I just read Alice's. I agree that you should say something about how engaged the students are as well.
DRA and DIBELS has to do with reading levels and running records. 504 is a medical condition that limits ability in the classroom and requires modification.
Interview today Okay guys, I have an interview in about an hour and a half-to say I am nervous is the understatement of the year, but this time I have big guns: my experience-the thing is, that do I bring up the Non-renewed for next year, thing? My husband says that they should hear this from you because they will be finding out somewhere, and it would look like I was hiding something, and also that I could make this into a positive thing. So I am going to do it. I will tell them it had been 15-count em-no 16 years since I had been in the classroom. This is for special ed-I had a lot to do and no time or nobody to explain to me how to do it, we were all busy trying to meet standards to be in compliance-there were parents to call, meetings to plan meetings, transfer documents, interviews over the phone, a hundred things hurled at me at once, by the time I got untangled, and unraveled it all out, I GOT it, I GOT the process, the purpose, and teaching has to be done as well, and scheduling when how and where will you do this, what it looks like when it is finished, the thing is there is so much to this job and it is constantly changing. I was a babe in the woods and now I am a "Momma bear" ready to fight for my kids, defend them to the end in a big world that wants to eat them alive, enough of that, can I do this and should I do this, or should I let them find out on their own? thanks Lori
Lori, I know you intend to be honest and give them the whole schpiel, but I want to say, Don't do it. I beleive that you were overwhelmed, but I don't beleive you should tell that to an administrator, they don't want to hear that. They want someone who is confident. All that other stuff about paperwork, meetings, etc..... implies poor time management. Again, I'm not blaming you, but I'm telling you how it sounds. I don't know what I would do about the non renewal, but could you possibly say, it was not a good fit for you... and you feel you can be more productive in another grade? or something like that.
I don't post much, but I read this entire thread! THank you so much. I taught at a charter school in the inner city last year, my first year of teaching. It was a rough year. I was not asked back for this school year, which is OK because I wasn't planning on returning anyway. They told me before I told them. I am now at home with my kids and planning on returning to teaching in the fall, but it, of course, a tough job market in Pittsburgh. I plan on addressing the reason of why I am no longer at the charter school as I was not the right person for that particular school; that it was not the right fit for both of us. I had an interview at one of the top school districts in the state yesterday. There are 4 rounds of interviews!!!! The first was a screening, which was yesterday, it was all of 8 minutes long with four questions being asked!! A second interview would be a more in depth interview with faculty and administrators. The third interview will be a demo lesson and writing sample. And a fourth interview if, no when!, I get it is with the superintendent. What a process!!! Ugh. But, the four questions they asked me were: Aside from student teaching, tell about a time where you experienced a rewarding moment with a student. What motivates you? How do you define student success? What quality to do you think an exceptional educator should posses? I thought those were some tricky questions for a screening interview, much different than your traditional "tell me about you" questions. Thanks for all of the suggestions in the previous posts. I think they will really help me!
Thanks so much to both of you, It helps just to talk about it, I am sort of upset, I am going over and over in my mind what I like about my principal so I won't seem like I hold a grudge-I don't I really like some things about him, but I would love to be there another year, and my colleagues feel the same way. We are comfortable together after much tearing out of the hair. On the other hand, yes I would like a chance to work with younger kids. I do better with skills that are cut and dried, we are talking concrete learners and I do well with concrete teaching, not subjective, if that is the right word, but easy to teach, easy to measure-Reading is hard in that regard, questioning and sizing it up to see if they understand what the author is trying to convey-They, the kids, start out behind so you must go in swinging, ready to use every minute available to you for instruction and not let up for a second, don't let them slide even for a moment-I know these things, I observed how they work= I don't know how I got off on this, but I think that they will see that I don't want to hide anything, and yes, it does look like I had some time management issues-but I want another chance to go in swinging, I want to look at those Ieps and call the parents before the first day, I want to set up meetings, get dates written down, I want to get the behavior plans up and rolling for the first day----- The things that come hardest are the things I am the most confident about now, you know? thanks Lori
I know EXACTly what you mean Lori! I hope you do great! Please keep us posted, I know that your next job, will be the one for you.
