I just scheduled an interview for Saturday for a position at an highly rated charter school on Saturday. The end of the school year means things are crazy busy, so I think it's really nice of the principal to come in on the weekend. I have a full-time non-teaching job and it's so much more convenient and I don't have to find an excuse to get time off. I've interviewed with this principal before last year. Didn't get the job, but he encouraged me to sub there (I'll be switching to subbing full time in the fall if I don't get a regular teaching position). Anyone ever had success re-interviewing with a school/principal?
I would think the fact that he is interviewing you again is a good thing! You obviously stood out enough for him to take another look at you!
Good luck! Fingers crossed for you. I agree, the fact that he is taking the time to reinterview you is promising! Keep us posted!
I'm so nervous. I've looked through most of the school website and handbook and have loved everything I've read. I'm trying to remain confident about this interview. Every time I get one I fear it will be my last for the hiring season. Hear's hoping I do well and don't come off like a complete spazz (which is how I feel right now).
It was a really quick interview (mostly catching up on what I'd been up to in the past year). It took me longer to drive to the school than the meeting lasted. The principal seemed disappointed that I had not substitute taught. I explained that it wasn't a financially sound option until recently (my fiancee has a full-time job that can support us for the most part). On the bright side, he indicated he'd be contacting my references and that there would be a mini-demo lesson with the superintendent later this month. He also said my chances are much better this year. Fingers crossed.
I think the principal is checking/calling my references. My mentor teacher has married since she wrote my letter of rec, so the email address on it is out of date. I provided her new one and the principal sent me an email to confirm her updated contact info. It would be really nice if I could just have another interview with the superintendent to talk about how I create lesson plans instead of doing a demo lesson. It's difficult to come up with a 15 minute history lesson without spending time on context/background information. Students finish school tomorrow, so it would be a demo lesson with administrators, which is awkward.
Can you go in with the idea that the "students" already learned about something previously? Or maybe a short primary source related lesson (a big deal if your area is moving to Common Core)? A quick lesson I have used involves a letter that a Civil War soldier wrote to his family. I have the students read it, then they fill out a worksheet that relates to the soldier (something a classmate used in a graduate course with us) and consider what he would smell, think, hear, feel, speak, does, travels, and see. I could email it to you (no copyright listed) if you would like. It helps them analyze the primary source. The letter I use is from my husband's great great grandfather, so the students tend to think it is really cool that he has the same last name as me.
That is cool. I was thinking analyzing a primary source would be the best idea, since not as much context is needed for that. I think they'll give me a particular topic. The principal asked what my favorite topic in US history is during the interview (I really love the Colonial/Revolutionary War era - I used to live about two blocks from Colonial Williamsburg). If I get to choose, I'll shoot you a PM with my email address so I can look over the worksheet. Thanks!
So much great information in that time period as well. I recently went to Philadelphia and took LOTS of pictures as I visited as many historical sites as possible. I loved visiting Williamsburg as a kid too (guess I was destined to be a History teacher??). If you (or anyone really) needs it, let me know and I'd be glad to email it.
I have my second interview Tuesday at 9:00. Thank you for your interest in the Social Studies teaching position at Charter School With a Long Name. At this time we would like to invite you for the second interview with our Principal, Superintendent and a possibly a few select staff members. In this interview, you will be asked to bring a 45-minute lesson on a historical topic. You will have 5-10 minutes to walk us through the lesson plan. The topic we would like you to present to us is the historical evolution of individual rights, as established in the Constitution of the United States. This lesson needs to include: --A fully completed daily lesson plan that indicates State Standards, Lesson Objectives, Key terms, essential questions, accommodations for students with special needs (such as SLD and ESL) and a reflection component on how this lesson can be presented with different classroom technologies. --An introductory activity and explanation of the lesson/goals. --An activity revolving around the use of primary and secondary sources to interpret course content. --A closing assessment of learning. I'm going to frame my lesson around the evolution of one right (maybe free speech?) and have students read/summarize different court cases and see how it has been evaluated and interpreted over time. It lends itself well to different technologies and I know what I want to do for assessment. I'm a little less certain about the opening hook activity and differentiation for ESL, mostly because many students speak Spanish or Somali as their first language and there are many more resources for the former. I really feel I can pull it off, though. *crosses fingers*
I met with the superintendent, the high school principal, head of the social studies department for the high school, and the director of the elementary school. There were some general interview questions (mostly from the superintendent and elementary director). The principal didn't really participate in that portion. I don't think he like me very much - he's very distant and made reference to the fact that I intend to substitute teach next year. After that I went over my lesson with the principal and the head of the social studies department. The department head seemed to like my ideas, while the principal criticized the fact that is was too difficult for ELL students. It's a lesson on Constitutional law with primary and secondary source analysis (clearly required by the state learning standard for the topic) the best I could think of was to rewrite things at a lower grade level, provide student access to audio recordings of the sources read aloud, and have students work in small groups to assist ELL students. I suppose I could provide the document summaries and have the ELL students put them in order instead of writing their own. I don't have much experience with ELL students, but made it clear that I wm willing and able to try new techniques and lesson ideas to be more accomodating. :dunno: I'm not entirely discouraged, but neither am I overly hopeful.
