Hi,
My wife and I have decided to eschew the job fairs this year. We've had a few Skype interviews and two schools want to see a video of a lesson of us teaching. (To be clear a video of me teaching elementary and my wife middle school) I was wondering if anyone has done this? If so what are they looking for in general and how long should the video be? Any advice would be helpful. Thank you
teaching video for job interview
Re: teaching video for job interview
I am an elementary teacher, and I uploaded a video of myself teaching to my online portfolio. I just filmed a 10 minute reading mini-lesson (I doubt a school would want to watch a whole reading block). The school that hired me for next year said that they watched the video, so it must have been decent enough. I think schools just want to make sure your classroom management, student engagement, and teaching style are good. My lesson catered to an ELL population, which was probably important for my future school as well. In the future, I would like to film a guided reading/close reading lesson with a small group and a math lesson.
Re: teaching video for job interview
No way would I be going to such effort as making a video.
Don't do it.
Don't do it.
Re: teaching video for job interview
Not sure if that response is a joke. I filmed a standard mini-lesson that I was going to teach anyway. I leaned an iPad up against a student's pencil case to film the video, then I uploaded it to YouTube. It was one of the easiest teaching-related things I've ever done. I didn't attend an international teaching fair, so I thought it would be an important thing to do.
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wrldtrvlr123
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Re: teaching video for job interview
Alexandru wrote:
> Not sure if that response is a joke.
====================
Sadly, he is deadly serious. You would have to read more of his posts to understand (ironically, I would not "be going to such effort" unless you are bored or need a good laugh).
> Not sure if that response is a joke.
====================
Sadly, he is deadly serious. You would have to read more of his posts to understand (ironically, I would not "be going to such effort" unless you are bored or need a good laugh).
Re: teaching video for job interview
Why would I go to the effort of making a video when the vast majority of schools don't require one?
Also I'm a mediocre teacher, so a video would probably be a bad recruiting tool.
Also I'm a mediocre teacher, so a video would probably be a bad recruiting tool.
Re: teaching video for job interview
I was asked to do one alongside a Skype interview. The school gave me direction on the topic. I just set up a stationary camera to film myself and also used my phone to film when walking around the room. I recorded the whole lesson, but edited it so it wasn't too long (but I didn't cut bits out, I just sped them up so that the school could see I wasn't hiding anything).
Re: teaching video for job interview
Just trying to work this out - so do you point the camera at yourself only, or have it across the classroom? How exactly can this be of much use to people - I don't really have the knowledge or ability to edit a video!
Response
There are three types of teaching demos:
1) The "push" demo, or lecture/direct teach. This demonstration is generally around 15 minutes and focuses on the IT, its like watching any video lesson. You need not include actual students in the demonstration and it can be much easier without them, though having them is more valuable. Recruiters are less interested in your speech skills and more your direction (your ability to direct and guide attention) are students engaged, are you interesting, are you animated.
2) The "Pull" or interactive/check for understanding. This demonstration is about 5 minutes long and includes students. Usually in some kind of very simple activity, the IT provides a prompt the students provide responses. Its usually very focused and has a formula (instruction, prompt, observation, feedback, bridging).
3) The "Product" or student directed demonstration is focused on the students, it doesnt include the IT or very little of the IT. Its an exhibition of students achievement or outcome in a lesson. This is typically the longest usually 20 minutes and easily more depending on the exhibition of the students.
None of the three types is inherently stronger, it depends what your teaching philosophy and strength in practice is.
The process is straightforward:
1) Start by identifying what you want the outcome to look like. Does it focus on you or the students. What is your demo going to be. Lecture is easy, but lower utility. Interactive lessons have more value but there is more likelihood of it going wrong
2) What are your resources and restrictions are? Do you need to get a bunch of parent releases, what do you have as a camera, and what are your video editing skills. How long do you have to do this? If you need it fast the less involvement of the students the better, you wont have time for countless retakes if your students arent cooperative.
3) An iPhone or smartphone is fine, a digital recorder better. Determine the range you want (how far from the recording space (the ground) you want to be. Consider the limits of your camera and its microphone (audio capture capabilities). Once you figured those out get a stable surface such as a tripod or holder and a designated table or desk. You want the video steady and you want the audio clear.
4) You need to be comfortable with some editing you just do, at the very least you will need to trim the beginning and the end of the demo (the parts where you are walking away and to the camera). Its very easy to use a program like iMovie or even Quicktime to make some basic edits. It would be relatively easy at that point to use an intro transition (credits) and a fade out as a ending transition. You can also do some basic edits online such as in youtube.
5) Once you have the video demonstration you need to determine how to present it. the easiest is to upload it to googledrive, dropbox, onedrive, and then generate a sharing link when you need to provide it to a recruiter.
1) The "push" demo, or lecture/direct teach. This demonstration is generally around 15 minutes and focuses on the IT, its like watching any video lesson. You need not include actual students in the demonstration and it can be much easier without them, though having them is more valuable. Recruiters are less interested in your speech skills and more your direction (your ability to direct and guide attention) are students engaged, are you interesting, are you animated.
