I finally got a job! I interviewed for a sixth grade language arts/social studies position in the district where I used to teach. The highest grade I've ever taught is fourth so I'm a little nervous. However, the kids that will be in my class were the kids I last taught there in third grade!!! I'm so excited!!! Their new superintendent does this test called The Perceiver. Has anyone had to do that? It was hard!!!
Fantastic! I bet you are so excited- go out and celebrate- finding a job in k-6 is a hard feat to accomplish in many places these days!
too cool! I taught a group in the 5th grade and then moved up and had them again in the 8th grade. I loved it. I'm sure you will too.
Congrats!!:wow: That's great!! I have never heard of what you were talking about (the perceiver) --what is it?? Just curious.
Congratulations! That is so neat that you will have some of the same students again. The highest grade I've ever taught was 4th too, and I have an interview coming up for 6th. Did they ask any questions specific to the middle school level?
Congratulations on your new job!!! I had to take the Perceiver test twice. The first time I know I didn't pass. I never heard from the second school district.
They asked some weird questions! They asked what makes middle school a great age, prioritize the top four or five responsibilities of a teacher, what's wrong with kids today, what makes an excellent teacher, how do you get kids excited about learning, and some other basic interview questions. What surprised me the most, in all my interviews really, is the lack of instructionally focused questions. It was weird! I've been to five or six job interviews this summer before getting this job. Good luck on your interview!
The Perceiver is a type of test where the person giving it is looking for certain words in your response to sixty different questions. Apparently a long time ago the Gallup Poll did a nation-wide survey of highly successful teachers and found out that they all answer the same questions in similar ways. I was told that if you are honest and think about kid-centered answers you should do fine. I apparently scored in the top 1-2% of all teachers, but I missed 9 questions.
I was curious about this new wierd test you mentioned...so I googled it and here's what I found. You need to read through the article to get to the test part. Sounds like a bunch of psychobabble to me. And yet, why does it not suprise me that an administrator would do such a thing??? http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=5222
This is so disturbing to me. It seems that some (not all) teachers are being hired on their ability to lie. How does that make someone a good teacher? Aren't we supposed to help students become responsible and productive citizens? I love to teach, but I am getting more and more fed up with the politics of the hiring process.
congrats on your new job...and for doing so well on the perceiver! i have not taken that for several years (i took the elem. version) but it is tough, and knocks a lot of people out of the running . i hope that you have fun getting ready for your new classroom-congrats again!! -meri
I talked to anothe principal in the district and she said that she has never heard of anyone who hasn't passed. They did still hire people with pretty low scores and they ended up not renewing them because of their inability to teach. While I don't think this is the end all, I have seen so many people lie their way through an interview only to turn out hating students and being horrible teachers, I think this may weed some people out.
Congratulations! Working with kids you have had in the past is a great experience. I got to "loop" with a whole grade once for 3 years and it was wonderful. I was a Title VI-R (like an aide but I actually designed and implemented lessons ) I am surprised that more school districts don't practice looping because it has many benefits for both teachers and students. A friend of mine who has been a teacher for a long time, teaches 4th grade (inclusively-all subjects) and then loops with them to 5th grade each year, then goes back down to 4th, etc...she loves it. She even plans field trips for the first week of school in 5th grade! Think about the possibilities. This is a case where any negatives are far outweighed by positives!