BAck from my interview- I would hazard a guess that I won't be hired, but that is okay, it felt good to have answers to the questions they were asking me and they were all feverishly writing down my answers, it kind of made me smile.... They asked all of the classics except my strengths and weaknesses. I feel good about 4th graders, it was for CWC 4th grade, a mixture of disabilities-asked me IEP questions, how to handle behaviors, how do I collaborate, have I ever had a confrontation with another teacher? How do you involve parents? How do you motivate, how do you handle a disruptive student? The thing is I have great answers, but I ramble. I like to talk I guess, and I want to answer clearly, but it comes out muddled. We will see, all my eggs are not in this basket-I do have other options-but about the community-I could honestly and forthrightly answer that I do want to be involved in the community, because I live 4 miles away. This would be oh so perfect........we'll see. Lori
Lori, Can you remember specific questions they asked pertaining to IEP's ??? What were some of your answers... Special Ed teachers help..... I'm rusty!
Sure, They asked me the components of the IEP, they asked who should attend the meetings, they asked about the timetable of the ieps' when they should be done, how the process works, and that is all I can remember pertaining to that-I included everything from cover to cover that I could remember-it was hard to recall the titles of the pages, but I could explain the purpose for each one. Does this help?
Okay, I wanna play now...Here is my hot question MissFrizzle: How would you communicate with a student who has non-English speaking parents?
Hi All! This thread has been fantastic!!! I've been sitting here for the last three hours reading, taking notes and practicing responses. I've been teaching for the last 9 years in second grade and have really felt like I'm out of the interview loop. I have a screening interview on Thursday and would really love to say, "I accept the position!" but being my first try, I won't hold my breath. As of right now, I still have my current job to fall back on. We shall see! I'll post the interview questions I'm faced with for those of you heading to interviews.
Good Luck and be positive, you never know what might happen. you said that you have been teaching second grade for sometime are you looking at changing grade level if they offer it to you? Again Good Luck we are all behind you
Here's what I'm planning to say as my weakness... For the last 2 years I have been teaching Direct Instruction Reading, therefore I have not been able to use ELLA (which is used in the district that I am applying for). However, I did use ELLA for 3 years and look forward to again use the ELLA training that I received.
How do you handle a disruptive student? A rewarding moment.... I had a student come to my first grade classroom this Fall who spent 2 years in Kindergarten and still couldn't recognize his name, any letters, or his colors. One day during a one-on-one session with him, he was able to recognize 2 out of 4 colors. He picked up his stack of 2 cards and with a bright smile and eyes opened wide he said, "oh my goodness...I got 2 right." He was so excited. He hugged me and announced his accomplishment to the rest of the class. They proceeded by clapping for him and cheering. He then wanted to go to the principal's office to show her "how smart he was." I think I had a huge smile on my face the rest of the day. I even found myself telling several coworkers about his accomplishment. To him it was like waking up on Christmas morning to find that Santa had left him everything he asked for. This was an awesome experience.
I think I botched this question and would appreciate some advice in case it is asked of me again. I'm interviewing in urban districts where there are many ELLs so parents are also ELLs. I was asked how I would involve parents? Any ideas?
Hey everyone . I have an interview on Monday for Kindergarten. The program I am interviewing for is half day and I would have two sections. One question I was thinking may be a possibilty is "how do you manage to cover everything in so little time"? I know the main focus will be reading and math. Anyone in a situation like this? What do you do? I am Anna BTW and am excited to be posting here. I have read some great advice already!
Anna, welcome to the board. I think that a lot of K programs focus on reading and math. In order to cover everything, you really have to determine what is priority and get to as much of it as possible. Some things the kids will pick up in no time - other things will take longer. It all works out in the end, especially if you create a timeline for the year... it just gives you that little bit of an edge in planning.
I had an interview today and thought I'd share the questions I remember. 1. Do you think there is a place for humor in the classroom? 2. What role should parent participation play? 3. Why should we hire you? 4. What would former administrators and teachers say about you. 5. How would you provide for different ability levels. 6. What part of discipline do you find challenging? 7. Some say that students in the last 10 years seem to have lost their interest in learning. How do you respond to this statement? I was with the principal and 2 teachers from the grade level. They asked the questions and simply listened and took notes. I would have preferred them to ask follow-up questions so it felt more like a conversation instead of twenty questions. I was also asked to write a letter to a student's parents about his cronic tardiness. Hope that helps somebody!
