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Interviewing for a Teaching Position The employment interview is the opportunity for you to discuss with school personnel your education, experiences, activities and skills that qualify you to be an excellent teacher. You need to relate what you have to offer to what the school district is looking for. In order to successfully "market" yourself during a 20-minute or 30 minute interview, you need to know yourself and your ability, and you must be able to communicate your qualifications to the interviewer. If you exhibit an air of confidence through a firm handshake, good eye contact, professional dress, and excellent voice projection, you'll make a positive first impression. Follow-up this good start by offering specific proof that you will be a good teacher. School personnel want honest answers to their questions. Avoid answering based on what you think they want to hear. Support your answers with specific examples from your experiences and education. Likewise, poor communication skills, lack of career knowledge, lack of energy, enthusiasm and interest, insufficient evidence of achievements and accomplishments, and lack of preparation are common interview "knockout" factors. Remember that an interview is a two-way exchange of information. You need to discover whether the school district is for you just as much as the district needs to know whether you are a good fit for them. Know what is important to you regarding a teaching position and if your research does not find this information, be sure to ask during the interview. A national survey of recently hired teachers reveals that the most frequently asked questions concern classroom management, student teaching, personal strengths and weaknesses, teaching philosophy, and what-if questions. The hardest to answer are what-if, teaching philosophy, how to set up a program, personal weaknesses, and defining a principal's role. Besides practicing answers to the following sample interview questions, the Boise State Career Center offers several ways to improve your interviewing technique through individual appointments, video-taped interview training, and related videotapes. Your Education Why did you choose Boise State? What teaching techniques did you learn and how do you plan to apply these techniques in your classroom? What class did you like the most and why? What class did you like the least and why? How can you apply research in your field to your teaching? How is your education at Boise State preparing you to be an effective teacher? Tell me about your student teaching. What was the most rewarding experience during your student teaching? What was your most frustrating student teaching experience. Your Teaching Ability How will you establish discipline in your classroom? How will you earn the respect of your students? What approach will you take to individualize your instruction for different students. What is your philosophy on evaluation of student performance and grading? What is your role as a teacher? Define the role of a principal. What do you see as the overall objective of your teaching? Do you feel that writing and using behavioral or performance objectives are worth the time and effort? What role does a parent play in your teaching? What skills must you possess to be a successful teacher? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Why did you decide to become a teacher? How will you be a good role model? Why do you want to teach (your certification area)? What have you done in the past that allows us to assess your creativity as a teacher? How will you make yourself one of the best teachers in the district? Your Career Knowledge What are the greatest challenges facing teachers today? If you could change our educational system, how would you do so? What do you view as the most important issues in education? How are schools different today than when you attended? How can schools better meet the challenges of tomorrow? How can teachers make teaching a more respected profession? What is the role of the school in the community? How should a school decide what to teach? Tell me about your idea of the ideal curriculum? What role should parents and community members play in the functioning of a school system? What is the role of the school board? How can teachers better cooperate with each other? Your Experiences and Activities Tell me about your part-time and summer job experiences? What skills did you learn through your work? How will you relate your work to teaching? If I were to talk to your supervisor, what would he/she say about you? What experiences do you have working with children? What activities were you involved with in high school and college? What did you accomplish through your activities? What extracurricular activities are you willing and able to supervise at our school? How important are activities in the entire educational system? What If? Situations What if a star athlete fails a test in your class that makes him/her ineligible for the next game...what will you do when the coach comes to see you concerning the grade? How will you react when you enter the faculty lounge and hear other teachers ridiculing a student...especially one with whom you've had success? A student asks, "Why do we have to learn this?"...define the subject you are teaching and give me an answer. You catch a student cheating on an exam, but as you approach this student he/she loudly proclaims, "I was not cheating!"...what are you going to do? A student whom you like and respect is one point from earning an "A" in your class and he/she comes to see you about the grade...what will you do? You notice a significant behavior change in a student...what action will you take? The president of the school board protests the detention you assigned to his/her son/daughter...what do you say when he/she calls you? During playground duty, a student seriously tells you he/she is running away from home today...what will you do? A child is hurt during an activity you are supervising...what action will you take? You discover a student has turned in plagiarized work for a major assignment...what is your reaction? Miscellaneous What attracts you to our school district, our community, our state? What do you do for recreation and relaxation? Do you plan to remain in teaching?
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