Practice, Practice, Practice - Mock Interviews

This last week in class, we had back interviews. I think this was a great idea because interviews can be intimidating. Personally, I find them nerve-racking because I you don't know what to expect and having interviews really helps to calm this. I feel like it's really helpful to practice and see what kind of questions that schools will ask. The more you practice at something the better you will be and this is the same with job interviews.

For this mock interview I played an administer. This was very unique for me because I had to step out of my shows of being the teacher candidate and become the principle. I had to think of questions that I would like to ask to possible teachers. I didn't really know what questions to ask at first, but I tried to think of questions that would help me discover what kind of teachers thee interviewees were. Dr. Smirnova provided each of the the administers with  different model/instruction method. I got behavioral model/ direct instruction. I wanted to ask questions that would check and see how the candidates would make direct instruction lessons engaging and incorporate technology. I think that those two elements are essential for a direct instruction. Even though direct instruction is teacher centered it should not be just a lecture where students are zoning out. It is up to the teacher to make these lessons engaging.

During the actual interview, I was able to ask questions and practice proper interview techniques. Event though I was the one asking the questions it was still extremely helpful to hear how my classmates responded to the questions. One thing that I learned is that it is extremely important to give yourself a few seconds to respond to questions so that you "ummm" or "I don't know". This moment of pause gives you time to gather your thoughts so that you don't look unprepared. Another thing I learned was how important it is to give examples of fieldwork when answering questions. I feel that some of the strongest answers that I received during the mock interview were ones that referenced  back to fieldwork.

Here are some potential questions that you may be asked during an interview !
Practice answering these questions so that you are ready for your next interview !

Here are some tips for preparing for a job interview !