6 COMMON TEACHER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND HOW TO ANSWER THEM

[Admin]

Guide to Getting the Teaching Job of Your Dreams. How would you answer
each question?
1. Tell us about yourself.
This will be the first question at almost every interview. Just give a
brief background in about three sentences. Tell them what colleges you
graduated from, what you're certified to teach, what your teaching &
working experiences are, and why you'd love the job.
2. How do you teach to the state standards?
If you interview in the United States, school administrators love to
talk about state, local, or national standards! Reassure your
interviewer that everything you do ties into standards. Be sure the
lesson plans in your portfolio have the state standards typed right on
them. When they ask about them, pull out your lesson and show them the
close ties between your teaching and the standards.
3. How will you prepare students for standardized assessments?
There are standardized assessments at almost every grade level. Be
sure you know the names of the tests. Talk about your experiences
preparing students. You'll get bonus points if you know and describe
the format of the test because that will prove your familiarity.
4. Describe your discipline philosophy.
You use lots of positive reinforcement. You are firm, but you don't
yell. You have appropriate consequences for inappropriate behavior.
You have your classroom rules posted clearly on the walls. You set
common routines that students follow. You adhere to the school's
discipline guidelines. Also, emphasize that you suspect discipline
problems will be minimal because your lessons are very interesting and
engaging to students. Don't tell the interviewer that you "send kids
to the principal's office" whenever there is a problem. You should be
able to handle most discipline problems on your own. Only students who
have committed very serious behavior problems should be sent to the
office.
5. How do you make sure you meet the needs of a student with an IEP?
An IEP is an "individualized education plan." Students with special
needs will be given an IEP, or a list of things that you must do when
teaching the child. An IEP might include anything from "additional
time for testing" to "needs all test questions read aloud" to "needs
to use braille textbook." How do you ensure you're meeting the needs
of a student with an IEP? First, read the IEP carefully. If you have
questions, consult a special education teacher, counselor, or other
staff member who can help you. Then, you just make sure you follow the
requirements on the IEP word for word. When necessary, you may be
asked to attend a meeting in which you can make suggestions for
updating the IEP. Your goal, and the goal of the IEP, is to make sure
the student has whatever he or she needs to be successful in your
class.
6. How do you communicate with parents?
This question will come up at almost every elementary school
interview. It's fairly common in the middle school and high school as
well. You might have a weekly parent newsletter that you send home
each week. For grades 3 and up, you may require students to have an
assignment book that has to be signed each night. This way, parents
know what assignments are given and when projects are due. When there
are discipline problems you call home and talk to parents. It's
important to have an open-door policy and invite parents to share
their concerns at any time.