I had my interview over a week ago now. I was really hoping to post the interview questions but to be quite honest, I don't remember everything that was asked because of the nerves and all. Because it was a screening interview it was very informal and more of just discussion so one conversation led to another with very few questions asked. The conversation started with me explaining to the other teacher about why I was seeking this position. The principal then asked about my resume and the courses I had taken. This spurred a conversation about my current teaching experience. The one question that I stumbled on and knew I could have answered better was "What are 2 assets that you have that we could present to the school board when considering to hire you?" Our conversation was going so well and then a question came like this and I was thrown for a loop! I can't even tell you how I answered it! Afterwards, I had to do an essay on an experience I had either positive or negative from my elementary days and how it influenced me into becoming a teacher. The kicker to this was they gave me 2 legal sized pieces of paper(I only filled one side and half of another - on 1 sheet!) I walked away with my first real interview experience. I was glad to have had the opportunity. They had 85 applicants and narrowed down to 30 so that was great for me. I was really hoping for a second interview for a backup in case my current position fell through. I heard on Wednesday that there will be no second interview However, I also heard on Thursday that my current position is secure Everything has worked out for now. I hope my experience will help someone else! Good Luck to all! I will continue looking for other positions because my school is very unstable - but for now everything is just great!!
This is a great thread! Thanks for starting it! I just got asked the question, "Why are you currently leaving your position?" It's the first time so far someone has asked me. Anyway, I work at an inner-city school, and I don't really agree with how the administration perceives how students should learn, lots of remedial classes and no electives--poor kids! How can I answer this? They aren't closer to my home, only one place is in my kid's district, but I'll handle it with stating I would like to work in a district that I'm familiar with. Any suggestions??? Thanks!
I just wanted to thank you guys for this thread. I had my first interview today for a high school English position and without reading this thread last night, I would have been completely unprepared. They did ask a question that I hadn't seen on here, but make a lot of sense for English: What can you do for a student that is struggling in reading? So, have at it guys. Thanks again!
yes, during my student teaching I was in a kinder class and yes there is so much you have to get in and you wonder where the times goes. Seriously, we had about 20 mins each day to just teach Science or History after Reading, Math, and Writing. I would guess that you would focus on the core content standards and what the children absolutely need to know before exiting kinder. I would also guess that knowing what is on the yearly assessement will also drive your instruction as well. For example, kinders need to know numbers 1-30, so we practiced that alot along with the other things. Just my guess??
For the past 7 years I have been working with students of various ages and abilities from preschool through to year 6. I have worked in special education classes - including classes with children with autistic spectrum disorders, moderate and severe physical and intellectual disabilities as well as children with mild intellectual disabilities. I've also worked with mainstream classes as well as with gifted and talented students. My full time teaching experience has included an infants class - it was Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 composite. That was followed by experience with a straight kindergarten class. I have also had a tremendous amount of experience working within children's ministry at our church, first as a Sunday School teacher and now as the coordinator. I am responsible for working with the teachers to schedule and program lessons and am also involved in the teaching of our younger group which is for preschoolers and Kindergarten. Whilst the content of this is not relevant to my career in a public school I certainly believe I have gained experience from this role which would benefit you as a potential employer.
A question I had in an interview that I hadn't practiced for was...What role do you believe the principal has in the building? Then after the interview was over they had me sit down and write a newsletter that I would send home during the first week of school. I didn't get either position, but they did go to T.A.'s already in their school corp. SO I don't feel so bad
I had that question! I felt a little uncomfortable answering that because I didn't want to offend the principal, but it just so happens that I worked as a TA in the middle school that is attached the elementary school where she is a principal. The schools share the cafeteria, so I often had to walk through the cafeteria when the elementary students were eating to go to the office. The principal was in the cafeteria at least 2 days a week with her apron on, and helped out like she was a lunch monitor! I always thought that was very impressive and showed what kind of person she is. So I brought that up and able to compliment her for it. I think she really appreciated it. I didn't get the job though!
I was asked almost the same question. My question was "What do expect from a principal?" It took me by surprise, but I said that I want to see a principal who is seen in the building, that is supportive of the teachers, and that lets the teachers know what is expected of them. I also said I wanted a principal who knew what was happening in the classroom and would visit the classroom occasionally. I think I said more, but I can't remember what it was. Does anyone have a good answer for this question?
