AppId is over the quota
As someone who has led and been part of over 1000 interviews, I have grown more and more aware of the need for candidates to do things in their interview that are a cut above whatever the rest of the field is doing. Candidates need to include answers and approaches that stick out in the minds of interviewers. I have said it over and over in my seminars; "if you want the job, you cannot be just 'good,' you have to be better than every other candidate. When the field of interviewees has from ten to fifteen candidates, you can be certain the committee will hear a good answer from someone to every question they ask. Your task is to make your answer stand out; make your answer just a bit more memorable and unique. That is the purpose of today's article.
Many of the questions in an interview will be open-ended and have a wide variety of "good answers." Unfortunately, many of the standard answers tend to just be a catalog of ideas or a rambling set of thoughts that apply to the question. A great way to rise above that kind of approach is to provide frameworks for your answers. The framework of your answer and just how you present your response will be critically important to the goal of making it more memorable. Let me provide an example of just what I mean by using a sample question.
Q. In every lesson you will have some objectives you want students to learn and master. Tell the committee just what you do to insure that learning is taking place with every student.
The majority of candidates to whom I've addressed this question have provided a list of lesson plan strategies they employ on a regular basis. Because they have given little pre-thought to this particular question, the ideas unfold in a somewhat disorganized manner. It might sound something like the following.
A. I agree; student learning is very important. To make sure this is happening, I always try to have clear information and provide a lesson that really captures the students' interest. I ask a lot of questions to see if students actually understand what they are supposed to and then I will know if they are on board. I also have a few activities and a follow up homework assignment.
Obviously, candidates expand on these ideas a bit more and will perhaps even provide some specific ideas as to just what they mean by "activities" or "questions." This is not a terrible answer at all. Its problem is that it is just not compelling. It will sound like most of the other candidates and it is usually delivered in ways where it is unlikely to stand out from the pack! We need to do better.
Earlier I suggested that we use a framework to make our answer more powerful and memorable. What I mean by the word "framework" is that you construct a simple two or three point foundation around which you can organize your classroom strategies. There are dozens of ways to do this and you can certainly use something different than the one I offer here. The key is that you have thought the ideas through in advance and are ready for a question similar to this when you sit down for your interview. Unless you interview all the time, you are not likely to think with a high level of organization and clarity on the spur of the moment.
Here is a sample answer that demonstrates a framework approach:
A. One of the things I know about the way the mind learns is there are at least TWO essential ingredients to learning new information, concepts, or skills. FIRST, the students must be focused on the teacher and the instruction as it is delivered. You have no chance of learning what you never heard or saw in the first place. The SECOND is engagement and the fact that the learner's mind must process and work with whatever the new learning might be. We know that new learning needs a context and organization in order for it to be truly "learned" and remembered. For that reason, my lessons will always have ample opportunity for students to engage the new ideas for themselves.
You can see that the framework here is composed of only two simple concepts; focus on the teacher and engagement by the student. NOW you can go on to list a few (not 20) ideas as to just how you might go about achieving these goals in an actual class. Your own teaching stance and ideas are the important ones here, not mine, but I will offer a few suggestions that exemplify how this might sound in an actual answer.
A. Let me now be specific and tell you how I attempt to achieve these goals in each class I teach. In order to promote student focus on my direct teaching and information segments, I limit their length to about 10 minutes; longer than that and students lose interest. I also try to include either novelty or vivid examples that will maintain student interest. Stories, metaphors, and humor often help students to stay focused on me. Visuals, technology, and other teaching aids that require students to shift their eyes and mind make up a part of each direct instructional segment. Beyond that there are focusing questions to the group and requests for their attention.
Here you have included four different classroom teaching moves that will clearly show you know how to accomplish the goal of student focus. You may do things differently and I urge you to think about your own teaching style in crafting this portion of your response. The important thing is that you tick off whatever items you use in a very compact 1, 2, 3 method. It's powerful and its delivery will stick in the minds of the committee....I guarantee it. Now we move quickly to the second part of the answer.
A. To now cement these ideas, every student has to "work with" the new skill or concept. For that reason, I always include a number of ways to have students actually engage their minds. For example, I might ask a variety of group and individual questions that require students to rephrase things in their own words. I might use paired idea sharing. I also use specific designed activities and then monitor that work. My key is to have every student process this information in multiple meaningful ways. As we finish our work for the day, I often provide a homework assignment that requires students to continue their engagement with these new ideas past the end of the class lesson.
Again, you will have provided the committee with four more ideas as to how this element of your framework will be achieved. In total, you gave eight ideas formed around two general assumptions. What a great way to package and present your answer!!! It is likely to be way ahead of everyone else, I assure you. The one thing I must emphasize is that you need to pre-think this answer. It is not likely to just come to you on the spur of the moment. Although it is unlikely that this specific question will be a part of your own interview, it is indeed worth the time and effort to organize your thoughts on this topic. You will nearly always find somewhere in the interview process where at least some of these ideas will be useful.
When you properly package your answers, they are sure to stand out and make YOU the candidate everyone is talking about when the interviews are complete!! For further advice on sound ways to package answers and deliver concise point by point responses, reference my book, 'Teacher Interviews: How to Get Them & How to Get Hired!'
My name is Robert W. Pollock. I am an educator, with over 34 years experience, a speaker, a consultant, and author of 'Teacher Interviews. How to Get Them & How to Get Hired!. I have spoken to 1,000's of perspective teachers on how to interview and get the job. I have been a consultant for numerous schools around the country. Currently I am a professor of Education at Tusculum College, Knoxville, TN, where I also serve as the president of their alumni board.
You can order my book "Teacher Interviews: How to Get Them & How to Get Hired!" at: Amazon.com
You can contact me at: advantapress1@aol.com
