Tuesday, January 29 preparing for your interviews

Learning Targets: I can apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

I can verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase.

I can demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Essential question: How does one's questioning techniques- types of questions, presentation- elicit an insightful, authentic interview?

Today you are to create six open-ended questions much as you did with the historical figure last week. These will be used as a framework to scaffold your interviews tomorrow. The actual interview will be much more extensive, as you will respond to your partner.

 Before conducting the interview, your questions must be checked.  Make sure these are insightful, open-ended questions. 

Avoid questions that will elicit short responses. Please send these along by the end of class.  I will return them - corrected, if necessary- and graded by tomorrow, so that you will be able to use them.  

After you have sent along these questions, I would like you to have two conversations with people in the class with whom you have rarely or never spoken.  That means you will need to move your seat!

Pull up a chair and ask them in the following three questions:

1. What is your greatest strength?
2. What do you consider to be a weakness about yourself?

3. Tell me about a time when you were under a lot of stress and how you dealt with it.

Think about body language and eye contact. Are you demonstrating interest? listening? How do you keep the conversation going? How can you effectively conclude the conversation as to show you apprecitated their time and effort?

Tomorrow (Wednesday) you will conduct the interviews. The list will be posted this evening. 

What if my assigned partner is not here?  We'll adjust the names. 

 The interviews should take about 20 minutes each.  You will have Thursday and Friday to write these up.  Take your time. Be very mindful of language conventions. PROOF READ! I will be posting these on the blog. Your name will be listed as the author.  Have fun.

The interviewing technique you are using is the story telling format, much in the style of the Costello or Hitler. Reread these, if necessary. You are not writing up the interview as a q and a. Take your time. Let the conversations evolve.