I actually came across this when doing a LTS this past fall. I contacted the ESOL teacher/ andvolunteer by going to the grade level chair, and arranged to have this "volunteer" write a generic letter in spanish for: field trips, parent conferences,fund raisers, etc and had the "master" printed up for each teacher on our team (there were 8 on the Kindergarten level). Our participation on the field trip forms and fundraiser forms went up more than 75% when these "notes" went home in their own native language!! When I showed it to the principal, and the curriculum specialist, she was so pleased she sent it to all of the other teachers in the school. We(teacher's on the team) got together with our ESOL/ parent volunteer and discussed with her what our concerns were first, came up with a bunch of "gamekits" / flash cards and resources that could help the parents to work with the kids on their english skills, and classroom skills , then the principal agreed to let each grade level have one day to invite all these parents to meet in the classroom and to go over (in Spanish) what we needed the kids to learn. We showed them the "learning kits" and even were able to give out a group to each family. OUr Spanish laison/volunteer worked diligently with us every step of the school year. If we needed her, she was there and on the phone being an advocate/translator for us and the parents . The key was finding a parent who could be a volunteer/laison for a grade level, bringing the community together and sharing ideas. This school had many other opportunities for the non speaking English parents to participate, not just the Spanish. I used that as an example because 11 out of the 20 kids in my class, were from Hispanic background. In that school, there are 95 countries represented with students in the school! It got a little dicey when it came to some of the smaller eastern European/ Russian countries, but fortunately, we were able to relay on the international companies in our community to help us with some translators. I don't know if this will help you or not. But the key ideas are: connect with your outside community. Find someone who can help you with the communication. Involve as many parents as possible in "family" time meetings with food, entertainment and a purpose to be there, like a family reading night. Use your community resources! International businesses are recognizing that they too have to give back to the community in which they operate, or their production and workers will not be successful or profitable.
answers to these questions? Hi all, I am not sure whether these questions have already been addressed. If yes, then I apologize. 1. What is the biggest challenge that students face today? 2. What is the biggest challenge that teachers face today? 3. What is the biggest challenge that our public school system faces today? What can we say in response to these questions? I know there can be lots of things....but any specific ideas? Thanks.
1. I think the biggest challenge that kids face today is the overwhelming bombardment of information. They face no quiet time; from the cradle to college graduation, they're programmed to be somewhere specific doing something specific all day evey day. As a result, they have no time to develop an imagination. That imagination is the best problem solver there is, and we are robbing our kids of it. 2. I think the challeng faced by teachers is the increase in expectations. Once upon a time, teachers taught the "3R's." Now take a look at all that's been added. From moral education to sex education to watching for child abuse to standardized test prep to AIDS prevention to acting as a role modle for single parent households to obesity prevention to... the list goes on and on. Yet we're still in school for the same amount of time as 100 years ago... something has to give! 3. I don' teach in public schools, so my opinion here is as a parent and taxpayer. I think the problem is trying to get the biggest bang for the buck. Our public schools are incredibly top heavy-- there are admininstrators making 6 figure salaries doing everything but teaching. Then drive 2 miles and you're in a new district with a new administrator doing the exact same thing. The books aren't being overseen as they need to (SEVERAL local districts have made the papers in the past year or two; billions have been stolen ). And every single dime that's misspent or stolen is taken from kids who need this education to prepare them for life.
planning? A friend of mine was asked this question recently in an interview - "how do you plan your lesson?" Honestly speaking, I didn't quite understand this question...what are they looking for? Any thoughts?
I'm not sure what they're looking for. What level are we talking about? (SInce I'm fairly sure that my approach to HS math would be different than the teacher of my 7 year old.)
OK, then here's what I think: I start with long range planning. I take the syllabus, the calendar and the textbook (you can throw in "standards" too if you want; I'm in a Catholic school and that's not a big buzzword in my school.) I map what I have to teach against the time I have to teach it in, allowing time for tests and snow days (I'm in NY.) Then I break down each lesson. I start with a "do now"-- it might be a review question, a lead in to something I want to cover today, or a review of what we did yesterday. It needs to be long enough that I can take attendance and check the homework while the kids are busy... dead time is asking for problems. Then I come up with my lesson. I present one example, and have the kids come up with "Process" notes: step by step instructions that explain how we got from point A to point B with the problem on the board. Then, with these notes in front of them, we move on to more problems, in order of increasing difficulty.
Wonderful! Thanks Aliceacc. So I guess it is about timing every activity - they might be looking for one's time management skills. My friend gave a little bit different answer. She said she plans her lesson in such a way that it incorporates various teaching methods e.g. hands on activities, visuals, group discussions etc.
I don't really know what they were looking for; that question is so vauge. If it's not what they wanted, they can always ask a follow-up.
