What do you think is the biggest challenge teachers face today?
A: Teachers are challenged from all sides – the
media, parents, government officials, elected leaders, and communities. We are in the proverbial spotlight –
constantly. That’s why I think that one
of the greatest challenges we face is that of assessment. That is, are students learning to the best of
their potential and are teachers providing their students with the best quality
education possible. Educational
initiatives such as “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top” have put
educational assessment on the front burner, so to speak, of educational
reform. Are we teaching what we should
be teaching and are students achieving as they should be achieving? During my student teaching experience I was
able to fully integrate assessment throughout all my lesson plans – from
beginning to end. For that, I can thank
Dr. Cranshaw, who showed me how to effectively integrate assessment throughout
any lesson, any unit. I certainly don’t
have all the answers regarding assessment, but I’ve received some excellent training
and excellent experiences I can use throughout my career.
Be sure to
demonstrate how you have addressed an element of that issue sometime in your
pre-service training. If you don’t you
will be sending a very powerful message to the interviewer that you don’t stay
up to date and that you are unaware of what is happening outside the
classroom. This is a mistake you can’t
afford to make.
