Teac{HERR} Tales: This Way to the Big Kid Job

See here's the thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking questions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking out opportunities to make yourself better then you were yesterday.

As I prepare to enter into my professional career, no longer a student, it is essential that I take the time and initiative to seek out and take advantages of opportunities that will surely make me better at the interview process, at the job hunt and then successful in my own classroom.

In order to do this, I scheduled a time to meet with our high school principal, Ms. Hutchinson, to perform a mock job interview. Ms. Hutchinson was more then willing to get this appointment on the calendar right away and I appreciate her willingness to invest into my future career in amongst afternoon school duties and disciplinary actions.

Ms. Hutchinson chose to led this mock interview off in a conversational format, and though I would have appreciated the formalities for the practice, I was also really thankful for the chance for her to answer a question, me to answer it and her to break down and process my response. In doing so, I was able to identify some areas for growth and improvement as I work my way into a "real" interview.

Here are the questions Ms. Hutchinson asked...

1. Tell us about your prior experiences and how they have prepared you for this position
2. Describe a learning activity that you have implemented as a teacher that required higher level thinking and creative problem solving. Rate its effectiveness in enabling students to meet identified learning goals/objectives.
3. How does an agriculture teacher effectively incorporate literacy into everyday teaching?
4. What are the most important things to know/remember about assessment of student learning?Explain your understanding of differentiation and an example of what it would look like in your classroom
5. What measure does agriculture education need to take to stay relevant in today's economy and world?
6. In terms of managing study behavior, how do you determine and communicate priorities to students?

Good questions, right?! I was most challenged by the questions regarding literacy and assessments. Good reminders for me to do my homework and stay fresh on the terminology that we discussed in our course work at Penn State and connect it directly to examples in my classroom. 

Ms. Hutchinson's willingness to dissect each question and response after I finished allowed me to leave the room with some really good advice I'll share with you.

1. Find a way to take control of the interview. Seek out ways to talk about your strengths if they don't come up in the conversation. You've got to sell yourself!
2. Writing skills are not ignored! The quality of your cover letter and your essay or other evidence of writing speak directly to your professionalism, level of care and academia. 
3. Know the school and community that you're interviewing for. Do your research and incorporate what you've found into your responses.
4. Ask questions of your interviewers. Ms. Hutchinson values the questions her interviewees ask almost as highly as writing skills. One of my favorite example questions she shared was in the context of one-to-one technology. What expectations do you have for the implementation of technology by your teachers?

Simply put, this was surely a powerful experience. I surely came back with plenty of take-aways, too many to share in one blog!

Simply put, I'm thankful for a chance to identify areas of improvement before I head into a real interview room. I'm thankful that advice came from an adminstrators who values my success. 

Until the Next Teac{HERR} Tale, K. Janae