So my interview with the dream school is coming up, and it's leaving me wondering what I ask the interview committee when it's my turn to ask questions. The majority of my go to questions won't work, technology and collaboration questions, because I know the answers to those questions since I was in the school so much last year and was a part of the school community. So, do you guys have any suggestions of interview questions that I can have in mind to ask the committee?
I always like to ask about opportunities for professional development. I'm not sure how much you know about the school, but you could also ask about parent involvement and their literacy/math programs.
I always ask (I stole this from somewhere, but I can't remember) "What qualities do the teachers here have that make the school so great?" or something along those lines. It always seems to really impress them.
I usually ask something along the lines of "What would you (the admin or the teachers) say is the best part of working here and the most challenging part of working here?"
I could definitely ask about professional development as I wasn't really part of the PLC last year and only went to the monthly staff meeting. Literacy/math and parent involvement I know pretty well since I was there for much of last year. They're going into their second year of Wonders and their second year of the redone Everyday Math plus the K teacher sprinkle in a lot of other fun activities that they don't pull from the district ordered curriculum. And parent involvement is AMAZING! They have some of the best parents in the world! I think I've experienced the qualities that make the school so great. The staff is really ready and eager to help those new to the building. And they're really supportive of each other. Ooooh, this one is good, knowing this P, he'd toss the question to the other K teacher. Thanks so much for the input y'all!
I always ask "are there any duties outside the classroom I'll be expected to perform?" Like- bus duty, cafeteria duty, heading up a club, etc.
I would re-word that to say "Are there any duties outside of the classroom I can perform to enhance the school community" so it doesn't look like you want to find minimum requirements and you come across as eager to go above and beyond. On different interview advice panels, I have seen admins say they don't like when they feel interviewed so don't go overboard and feel you need to impress them with thorough questions.
I heard that the one question that really catches their attention (not in a bad way) is "Is there a reason why you wouldn't hire me?" because then you can address those issues / explain yourself before you leave the interview!
I will definitely ask about duties outside of the classroom. I know that classroom teachers don't have bus duty and things like that, but k teachers spend the first 5 to 10 minutes of lunch with their classes in the cafeteria. But I don't really know about after school opportunities, but I know that I'd really like to sponsor something not sports related if I have the opportunity. I'm sure I won't ask too many questions though, just because a lot of those questions that a lot of interviewees would ask, I know the answer to because of my familiarity with the school. That's a really great question, but one I can almost guarantee that I wouldn't be confident enough to ask.
To piggy back off this post, what if the principal (new to school but not a new principal) is new to the school that you are interviewing at? What kind of questions could you ask? Thanks!
