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Math With Ms. Yi

Growing Love for Math and Teaching

Job Search Tips, Teaching

How I Prepare for a Teaching Interview

July 17, 2020 Leave a Comment

My first job interview was as a high school lifeguard/swim instructor at my local club. Luckily I was highly recommended by my swim coach because my interview skills were non existent. Since then I’ve learned a lot about interviewing and now have a toolbox of steps I always take before I head off to a teaching interview.

1.) Research the school.

The worst thing that can happen in an interview is having NOTHING to say when asked, “Why do you want to work at our school?” Trust me–the embarrassment is not worth it. Just like how you deeply know your students you need to do the same for schools. Spend time on their website. Learn what makes them different from other schools and what their focus is. I also like to google my interviewers and school administrators to get a better sense of who they are as educators.

This research process is also for you! As you’re researching, check in with yourself, “Does this align with what I want in a school?” When I was an early career educator, I frequently swayed from my own teaching philosophy when looking for schools and as a result ended up in schools that were not at all the right fit. Stick to your guns here!

2.) Prepare responses to sample questions.

Script out answers to potential interview questions. I like to type out my responses to simple questions like:

– Tell us a little more about yourself.
– Why do you want to work at our school?

This may seem forced but it allows you to have all the points you want to get across in the interview written down. Since you’ve done the research, make sure you add in experiences you’ve had that match what the school is looking for. For example, if a school says that they’re focusing on literacy in ALL subjects I would make sure to include in my script how I incorporate writing into my math lessons. Think about your skills and talk about how you can contribute to the school!

3.) Practice responses.

Public speaking was NEVER my forte. In high school I would spend hours in front of a mirror practicing my presentations. I still do this before interviews. Now with everything going virtual, I’ve moved my practice sessions to my Photobooth app. Make sure you are confident in your responses on interview day! When I don’t practice before my interviews, I usually leave the interview thinking, “Darn I wish I remembered to tell them ____ about myself.” If possible, record and rewatch your responses to make any tweaks. 

4.) Prepare questions you have for the school.

Each school is looking to see if you’d be the right fit for them and you need to do the same! Think about what you are looking for in a school and prepare questions that will ultimately decide if this is a school you’d want to work at. Over the years I’ve tried to maintain a better work life balance so will usually ask questions about how long teachers are expected to work in the building.

These are just a few of my tips but they have helped me feel more confident going into an interview. Hope you’re able to use them. Let me know in the comments below your job searching experience!

If you’re looking for tips to find schools check out my blog post on that here.

Previous:
How to Find a Teaching Job in a New City
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My Experience Job Searching in a Pandemic

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Want dozens of math resources for your grade 6-8 c Want dozens of math resources for your grade 6-8 classroom at a fraction of the cost? Don’t miss this amazing collection from top math education experts! We’ve combined our efforts to bring you the very best printable & digital resources in one awesome, giant collection. Only $19 for a limited time. Find the link in my bio! https://bit.ly/3aR6GMo
It’s been a while but I pulled Whiteboard.fi bac It’s been a while but I pulled Whiteboard.fi back out today! Yesterday during my induction meeting, a teacher shared that they’ve been using it with students then had students submit the downloaded images through Canvas. I had to try it! We got went through fewer examples than I anticipated but that was okay because it was a lot of teaching procedures Click the flag below this picture to reference for later.

Procedures I explicitly taught today:

Whiteboard.fi: 1.) There is no submit button. Everything students put on their end automatically show up on mine. 2.) On the student’s screen there is a toggle teacher board button. This will allow students to see my work. Aka they will only need to stay on one screen. 3.) The button next to the red trash can with the downward arrow is your download button. Save the slide as a PNG.

Canvas: I decided to make the assignment a text upload so that student can submit multiple images and I can quickly check them in speedgrader. I taught students to click the box with the sun and mountain, click the rocketship, go to downloads and insert the image you saved. It will be labeled as drawing.png. 

Swipe to see the screens I had up during the lessons. When I explicitly taught the procedures I alternated between sharing screen of the teacher and student view.

Let me know below what your favorite practice platform is in online learning!
I love the chat function in zoom. It feels super l I love the chat function in zoom. It feels super low risk and is a quick way for me to assess how my students are doing. Something I’ve been trying to add into my virtual teacher toolbox is this phrase here. In one of my class they send EVERYTHING to me privately and when I ask for the answers it is *crickets*. When I started to say, “Send me, ‘I don’t know’ if you’re looking at this problem and you literally have no idea what it’s asking...” I was able to get more engagement to hook them in for a quick reteach and then reassess.

What is your favorite part of the chat function?
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