Edutopia’s ‘11 Questions You’ll Be Asked at a Teaching Interview’ and my Question #12

With this Edutopia article written by Sonja Cassell and my friend Robert Ward

I have just finished reading a very good October 2019 Edutopia article entitled 11 Questions You’ll Be Asked at a Teaching Interview.

Written by elementary school educator Sonja Cassell and English middle school educator Robert Ward, this article is subtitled ‘Commonly asked interview questions you can anticipate — plus tips and links to resources you can tap as you polish your answers.”

What a wonderful read and one that I wish I would have had access to more than thirty years ago when I first applied for a teaching job.

I can’t emphasize enough — if you have “landed an interview appointment for a teaching position at a new school, or for a different position at your current school,” you should take a close look at this article.

I also recommend that you anticipate and get yourself ready to answer one additional commonly asked question — with this question normally asked right after Robert and Sonja’s Question #11 — What questions do you have for us?

Question #12

Is there anything you want to say about yourself that you haven’t yet had a chance to say?

Here, more so than with any other question (and especially if you’re applying for a high school teaching position), is your best chance to stand-out, distinguish yourself from the other applications, and leave the interviewers feeling “rocked.”

But to be able to best answer Question #12, your must first think about how you would answer any of the following.

1. Since graduating, what have you been reading and/or viewing on YouTube to better prepare yourself to serve in the role of a teacher at the school to which you are applying?
2. Since graduating, to what extent have your prepared yourself to teach an AP course offered at the school to which you are applying?
3. Since graduating, to what extent have you prepared yourself to teach one of the social studies electives offered at the school to which you are applying?
4. What do you know about UDL, Civic Learning, and Flipped Learning and to what extent, if any, are you planning to incorporate any of these into your first year lesson plans?
5. Aside from the teachers at the school to which you are applying, where will you go to find “mentors” willing to provide you with guidance and support via the phone and/or email? Have you done that already?
6. What sports at the school to which you are applying are you prepared to coach? What sports would you like to learn to coach?
7. What clubs at the school to which you are applying would you be willing to spoonsor? Most want to sponsor and why?
8. If the school you are applying to doesn’t have a mock trial team, would you be willing to start one after school hours? Same question for a number of extra curricular social studies programs and activities offered at the school to which you are applying?
9. What do you know about the school you to which you are applying?
10. What do you know about the community in which is located the school to which you are applying?

Teacher candidates, as Robert and Sonja said in their Edutopia post, “there will likely be a number of qualified candidates vying for the same spot.” In your interview, you must therefore “find a way to distinguish yourself from the pack and land the job.”

Preparing yourself to answer Rober and Sonja’s 11 questions will certainly take you a long way in the right direction.

Looking forward to hearing how your interviewers reacted if/when you answered my Question #12.

To learn more about Robert Ward, click here and to learn more about Sonja Cassell, click here.