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Teacher #63 May 27 I: Why don’t you start off by talking a little bit about how you became a kindergarten teacher and why you chose to do that kind of work. Sort of work history and education history. T: OK. I started out going to school for a two-year degree in nursery school education. Went out and worked in a few nursery schools and had a lot of student teaching experience, and, over a period of like a year, I decided I wanted to go back and get a four-year degree and teach in public schools. So I returned, I went to _____ State. I got my four-year degree in early childhood education. I: And the two-year degree. Where did you go to school? T: _____ Community College. After getting the . . . my degree, I was hired immediately that fall after I graduated here at _____ Elementary for the kindergarten position. Eight years ago, and that is where I have been since—in the kindergarten position. I: Did you take time off to have a child? [We had talked about this before the tape started.] T: Yes. Just one year. I left in March. Finished out that school year in sick time, and I came back. Stayed home a full year on maternity leave; this is my first year back. 259 APPENDIX D Teacher Interview Transcript I: Have you thought about changing grade levels? Do you like kindergarten? T: I love kindergarten. I like the little ones. I think you can do a lot with them. I have thought about trying first grade. I did student teaching in first grade and did some extra volunteer time in first grade. I like that, too. It is a little more involved, work wise. I like having the different groups of kids, too. In kindergarten you have the morning and afternoon. You have different groups. I: And that is an advantage? T: I like it. It is a lot of kids to work with and a lot of kids to remember. But I do like having a different class come in during the day. I: That leads me to ask about going to a full day where you would have just one group. Do you have strong feelings about going to a full-day program? T: I have mixed feelings about it. I see so much of the time where there are large groups of children that I think could not handle a full day because they have a hard enough time . . . it is maybe like half year before they can handle just making it through the whole day of school. In this situation , there are so many children now who are going to nursery school two years before they even come here so they . . . already have been in school so much they are comfortable with it. And there are quite a few kids who could handle a full day easily. But I think if I had my choice, I would have the first half of the year be a half day and the second half stretched to a full day. Except that scheduling that many children would really be hard. I: But if you were just making the decision for kids, what is best for kids, that might be a good alternative? T: Uh-huh. I think so. When they get to first grade after being in a half a day kindergarten, they have a lot of trouble stretching it and waiting all day long. It takes at least a month before the kids can wait till lunch and can wait till the end of the day. I: Could you just take me through what a typical morning looks like in your classroom? What kind of activities go on? Maybe if you just did that chronologically through the day. T: We start out . . . they come in from the bus, and they have what is called free time. Where they have centers that are set up in the room, and they have their choice of working at any one of the centers, the block area, the playhouse. It is more like a free time for them to choose what they want and have time to explore the different activities. Some days there are more specific things set out at the tables. Other days it is just free for them to choose. And that lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. 260 Doing Qualitative Research in Education Settings [18.117...

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