The International Schools Review Forum

Hi.
This year I find there are 2 questions that I am asked when applying to Grades 1-6 vacancies. I am not so sure how to answer them. Any tips, links to websites with information? I want to make sure I am not missing anything in my answers.

1. What does your classroom look like?

2. Tell me about a lesson you once did that went well.

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hey folks,

can anyone add more to a list of possible questions asked by directors/recruiters you felt were valid in determining a your experience and abilities?
thanks.

1. What does your classroom look like?
2. Tell me about a lesson you once did that went well.
3.
4.

I don't know if we're allowed to mention TES (Times Educational Supplement) here, but here goes. I think it would be helpful in both directions if there were more traffic between. Especially because ISR and TES have somewhat different focus and TES has a conflict of interest between advertising jobs available and being an open exchange of information. Consequently they don't permit naming and shaming as should absolutely be done when merited. That aside, I bring it up because that's where I got the following & they are a great resource. See the forum section for Jobseekers in particular & Theogriff (maybe I've also seen here?).

Some questions cited from vixenwasp's experience, likely UK perspective:

Tell us about what led you to teaching and then why did you apply to work here?

When have you been part of a team?

You see a child with bruising in PE and don't believe their explanation, what do you do?

What does a creative curriculum mean to you and what experience do you have of this?

How do you deal with a difficult behaviour?

How would you encourage parental involvement?

How do you assess children's progress? {In IB speak: "how do we know when childeren are learning?" -rr}

What are your curriculum strengths?

Here is our school motto {or mission or vision statement -rr} ..... how would you bring this into your teaching?

{I'm going to break this into 2 posts, as I'm getting a little long here.}

From a US perspective:
I was researching a school district locally and did a google search looking for a name in HR. What I found were documents instructing the HR folks how to interview. To me, it has a very US feel, but that doesn’t exclude their use elsewhere, they could be used for that very reason in some places. The intro began:

“... Ample research evidence shows that the traditional unstructured interview is very poor at predicting future job success. Yet the interview as a “casual conversationâ€

I had a Supt at the UNI job fair give me the advice that I should schedule some 'throw away' interviews early. Pick some schools that I probably wouldn't want to work at. Get the jitters out early. By the time the 'target' schools came around, I'd have mastered the typical questions. He even gave me a mock interview.

It worked. By Saturday afternoon I could pretty much answer the questions before they had been asked. I do think that many teachers go into that 'must have' interview cold- not having practiced.

Doesn't address the initial question, but thought it add...

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I got that question about 5 years ago, in an interview that I blew. Had no idea what they were getting at???? My dumb response, (full of uuhhhs)

"I have stacks of papers on my desk. I have a computer at one end. The students sit at tables."

If the person had said, "Tell us how you organized your room, and the reasoning that went into it." I would have listed all the important things. Describe where you have the class rules. What posters do you have, and why. How do you return papers? Do students have boxes, do they pick them up, do you use file cabinets? How is student seating organized, etc...
It is a mundane question IMHO but you can work it.