Not Necessarily

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Home : 2003 : March : 16

Not Necessarily
By GM

Hi Tricia:

You might not necessarily be doing anything wrong. Like another poster said, they might have already have someone in mind and are just going through the formality of interviewing applicants.

One professor
of mine highly suggested to interview were you know you aren't interested in working. She said even if you have to travel a 100 miles, do it. Then you can get interview practice. That's one suggestion I didn't take and wish I had. My first interview was a bomb! But I lived to tell about.
When I've been asked about my strengths (sometimes, they use the word "talents") Once I really

let that word throw me for a loop; I instantly thought: "Oh no! They want to know if I can sing, dance, draw or play an inststrument, which I can't do any very well at all. Anyway....For this question, I say that I have strong interpersonal skills; I work well as a team player. I also say that I have strong organizational skills as well- that I'm an excellent planner. Another thing I sometimes include is my voracious curiosity to learn about unfamiliar teaching strategies and my willingness to try new ones.

When it comes to identifying my weaknesses, I said in the beginning that my inexperience as a teacher was my weakest link; however, I said that my interpersonal skills compensated for it, that what I didn't know, I would ask.

Far as your management plan, I would have something in writing to refer to and show them. This shows that you have preplanned (thought out) some important aspects of your duties as a teacher). I would also have, as suggested by another poster, examples of ways to communicate with parents. For example, I showed a questionaire that I have parents fill out; this questionaire gives me good insight to what they expect from me and info on their children. I also showed them the weekly behavioral note I send home for each student indicating good/bad behavior for the week.

I think what they are looking for is one who is self-confident. This does not mean that you have to have all the answers because they know you are new and you can't possible know everything.

Hopes this helps. If I think of anything else, I will post. GM