We can’t get through the day with0ut hearing about the economy.  Well, the bad economy has impacted education, specifically teacher hiring.  In some districts, hiring has been frozen. This weekend I spoke with a principal who said his hands are tied.  He can’t move on any hiring until this summer (when the District will release their budget).  This is extremely frustrating to principals who tend to want to wrap up their teacher hirings in April and May.  Its even more frustrating to aspiring teachers (job applicants) who are wondering when they will get an interview.

I asked the principal what his advice is to those teacher job applicants.  His advice was to ” keep being persistant.”  Here are some other ideas:

• Arrange to visit the school
• Talk with the school’s teachers
• Get (keep) your face and name out there
• Learn how to get your foot in the school door (read Road to Teaching: A Guide to Teacher Training, Student Teaching, and Finding a Job)
• Read other teacher interview/hiring strategies (Student teacher topics)
• Don’t give up!!!

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If offered an interview at an unfamiliar school understand that you are already at a disadvantage. You may not be as knowledgeable about the school as another job candidate that student taught there. In Road to Teaching, I offer strategies to maximize your knowledge of the community, school, and, most importantly, the students before heading into your interview. Acknowledging that time is of the essence, here are quick tips to better prepare for your interview:

If you have only a day before the interview…

• Conduct on-line research of the community. A great resource for this is Yahoo’s Real Estate website. This will give you a good overview of the socio-economic and ethnic picture of the neighborhood.
• Visit the school’s website. Read everything, especially if the school posts a newsletter for parents. This will give you insight into the various changes/reforms happening.
• Review the school’s test scores. Check out School Matters for this. This will show the strength and areas of improvement in student achievement. Think of how your experience, skills set, and professional training will improve student learning in these areas.

If you have a few days before the interview…

• Do everything mentioned above.
• Send an email to your teacher friends, explaining that you have an interview, and ask for their insight on the school for which you applied.  Often friends will know someone at the school that you can get in touch with.  These personal connections are important!
• Go to a cafe near the school. Observe and casually talk with people there.
• Drive around the school and local community. Plus, this will alleviate stress of trying to find the school on the day of your interview.

Hopefully, these are some ideas to get you started on preparing for your teacher interview. Feel free to add your own ideas/tips in the comment section.

Also, thank you to everyone sending in teacher interview questions. Please keep them coming.

Hundreds of aspiring, beginning, and RIF’d teachers attended a local teacher job fair.  There was a line of teachers that streched around the block to enter this job fair.  It was record attendance!  “Hiring” principals were ready to greet each perspective candidate and then rank them on a predetermined scale.  The scale is different for each principal, but its basically from the low end of do not to call back this candidate to, as one principal said, candidate “walks on water” and must be called to interview.

I listened to several principals talk about their experiences at this job fair.  Some were funny and some were scary.  Each principal had their own approach when interacting with each prospective candidate.  One principals said he listens to candidates, only asking a few questions here and there.  Another principal said she asks the prospective candidates interview questions.  Her favorite questions was, “What is your ideal classroom?”  She said that many of the candidates would be stumped and just say “ummmmm.”

How do you think these candidates were ranked?

I solicited advice from the principals on what candidates should do to help improve their chances of being called back on an interview.

Social Graces

Remember your manners and how to properly greet someone.  When you (the teacher candidate) approach a hiring principal at a job fair be sure to shake their hand, introduce yourself, and make eye contact.  From the start you need to establish a personal connection with the principal.  Next, ask the principal if they would like a copy of your resume.  A principal told me that too many candidates would come up, not introduce themselves, and hand them their resume without asking.  This is a no-no.  Start off your interaction on the right foot.

Do Your Homework

When you get notice of an upcoming teacher job fair do some basic homework.  Make a list of school districts and schools that interest you.  Then, do research on the schools (see my book for research strategies/tips).  Copy down your notes and review them right before you speak with the principal from that respective school.  This demonstrates to the hiring principal at the job fair that you have a strong interest in their school and you are familiar with it.  This will set you apart from other candidates, improving your ranking.  Also, it will give you some conversation material when it’s your turn to talk.

