Interview, Number Two
I'm scheduled for an interview tomorrow - provided that the schools aren't closed again because of rain (lots and lots of rain - we've even got lightning and thunder now, it's all very exciting).
A friend of mine was scheduled for an interview tomorrow as well, at a different school - one that's closed tomorrow. She's approaching the process very differently than I am, and I'm trying to figure out a way to honor her need to feel in control while at the same time convincing her that she doesn't NEED to know every answer to every question. It's a delicate balancing act.
She's got a packet put together to take with her to her interview. She's looked up the course offerings for the school she's interviewing for and has put together a bunch of lesson plans and materials lists and it seems like a really great idea to bring something like that along.
I don't have anything like that.
I am approaching the interview process in a very different way. Of course, I could be approaching it all wrong, but I'm going to go with my gut on this one and believe that the Universe unfolds as it should.
I feel that my strongest selling point in an interview for a teaching job is just me and my enthusiasm for the work that I do. I don't feel that handing out paper is really going to give the interview panel a good idea about who I am, or who I will be as a teacher in their school, and I'm not down with the idea of presenting myself as someone I'm not.
I'm pretty confident that I can answer most of the questions, but I don't feel like I have to have a ready answer to every question; if someone got specific, I would be willing to admit that I have no experience teaching a particular novel or concept, but that my inexperience doesn't phase me in the least - I see that kind of inexperience as a FANTASTIC opportunity to model for my students what good scholars do when they encounter something new. My belief that my job as a teacher is less about teaching the material and more about connecting with my students - and teaching them how to think - is something I am very confident about. I know where my strengths and weaknesses are, and I'm able to express them with a fair bit of eloquence.
I'm hoping that my confidence that I SHOULD be doing this job will be enough to convince the panel that I should be doing the job for THEM.
I'll let you know when I have news, one way or the other.
A friend of mine was scheduled for an interview tomorrow as well, at a different school - one that's closed tomorrow. She's approaching the process very differently than I am, and I'm trying to figure out a way to honor her need to feel in control while at the same time convincing her that she doesn't NEED to know every answer to every question. It's a delicate balancing act.
She's got a packet put together to take with her to her interview. She's looked up the course offerings for the school she's interviewing for and has put together a bunch of lesson plans and materials lists and it seems like a really great idea to bring something like that along.
I don't have anything like that.
I am approaching the interview process in a very different way. Of course, I could be approaching it all wrong, but I'm going to go with my gut on this one and believe that the Universe unfolds as it should.
I feel that my strongest selling point in an interview for a teaching job is just me and my enthusiasm for the work that I do. I don't feel that handing out paper is really going to give the interview panel a good idea about who I am, or who I will be as a teacher in their school, and I'm not down with the idea of presenting myself as someone I'm not.
I'm pretty confident that I can answer most of the questions, but I don't feel like I have to have a ready answer to every question; if someone got specific, I would be willing to admit that I have no experience teaching a particular novel or concept, but that my inexperience doesn't phase me in the least - I see that kind of inexperience as a FANTASTIC opportunity to model for my students what good scholars do when they encounter something new. My belief that my job as a teacher is less about teaching the material and more about connecting with my students - and teaching them how to think - is something I am very confident about. I know where my strengths and weaknesses are, and I'm able to express them with a fair bit of eloquence.
I'm hoping that my confidence that I SHOULD be doing this job will be enough to convince the panel that I should be doing the job for THEM.
I'll let you know when I have news, one way or the other.
posted by Mrs. Chili at 10:12 PM
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