2) The "Pull" or interactive/check for understanding. This demonstration is about 5 minutes long and includes students. Usually in some kind of very simple activity, the IT provides a prompt the students provide responses. Its usually very focused and has a formula (instruction, prompt, observation, feedback, bridging).
3) The "Product" or student directed demonstration is focused on the students, it doesnt include the IT or very little of the IT. Its an exhibition of students achievement or outcome in a lesson. This is typically the longest usually 20 minutes and easily more depending on the exhibition of the students.
None of the three types is inherently stronger, it depends what your teaching philosophy and strength in practice is.
The process is straightforward:
1) Start by identifying what you want the outcome to look like. Does it focus on you or the students. What is your demo going to be. Lecture is easy, but lower utility. Interactive lessons have more value but there is more likelihood of it going wrong
2) What are your resources and restrictions are? Do you need to get a bunch of parent releases, what do you have as a camera, and what are your video editing skills. How long do you have to do this? If you need it fast the less involvement of the students the better, you wont have time for countless retakes if your students arent cooperative.
3) An iPhone or smartphone is fine, a digital recorder better. Determine the range you want (how far from the recording space (the ground) you want to be. Consider the limits of your camera and its microphone (audio capture capabilities). Once you figured those out get a stable surface such as a tripod or holder and a designated table or desk. You want the video steady and you want the audio clear.
4) You need to be comfortable with some editing you just do, at the very least you will need to trim the beginning and the end of the demo (the parts where you are walking away and to the camera). Its very easy to use a program like iMovie or even Quicktime to make some basic edits. It would be relatively easy at that point to use an intro transition (credits) and a fade out as a ending transition. You can also do some basic edits online such as in youtube.
5) Once you have the video demonstration you need to determine how to present it. the easiest is to upload it to googledrive, dropbox, onedrive, and then generate a sharing link when you need to provide it to a recruiter.
Re: teaching video for job interview
Thanks for the detailed response Psyguy. That really helps. Also thanks to everyone else who provided responses. I was going to just press play and teach. I think this will helps give me direction. Joe30 I can't tell if you're throwing shade or not but I actually like that they want me to post a video. I have a kid so it helps that they want to see something before just hiring their teachers.
Re: teaching video for job interview
I've done a lot of video recording both as a classroom teacher and as an instructional coach. As a professional development exercise, I think it's invaluable to record yourself and watch the "game tape." I learned a lot about my own teaching craft. It's also great for coaching because you can really illustrate an area of growth objectively.
PsyGuy posted some excellent information for how to do this well. I would recommend always getting releases from parents and avoid including any identifying information such as the use of student last names (don't forget to cover up name tags!) or school name/logo on worksheets or bulletin boards. For the purposes of a teaching demo to share with potential employers, I'd probably just pull a small group of students to teach. An iPhone or iPad works just fine, but if you can have a colleague record you, thus moving the camera to showcase student work, even better.
FYI: In-person demo lessons and/or video is the norm for p-12 hiring in the districts I've worked in. I was SHOCKED that none of the schools I interviewed with this year requested anything akin to a demo lesson. I suspect it's coming though, especially for those who are new to the profession.
PsyGuy posted some excellent information for how to do this well. I would recommend always getting releases from parents and avoid including any identifying information such as the use of student last names (don't forget to cover up name tags!) or school name/logo on worksheets or bulletin boards. For the purposes of a teaching demo to share with potential employers, I'd probably just pull a small group of students to teach. An iPhone or iPad works just fine, but if you can have a colleague record you, thus moving the camera to showcase student work, even better.
FYI: In-person demo lessons and/or video is the norm for p-12 hiring in the districts I've worked in. I was SHOCKED that none of the schools I interviewed with this year requested anything akin to a demo lesson. I suspect it's coming though, especially for those who are new to the profession.
Re: teaching video for job interview
carolina wrote:
> FYI: In-person demo lessons and/or video is the norm for p-12 hiring in the
> districts I've worked in. I was SHOCKED that none of the schools I
> interviewed with this year requested anything akin to a demo lesson. I
> suspect it's coming though, especially for those who are new to the
> profession.
I certainly hope not.
> FYI: In-person demo lessons and/or video is the norm for p-12 hiring in the
> districts I've worked in. I was SHOCKED that none of the schools I
> interviewed with this year requested anything akin to a demo lesson. I
> suspect it's coming though, especially for those who are new to the
> profession.
I certainly hope not.
Discussion
If you live in a jurisdiction that would have such strict privacy policies and regulations, Id seriously consider forgetting the students and plan something else. Either stage the demo in a meeting room using adults or do it to an empty room.
Demo prevalence is growing but not very fast.
Demo prevalence is growing but not very fast.
Re: teaching video for job interview
@carolina - that's true. It's required for almost every job in Scotland now and I think more and more in England too. I don't really like it - especially in person as you don't always know the class - but I can see why from a recruiter's perspective it makes sense.