Teacher Interview Tips

Every lesson will not be a hit, and that' s okay!!!

You’re still learning; that’s the whole point of student teaching. You are not expected to be able to know everything and do everything, and you’re certainly not expected to do it all well. Be patient with yourself. Even veteran teachers have lessons that totally FLOP. Get feedback from your cooperating teachers for every lesson you teach so that you can continue to grow..

Come in early...

This can help prepare you for your day, so when it comes time for students to come in, you can greet them, and they can have your full attention..

Organize your time

Get your work done during preps and lunches so you don’t have to stay late after school/ work on weekends.

eacherT Interview tips

Probably the most dreaded part of getting a job…the interview! At least for me, this is the most nerve-wracking thing EVER. Lucky for you, I have quite a bit of experience in this area. I have my principal and supervisor certifications, so my principal allows me to help him in interviews at our school. Not only do I get to attend, but I get to ask questions as well. Since I have been doing this at my school for 3 years, I have collected a TON of interview questions and tips for you. So, let’s get into it…

Practicing might feel repetitive and silly, but I promise it is worth your time. The more you practice your answers, the calmer and more confident you will sound. The best thing to do is to practice in front of other people. Have a family member or friend ask you the questions so that you can practice your answers with them. This will help you speak in front of other people and get repeated practice answering the questions. If no one is available, simply practice in front of a mirror.

Tip #1 Practice, practice, practice

Tip #2 Know the school

This one might seem obvious, but it is something people forget to do very often. Simply, research the school and district that you are interviewing for. You want to know things like the area the school is in, their student population, the demographics of students, what programs they offer, the curriculum that they use, etc. In addition, know the school and/or district’s mission statement. Know what they believe to be important.

Connect it to your students Always connect your answers back to the students! Students are the most important, and you want to make sure that the person interviewing you knows that you believe that.

For example, if you were asked, “You had a great lesson planned, but a delayed opening was called.

What do you do? How do you adjust?” My initial thought would be to answer with something about still making sure the objective is being hit, even with the shortened period. And that answer isn’t wrong but, what about our students? First thing you would want to do is make sure that everyone was able to get to school safely, see if your students were still able to eat before school, see if everyone is ok, etc.

It is hard to think about those things when being asked about a lesson, but the individuals interviewing you will be very impressed that you thought about your students and their well-being. Tip #3 Answers

Have General Answers Prepared Have one general answer on hand for each topic. In my interview questions document, I have questions organized by topic: lessons, differentiation, student engagement, parents, etc. For each of these topics you should have one, very general, answer prepared so that no matter how the interviewer words their questions you can use the answer that you prepared.

For example, almost every interviewer will ask you for an example lesson that you have taught and then some follow up questions about it. If you have one very good lesson in mind (for math and ELA) you should be able to answer any of the questions.

EYE CONTACT Don’t forget to make eye contact. Don’t make it weird HAHA, but make sure that you make eye contact with the person interviewing you! If it is a panel, make sure that you look at each of them at different times throughout the interview!