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LMichele
LIF Adolescent
Member since 6/11 573 total posts
Name:
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Middle School Interview Help
Hi all...I have an interview next week for a primarily 7th & 8th grade reading teacher position. I'd also be doing some 5th & 6th test prep. I'm certified 1-6 and have only interviewed for such positions. Middle school is new to me. Any help/tips for the interview would be greatly appreciated!
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Posted 2/7/12 7:12 PM  |
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smooney
Hidey Ho!
Member since 2/10 1669 total posts
Name:
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
I had the same situation kindof- I was going for my 5-9 extension but had only elementary experience when I went for a position teaching 7th and 9th grades. I would just be honest and say that although you don't have much hands on experience with this grade level, you have good foundations which will help you that are popular in elem. levels such as offering clear and explicit instructions, positive reinforcement, patience, good organizational skills, good classroom management, etc. You also have the benefit of knowing where these kids are coming from developmental/educational/emotional wise, and you can draw on that to address this older population. I believe I actually said "middle school kids are like a different species" in my interview. My ap laughed and I got the job.
Good luck!
FYI though- if this position is predominantly for 7th and 8th grade, you may be required to go back and get an extension so you are legally licensed to teach these students. You can only teach out of license for a part of your schedule.
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| Posted 2/7/12 7:28 PM |
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LMichele
LIF Adolescent
Member since 6/11 573 total posts
Name:
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
Thanks for your advice! You brought up some things I wouldn't have thought to brush up on.
Message edited 6/22/2014 9:57:25 AM.
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| Posted 2/7/12 7:56 PM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
In my district, Nancy Doda is our big trainer.
Listening to the Voices of Young Adolescents
Nancy Doda & Trudy Knowles
**Middle school students learn a whole lot better when they are not being lectured to, being directed, forced, or ordered, but when choice is given and learning is interactive. Traditional classrooms in our society today define teacher and the classroom in general as a straight-answer, fact-feeding, dictatorship that cares little for the opinions and interests of the pupils, and that teaches little about the reasons behind the facts. Schools are meant to prepare kids for life and make them more apt to be successful in their life. One would suppose that the government having authority over public schooling would want the generations of the future to be more successful in life, thus feeding the needs of the economy and the requirements of democracy, the spread of freedom, the reduction of discrimination in all forms, and exercising the rights and morality of citizens. One would assume that the government—wanting such a society—would encourage the development of these attributes through schooling. However as we look at the teaching of present schools, we see suspension of constitutional rights, undemocratic classrooms, and the implementation of the fact-feeding teaching methods and passive roles for students. Now maybe it’s just me, but I would have to think that we should be promoting the opposite of these things: am I wrong? –eighth grader**
Several years ago, we began collecting free-write responses from young adolescents, who responded to the question: “What should middle school teachers know about middle school students?” To date, we have collected and analyzed approximately 2,700 unedited responses from young adolescents who attend middle schools in diverse communities across North America. We have found their responses to be perceptive, honest, and wise. The above words of one eighth grade student may surprise you as much as they did us, initially. Some have dismissed them as an anomaly of brilliance and maturity. While this particular quote demonstrates verbal fluency and sophisticated understandings, we discovered that the majority of letters we received contained similarly profound insights, reflecting the remarkable capacity of young adolescents to describe themselves and their school worlds. Embedded in their messages are critical insights about the nature of schooling these young people experience, the kind of schooling they wish they had, and glimpses of their struggles, hopes, fears, and even dreams. After completing this study, we felt compelled to share our findings and wonder how middle level schooling might be improved if we regularly went directly to our young people and took seriously what they have to say.
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| Posted 2/8/12 1:52 PM |
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lise
LIF Infant
Member since 6/07 272 total posts
Name:
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
Which charter school do you have the interview?
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| Posted 2/9/12 10:22 PM |
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LMichele
LIF Adolescent
Member since 6/11 573 total posts
Name:
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
Thanks everyone
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| Posted 2/12/12 8:57 AM |
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donegal419
St. Gerard, pray for us.
Member since 7/07 7650 total posts
Name:
K
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
Also, since it's a reading teacher position, you are primarily going to be working with struggling readers so be prepared for questions re: teaching reading to that population.
Some questions you could be asked:
-Are you certified or experienced in reading programs such as Wilson or Orton-Gillingham? (some schools look for this and may actually have you teach these programs if you're qualified to do so)
-What tools/activities to you use to improve comprehension/vocabulary, etc.
-Give an example of how you collaborate with classroom teachers?
-How do you make above reading level materials accessible to students?
Etc...
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| Posted 2/12/12 9:42 PM |
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LMichele
LIF Adolescent
Member since 6/11 573 total posts
Name:
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
Posted by donegal419
Also, since it's a reading teacher position, you are primarily going to be working with struggling readers so be prepared for questions re: teaching reading to that population.
Some questions you could be asked:
-Are you certified or experienced in reading programs such as Wilson or Orton-Gillingham? (some schools look for this and may actually have you teach these programs if you're qualified to do so)
-What tools/activities to you use to improve comprehension/vocabulary, etc.
-Give an example of how you collaborate with classroom teachers?
-How do you make above reading level materials accessible to students?
Etc...
Thank you so much! I've been focusing my interview "studying" on these topics.
It sounds as if there isn't much of a reading program in place for struggling readers. They asked on the phone interview what experience I have with assessing students, as they would need to be assessed. At this point in the year. I mentioned one reading assessment I did during my graduate classes and they seemed interested that I could go in and start with it right away. I found the manual/text and am bringing that with me tomorrow in case that question comes up.
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| Posted 2/12/12 10:10 PM |
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LMichele
LIF Adolescent
Member since 6/11 573 total posts
Name:
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
Thanks everyone! I have a demo on Thursday :)
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| Posted 2/13/12 4:24 PM |
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donegal419
St. Gerard, pray for us.
Member since 7/07 7650 total posts
Name:
K
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Re: Middle School Interview Help
Posted by LMichele
Thanks everyone! I have a demo on Thursday :)
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| Posted 2/13/12 4:36 PM |
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