Come Prepared

Another tip the principals told me was that job candidates should come to the fair with their resumes and, if possible, a few letters of recommendation.  The letters of recommendation give the prinicpal greater insight into who you are.

Additional Resources to Get You Hired

Road to Teaching: A Guide to Teacher Training, Student Teaching, and Finding a Job

Web’s Largest Collection of Teacher Interview Questions

I found this video on TED.com.   It shows how to create a Smart Board, an interactive white board, from a Wii remote and some other minor hardware. If you are a teacher that could utilize this technology this is the way to go. I am sure that it would impress your  students!

Here is an incredible open source, free link.  If you teach Math, Science, Humanities, work with test prep or have your own high school student this is a fabulous site to pass on.  If students have Facebook or Google accounts they can access the exercises that are in a game format.  It is pretty extensive and very impressive. Check it Khan Academy (at home or on your smart phone).

A teacher friend sent me a link to Quizlet.  I’ve been using ever since.   According to its website:

Quizlet is the largest flash cards and study games website with over 2.5 million FREE sets of flashcards covering every possible subject. It’s the best place to play educational games, memorize vocabulary and study online.

Check out the Vocabulary Instruction  page for more resources and strategies!

Have a good weekend!

The McKinsey & Company released a report titled “Closing the talent gap: Attracting and retaining top-third graduates to careers in teaching.”  I’ll summarize the findings of the report:

• The most effective factor in an effective school is the teacher – Duh.
• The U.S. doesn’t have a systematic or strategic policy in place to attract and retain top-tier teachers.
• Reform efforts, i.e. Race to the Top, focus (almost exclusively) on current teachers and their effectiveness, giving very little attention to recruiting future top teachers with strong academic backgrounds.
• Singapore, Finland, and South Korea recruit 100% of their teachers from the top 1/3 of graduating classes compared to U.S. that recruits 23% from the top 1/3 (and 14% for high poverty schools).
• Makes the assumption that top-tier teachers have a strong influence on student / school achievement

What best practices to recruit and retain top-tier teachers can we learn from other countries with high performing school systems?  The report detailed a few findings:

• Admissions to their rigorous teacher education programs is highly selective
• Some governments pay tuition, fees, and stipend for those selected – NICE!
• Admissions monitors the market place, taking in less applicants as the job market tightens.  The benefit is increased job security.
• More $$$ for teacher salaries
• Increased opportunities for advancement and professional growth

What are your thoughts?

Teaching is a demanding profession.  The perception that teachers work only 6 hours a day and have plenty of time off is NOT REALITY.  Teachers pour our hearts, souls, and, sometimes, our whole lives into educating our future.  Teaching can quickly become all-time consuming.  We can find ourselves (over) committed to school committees, coaching, assisting at sporting events, running after-school clubs, chaperoning dances, tutoring, advocating for education reform, reaching out to parents, participating in professional development, and so on.

Beginning teachers, for numerous reasons, want to get involved at school, drenching themselves in the school culture and all that comes with it.  Be careful novice teacher.  There is a balance that we all must find between our personal and professional lives, and this balance is different for each of us.  My advice is to take time for yourself and family, relax a bit, and reflect what your balance is.  Achieving balance among all aspects of your life: family, friends, love, hobbies, etc., is a struggle, but worthwhile.  Having a centered life will sustain you for the long-term, avoiding being burned-out or having troubles at home.  Ultimately, this balance will lead you to be a more effective teacher based on the premise that our personal and professional lives are – at a basic level – interwoven and trouble in one area will eventually affect other parts of our life.

Remember in these hectic days of September and October to keep perspective and acknowledge that it’s okay to put yourself first.

Google Alerts can be a useful tool for current teachers and job seekers.  Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts includes:

• monitoring current on education initiatives, trends, and reform, and
• keeping tabs on your school or schools (districts) that you would like to work in.  Knowing this information may give you an advantage over another job applicant.

Go to http://www.google.com/alerts to sign-up.

Few subjects get teachers fired up more than discussing homework policy.  Should you give homework?  How much?  How often?  Should parents be involved?  What about late penalties?

Here’s a good post on teachers’ perceptions of homework.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/2010/07/fair_and_unbalanced.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TeacherInAStrangeLand+(Teacher+in+a+Strange+Land)