Blog 5: Second Interview Questions

Revised on October 24th, 2011


For my second interview, I will be interviewing Doug Spoon, the Faculty Advisor of the Poly Post newspaper on Cal Poly Pomona University. I am doing my service learning at the student-run publication.

Some questions I have are the following:

1) How did you come to be the Faculty Advisor for the Poly Post?

2) What are your duties as Faculty Advisor?
3) Apart from your experience with the Poly Post, what other experience do you have in the field of journalism?

4) What is your educational background?

5) What does journalism mean to you and why?

6) What makes a good journalist? (Skills, qualities required, etc.)

7) What would you say is key to running a large publication like the Poly Post?

8) In your opinion, what is the most important part of the newspaper?

9) What drew your interest into becoming a part of journalism/being part of the Poly Post?
10) What positive and negative aspects have you taken from journalism?


I will also be interviewing Cecily Arambula, she is the Editor-in-Chief at the Poly Post and current communications student at Cal Poly Pomona University. Prior to becoming EIC, Cecily was on the Poly Post staff, as well. 


I will be asking the following questions:

1) How did you come to be the Editor-in-Chief for the Poly Post?

2) What are your duties as Editor-in-Chief?

3) Apart from your experience with the Poly Post, what other experience do you have in the field of journalism?

4) What is your educational background?

5) What does journalism mean to you and why?

6) What makes a good journalist? (Skills, qualities required, etc.)

7) What would you say is key to running a large publication like the Poly Post?

8) In your opinion, what is the most important part of the newspaper?

9) What drew your interest into becoming a part of journalism/being part of the Poly Post?

10) What positive and negative aspects have you taken from journalism?

Blog #4: Presentation Reflection

1.  In what way did the first interview affect your presentation?  Please explain, be specific and use an example.
My first interview was for my previous topic in interior design, but I did my presentation on my new topic (as of now) that is child care. The two are not similar in any way, so unfortunately I wasn't able to use the information from my first interviews for my presentation.  
2.  What you say stood out about your presentation performance and why?
In my opinion, what stood out about my presentation performance was the organization I had with my board and my order. Although I forgot one step due to my overall nervousness, I think that order was shown through my presentation. 
3.  What was the most challenging to do and why?
The most challenging thing for me was to keep under five minutes. I was so worried about going over my time that I forgot one of the steps I had planned earlier in my rough and final drafts. 

Blog #3: Senior Project Presentation 1

Five Minute Presentation Rough Draft

Lesson: Types of Child Care

Objective: Students will learn to identify several of the different types of childcare facilities. These include: Day Care Centers, Family Child Care, and In-Home Care.

Procedure:

1.     I will introduce my lesson by asking, “How many different types of child care facilities can you think of?” and I will call on three students to give their opinions/thoughts. (20 seconds)

2.    I will announce to the students that the lesson I will be giving is titled Different Types of Child Care. (15 seconds)

3.    I will then communicate to the audience what my objective is for this mini lesson. (See Objective above). (15 seconds)

4.     Using my presentation board, I will show the students a table of the three basic types of child care that includes a photo and a basic description. Here, I will expand briefly on each specialty. (1 1/2 minute)

5.     Next, I will check for understanding by calling on students and having them guess the type of child care like explained in the “Check for Understanding” section below. (1 minute)

6.     I will then communicate to the audience what my overall goal for this year and my senior project is. This is that I wish to discover something that I hope will become a career for me. (30 seconds)

7.     I will conclude with asking the students if they have any further questions or need any clarifications on the mini lesson. (10 seconds)

Approximate Total Time: 4 minutes

Check for Understanding: I will check for the students’ understanding by having the students play a small game. At the end of my lesson, I will have the students guess the type of child care by giving them clues and then calling on three students. Example: Which type of child care requires the caregiver to visit one’s home? Answer: In-Home Care.

Resources/Materials: To further enhance my lesson, I will be using a poster board organized as a table to show the different categories of child care. This will include a photo or sketch and a brief description about each specialty and their basic pros and cons.

 Evidence of L.I.A.

Literal: Thus far, I have learned many facts about child care and the different types that exist within it. For example, I didn’t know that there were so many different types of child care like Montessori schools, faith-based schools, in-home care, nurseries, etc. that served various clients, children, and purposes.

Interpretive: For this portion, I will draw connections from our lives as children. Almost every child in America has had some sort of caregiver be it a family member or at a facility meaning most of the audience members will have some sort of memory of a daycare they attended. Later in life, we will also have to deal with child care if we have children of our own. This, I believe, will allow students to further comprehend and identify what each of these different types of child care are.

Applied: This will be included in the conclusion of my Five Minute Presentation where I will communicate to the audience what I hope to achieve this year, which is that I hope to learn more about child care on a more professional basis and maybe even take it to the next level and make it a career.

Blog #2: Interview Check (Interior Design)

1. Who are you interviewing and why?
For my first interviews, I have chosen to interview two interior designers in my area.
For my first interview, I will be interviewing Barbara Volk. She is an interior designer at Classic Touch Interiors in West Covina, CA. I chose to interview her first because Classic Touch Interiors is in my community area and also because they are an established interior design business with years of experience.
For my second interview, I will be interviewing Lissette McKindle. She is the Interior Design Manager at IKEA in Covina, CA. I chose to interview her as one of my first interviews because she has experience at IKEA and offers a different perspective into the world of interior design than that of an interior designer at a design firm, like my previous interview. She works with various customers on a daily basis through IKEA offering interior design advice as well being a salesperson for IKEA all at the same time.
2. What additional questions will you ask them (in addition to the 5 we require)?
In addition to the five assigned questions, I plan to ask Ms. Volk and Ms. McKindle the following questions: 
Q: Why did you choose interior design as your profession?
Q: In your opinion, what is the most important element when designing a space (e.g. lighting, texture, color, etc.)
Q: In your opinion, what is the best part about being an interior designer?
Q: What is a typical day for you, professionally?