When I was going through University and the School of Education, they prepared me for classroom discipline, formative and summative assessments, how to reflect on pedagogies, and how to make a great binder filled with resources. However, what they didn’t prepare me for was interview questions and how to conduct oneself during one. Just thinking about going through another interview again makes my heart shake. With anything that induces heart palpitations, you need to practice over and over again. You need to reduce stress by going over possible interview questions. You need to come prepared with resources that highlight the best teaching samples you can conjure. Practice makes progress.
During my EEND680 class on 21st Century Educational Leadership at the University of St. Francis, we got an opportunity to come up with five interview questions that revolved around technology. We then asked those questions to a fellow teacher. The other teacher asked me five interview questions which I had to respond to as well. It was a great exercise to flex your interview skills. Especially in this day of COVID climate, you never know when you will need your interview skills again, unfortunately. Plus, technology in the classroom changes so fast. You can’t use the same answers you used for getting your teaching job ten years ago. Throw out your binder from college. Refresh your teaching blog. Practice these tech interview questions with me.
Question 1: There are so many tech tools out on the educational marketplace. What components do you consider while assessing if a tech tool is right for your classroom instruction and student learning?
Question 2: Describe an incident where a tech tool did not work out in the lesson. How did you adjust your lesson plan to your high expectations and student goals?
Question 3: Please provide an artifact where you improved a traditional lesson plan and added collaboration and community connections through the use of technology.
Question 4: With technological advancements in the classroom, what did you use in high school that has become obsolete now? How has technology improved that task or artifact?
Question 5: How do you use technology to pursue your professional learning network?
Can you come up with strong answers to these questions? Here’s one of my answers to a question that was asked to me.
Question 1: How can technology be used in your classroom to enhance student engagement?
Response 1: Students benefit from choices. Each student has unique learning styles that help them learn and absorb content. Some students thrive with discussions and some students thrive in group projects. With technology, there are so many options that can be presented to students where they can create products that engage their learning style and can effectively communicate information in their chosen medium. For example, students can digitally create blackout poetry if they are artistic. Literacy prone students can create online books with digital illustrations easily. Students can also create movies or podcasts with some simple digital tools. With student choice and technology, students can creatively present content that helps them absorb and learn in the end.
Even if you are a veteran teacher, these interview questions help you define your skills, express the amazing things you are doing in your classroom, and make clear what your goals and expectations are. Everyone should brush up on these questions. Remember, practice makes progress!