Teaching Interview Tips
While you may have earned your teaching credential and your college degree, becoming a teacher takes one more step: a successful interview. You may be nervous about interviewing for the position. However, preparing yourself with potential questions and answers and having material ready to hand out will give you a foot in the door.
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Experience with Children
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When interviewing let the interviewer know what you have done with children that correlates with the teaching position. Any experience from baby-sitting to tutoring or substitute teaching will show school interviewers (likely the principal of the school) that you have worked with children before. If you don't have much experience dealing with children in a work-related environment, draw from personal experiences as well. If you grew up watching your younger sibling while your parents went out, tell the interviewers about what that taught you. If you have children yourself, that could also be good experience.
Why You Chose Teaching
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Interviewers will likely ask you why you want to be a teacher. The question may seem easy to answer, but it may be more political than you think. Principals and school board members want to know that you have a true passion for teaching and aren't becoming a teacher as a last resort or because you want summers off. Tell them that you truly care about children and want to better the educational system, to help more kids get to college. Because teachers aren't paid a lot compared to other jobs and there are teacher unions that can go on strike at any time, schools want to know that the newly hired teachers really care about the children.
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Lesson Plans
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Don't show up to a teaching interview empty handed. Provide structured lesson plans that will show the interviewer that you take teaching seriously and have great ideas. You can use lesson plans that you may have created at college or newly devised lesson plans. Bring at least three copies of your lesson plans and any other ideas you may have for classroom structure or ways of teaching. This will show true passion and initiative.
References
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While you may be able to list all of the experience you have had teaching and working with children in the past, an interviewer for any teaching position will likely ask for references. Not only will talking to others about your skills and attributes help them get to know you better before making a hiring decision, but it is also a safety precaution to ensure that you are a good fit with children. When giving references during an interview, use people you have worked with in a teaching environment, such as a principal of a school where you student taught or worked as a substitute teacher.
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References
Resources
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