A simple interview is never really simple is it?

I interviewed J over the phone. This presented challenges because I wasn't able to observe his facial expressions nor body language. It was very difficult to rely simply on a phone conversation and I realized that all future interviews should be video recorded. I have done video interviews before and while transcribing them is tedious, it's good to have something tangible to review.

J failed the the fifth grade language arts assessment and was forced to repeat the fifth grade. Interestingly, I taught J the year before in fourth grade. He's a challenging student. He receives therapy once a week and takes medication to adjust his mood. However we have a good relationship and he was happy to answer my questions to help me with my schoolwork.

Similarly to Michelle's and Edolla's students, J initially gave one word answers. I had to follow up with questions such as, "Can you tell me more?" or "How so?"

I also considered the fact that having another teacher interview J might have yielded different responses. Since I'm his teacher, J might have felt compelled to answer in a certain manner. Overall the interview gave me more insight into more effective ways to interview and adapt questions in real time.