her classroom there are four tables with eight students at each (there are actually 33 students in total so one table has nine students), and she teaches her students through collaboration with each other, her, and Google (all students have Ipads paid for by the district). 4. Tell us about your path in getting to where you are today- what is your educational history and work experience prior to working here?
She started off with some AP at West Hills High School, went to Grossmont college, got her bachelor degree at Cal State Marcos, her masters from Brandman, did some online classes from UCSD to get GATE certified, and she’s been working at Cajon Park for the past ten years. She originally wanted to major in history but switched to liberal studies and minored in history and got her teaching certificate. Most of the people around her while she was growing up were teachers and her mom was a pre-school teacher so that also really helped her to become a teacher. 5. Why did you choose to work here?
Her exact words were, “I didn’t. It chose me.” When Mrs. Fields first applied to the district she got interviewed by the principal (at the time) and the principal liked her so much that principal called other schools in the district and told them to not interview Mrs. Fields because she was being hired at Cajon park; Mrs. Fields did not know the principal had done that's why she says the job chose her. 6. What qualifications do employees need to be successful here and how are those qualifications acquired?
To work at the school as a teacher an employee needs to have at least have a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate. To be successful a teacher needs to have an open mind and be able to teach to the whole child.
7. What other personality traits, skills, or knowledge are important to be successful here?
Other things a teacher needs to be successful is to be kind, compassionate, selfless, and to know that your work time will definitely bleed into your personal time. 8. What advice do you have about working here?
I changed the question to “What advice do you have about working here?” Her answer was that it is an extremely rewarding job and that you get to relive childhood memories, such as reading the Polar Express, kids look up to you so you have to be a positive role model, and to be mindful of parents because sometimes they can get mean so you need to have thick skin.
Mentor Interview Questions 1. What is a typical workday like?
Her immediate answer was that there are a lot of transitions because she is their only teacher for the whole day that when they switch from one subject to the next it may take a while and it takes a lot of work on her part to teach them all that they need to do and keep it a fun environment. Her other answer was “Teaching to the whole child”. She is not just the person that stands at the front of the room and gives a spelling test or whatever she is teaching at the moment. She is also helping and teaching them to grow emotionally. 2. What are your main duties and responsibilities?
Her main duties are to teach the California standards and to connect with the child. She wants the students to really feel like they are their own person “not just a child in room 25”. 3. How is the organization structured?
The school itself teaches kindergarten to eighth grade, there are four 4th grade classes, heer class has its own daily schedule, in her classroom there are four tables with eight students at each (there are actually 33 students in total so one table has nine students), and she teaches her students through collaboration with each other, her, and Google (all students have Ipads paid for by the district). 4. Tell us about your path in getting to where you are today- what is your educational history and work experience prior to working here?
She started off with some AP at West Hills High School, went to Grossmont college, got her bachelor degree at Cal State Marcos, her masters from Brandman, did some online classes from UCSD to get GATE certified, and she’s been working at Cajon Park for the past ten years. She originally wanted to major in history but switched to liberal studies and minored in history and got her teaching certificate. Most of the people around her while she was growing up were teachers and her mom was a pre-school teacher so that also really helped her to become a teacher. 5. Why did you choose to work here?
Her exact words were, “I didn’t. It chose me.” When Mrs. Fields first applied to the district she got interviewed by the principal (at the time) and the principal liked her so much that principal called other schools in the district and told them to not interview Mrs. Fields because she was being hired at Cajon park; Mrs. Fields did not know the principal had done that's why she says the job chose her. 6. What qualifications do employees need to be successful here and how are those qualifications acquired?
To work at the school as a teacher an employee needs to have at least have a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate. To be successful a teacher needs to have an open mind and be able to teach to the whole child.
7. What other personality traits, skills, or knowledge are important to be successful here?
Other things a teacher needs to be successful is to be kind, compassionate, selfless, and to know that your work time will definitely bleed into your personal time. 8. What advice do you have about working here?
I changed the question to “What advice do you have about working here?” Her answer was that it is an extremely rewarding job and that you get to relive childhood memories, such as reading the Polar Express, kids look up to you so you have to be a positive role model, and to be mindful of parents because sometimes they can get mean so you need to have thick skin.