I had an initial interview with the principal and vice principal of a very good district for a fifth grade position. I was called to do a demo lesson. I have not been told what content area the lesson will be. They told me to arrive 20 minutes before my scheduled time and I will be given an "objective" and have 20 minutes to prepare a mini-lesson for the principal and vice principal. Any advice on how to best prepare for this type of demo?
No advice, really, mostly because I don't know much about 5th grade (well, anything except math...I don't do math). I personally think this is a bit unfair...never heard of such a broad way to do this. I mean, if they gave you some clue, then, yes, you could figure out something, but just an objective??? I guess just review basic stuff, hope for a reasonable objective, and pray that you can think on your feet. Sorry, not much help, am I?
Do you have any idea of what kind of materials you might have available to you? If not, you might want to bring things like markers, paper, and other basic school supplies. That's so weird that they only give you 20 minutes to prepare.
they said I'll have everthing I need... ie whiteboard, chart paper markers etc... I'm thinking of bringing a bag full of picture books (reading or writing lessons) and a bunch of post-its! I guess I'll have to think on my feet!
I would have access to a laptop with a quick link to the state standards for all subjects in the 5th grade so that I could quickly link up the ojective to a standard and hopefully to a benchmark. I think they want to see how well you know the standards for that grade level which is ridiculous because we don't have all of them memorized. We look it up and plan our lessons accordingly. If you don't have access to a computer during that 20 minutes, make sure you walk in with your big binder of the state standards and an idea of what to do to match up the objective they give you.
This is your chance to think on your feet! That's one of the hardest parts about teaching; reacting to meet changing circumstances. Assuming they do this to all new candidates, it certainly is a great tool for looking at what a teacher can do. And bringing the state standards along is a great idea! Good luck!
I have not seen the state standards for NJ for the 5th grade. In NC, they are not all that terribly long, so I would go ahead and print them and start reading them. Consider some generalized lessons in the various subject areas that could easily be adapted. Start thinking about cross curricular ideas -- this is where looking at the entire curriculum is going to be helpful for you.
