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admin — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:27:51 +0000

Teacher Hiring is Frozen in Some Districts

hougan — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 22:00:03 +0000

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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The 101 on Attending a Teacher Job Fair

hougan — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:59:14 +0000

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

Teacher Interview Question: What is your approach to or philosophy on teaching?

admin — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:16:17 +0000

Interviewers ask this question is to find out your guiding principles for education. Prepare for interviews by re-reading your education philosophy statement. Outline your top three core beliefs on teaching and student learning and describe specific examples of how your philosophy has informed your curriculum and instruction methods.

Sample interview answer

I believe in instilling a passion for lifetime learning into my students. One way I instill this passion is by being a model lifetime learner for my students. For instance, in my classroom, you will hear me thinking aloud, interacting with the text during reading, and demonstrating inquiry by asking questions. I believe that every child can reach their learning potential, with high expectations, the necessary support and opportunities, and a caring classroom.

I support this effort by greeting each child as he/she enters the classroom, so that each student feels welcome and believes that he/she is part of a learning community. I clearly state the learning and behavioral expectations for my class, and I follow through in upholding these standards. For instance, if a student turns in a substandard project, then I meet with the student, reiterate my expectations, and provide any further assistance or support that the student might need to finish the project.

I believe in teaching students with dignity, and in providing a fun, studentcentered learning environment. I make sure that every child knows that is they are worthy, by listening to and caring for their needs. I work hard to create a classroom that celebrates achievement and progress. These efforts encourage the students to stay in school and learn. Weekly celebrations in the form of specific task praise, certificates, positive calls home, and group recognition are common in my classroom. By the end of the school year, each child will be celebrated for some contribution to the class or a skill they have developed.

Useful links on how to write a philosophy statement:

Philosophy Statement for Student Teachers

Topics for Philosophy Statement

What Degree Do You Need to Be a Gym Teacher?

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:32:41 +0000

Interested in becoming a gym teacher? Check out this post. It referenced Road to Teaching: A Guide to Teacher Training, Student Teaching, and Finding a Job.

Teacher Interview Question: How do You Motivate Students?

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 01:32:06 +0000

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

Another way of phrasing this question is, “How will you create a classroom environment that motivates your students?” You can take a number of approaches to answer this common interview question, such as: classroom management, learning environment, instruction, teacher and student relationship, and curriculum. One successful approach to answering this question is to address an overarching theme, such as establishing clear and high expectations for your students. Students will be motivated to learn and behave properly when they internalize the teacher’s expectations. For instance, if a student walked into your classroom on any given day

- Can the student expect a certain daily routine?

- Can the students expect to be treated fairly when discipline is used?

- Will the student know the overarching learning objective or essential question for a lesson?

- Can the student expect a curriculum that his challenging and relevant?

- Would an observer of your class see varied best-practice instructional strategies?

All of these provide an environment that encourages students to learn from you. In answering these questions try to create a visual picture for the interviewers of your classroom. In your depiction, explain how you set clear and high expectations from the start of class to the dismissal bell.

Teacher Interview Question: How do you Curb Student Misbehavior?

admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 02:41:54 +0000

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

Classroom management is a system of practices that increases learning and lowers behavioral problems. Effective classroom management communicates your expectations to the students.

The hiring team will want to know what you do to curb student misbehavior. Below are some practices to improve learning and lower behavior issues.

Bell Notes / Anticipatory Sets / Do-Nows

One classroom management technique, applicable to K-12 grades, includes an exercise called “bell notes,” also known as anticipatory notes, entry tasks, or “do-nows”. Bell notes are straightforward and effective. Everyday, students are required to write into their journals the answers to a question or statement written on the classroom whiteboard. This simple technique has many benefits: it provides a consistent routine, so the students know what is expected of them from the minute they walk into the classroom; it reduces student misbehavior; and, it shortens the time it takes to start a class. The bell note gets the students thinking from the onset of class. Bell notes can spur students’ interest in the day’s lesson or incite them to review information from previous lessons. They also build on the students’ background by connecting to the their lives and their existing body of knowledge. Last, but not least, the teacher can do come administrative tasks, such as taking attendance, while the students complete their bell notes.

This eliminates class downtime, which increases learning time for the students. Assume that a teacher working in a 180-day school uses bellnotes and reduces downtime by four minutes a day. This translates to an additional 12 hours of learning time for the students in a year. Using meaningful bell notes in a consistent manner will lead to improved student learning and will reflect positively in your student teaching evaluations.

Maximize Class Time

Nothing invites chaos like completing your next lesson plan 5-10 minutes before the dismissal bell rings—thus creating downtime for the students. Devoting insufficient time to lesson planning is one of the biggest mistakes teachers make, and this lack of planning may quickly lead to student misbehavior. While you are distracted, mischievous children begin to move towards the door, others may begin play fighting, and others will put their heads down. With some planning, you can turn this downtime into rich instructional and evaluative time. Sometimes a lesson will proceed more quickly than you had anticipated, so always over plan your lessons for the day. A good rule of thumb is to plan for 10-15 minutes more than the class period allows. Or, plan a backup activity that connects to your lesson’s objectives, and have this it readily available for such emergencies.

You can also use the remaining minutes of a class to reflect on and evaluate the lesson. One good technique is the use of exit slips. Review the lesson’s objectives and ask the students to complete a brief self-evaluation on whether they feel they have met the stated objectives. Alternatively, the students can summarize their learning or pose clarifying questions that you can address the following day. As the students leave the classroom, the students hand you their feedback, allowing you to assess the students’ learning.

Outcome sentences are another useful strategy for evaluating lessons and eliminating downtime at the end of a lesson. For this strategy, the teacher prepares various outcome sentences that are posted on the wall with a poster or an overhead projector. The teacher asks the students to write down and then state an outcome sentence (in partners, small groups, or the whole class):

“I learned…”, “I was surprised…”, “I wonder…”, I think…”. This quick and engaging activity allows students to think about their learning and share it with others. From the teacher’s perspective, outcome sentences serve as an insightful evaluation tool to check students’ understanding of the lesson.

Interview Tips for Beginning Teachers | eHow.com

admin — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:18:37 +0000

Road to Teaching is highlighted as a resource in the eHow article below. Help continue to grow the web’s largest collection of teacher interview questions by sending in your interview questions to eric@road2teaching.com!

Interview Tips for Beginning Teachers | eHow.com.

Teacher Philosophy and Belief Statements

admin — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:20:01 +0000

Blog Postings

Teacher Interview Question – What is your educational philosophy?

Topics for Philosophy Statement

Philosophy Statement for Student Teachers

Site Links

http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/capstone.html

Job Seeker Alert – Lowered Price of Book

admin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 23:35:05 +0000

In recent weeks the number of visitors and their emails have been flowing in. Mostly these are aspiring teachers and job seekers, preparing for an interview or looking for strategies to land a teacher job. Of course, the teacher interview page, receiving over 200 daily visits alone, and the numerous blog posts are a big hit.

Good news! To further help, I have lowered the price of the e-version of Road to Teaching: A Guide to Teacher Training, Student Teaching, and Finding a Job to $5.49 . This is a fantastic resource for any job seeker looking for a teacher job, especially in light of the tough job market. This price reduction is 27% off the original e-version and 61% off the Amazon.com print version.

This offer will only last until end of April. I hope you will use this book and Road to Teaching’s online resources to help in landing your perfect teacher job.

Good luck on the job search!!!!

-Eric