1. Why Do You Want to Be a Teacher/Work With Children?

“I really admired my mother who is a teacher. When I was younger, I felt myself drawn to her for advice and guidance
over the years. It’s that sense of warmth and acceptance she provided me that inspired me to become a teacher. I want to
be that person others can lean on as they navigate the oftentimes tough waters of growing up.”

2. What’s Your Teaching Style or Philosophy?/What Adjectives Would You Use to Describe Your Presence in the
Classroom?

“I would say I’m strict but fair when it comes to teaching. I believe when students are challenged with realistic goals and
given the support they need not to just get the answers right but to be able to use those learnings to solve future problems
on their own, everyone comes out on top. I also think that as a teacher, it’s my job to support my students through the
lessons I give, but also through the various challenges they may face at school, and to partner with them as well as other
support systems to help them feel motivated, comfortable, and happy in the classroom.”

I believe that the best learning opportunities are the ones that the students come up with themselves. For that reason I
spend every lunch hour on the playground with my students and make myself available for them to ask me “playground-
pop-quiz” questions. These questions have ranged from everything from how is the ice cream we had at lunch made to
exploring the lifecycle of the mosquitos we found in a piece of playground equipment. I love challenging the students to
try to stump me and as a result, they go out of their way to explore the environment around them, making learning fun
and exciting.

3. How Would You Handle a Difficult Student?

“For me, the first step would be to pull them aside and address the issue privately. My biggest questions would be about
deciphering what might be the root cause of this student’s bad behavior. Once I know what may be contributing to their
difficulty, I really try to work with them to come up with a solution. I used this strategy in my last classroom, where I had
a student who couldn’t seem to stay in his seat during lessons. We talked about how his behavior affected the rest of the
class and why he kept moving around, and we agreed that when he was feeling really anxious he could raise his hand and
I’d let him take a lap around the classroom, but only when it was appropriate. I also decided to make some of my lessons
more active and hands-on so that other students could benefit from getting out of their seats every once in a while.”

4. How Do You Motivate Students?

Similar to the question above, interviewers want to see how you influence students to do what you need them to do.
Findley adds that this is an especially important thing to vet for when hiring virtual teachers, because motivating others
over video requires a lot more creativity than when you’re teaching in person.
“Positive reinforcement is super important to keep a student motivated, so one thing I like to do is throw out rewards or
bonuses when they perform especially well. This could be candy, or a star, or a sticker, or even just a compliment—
whatever I can tell students enjoy receiving, and it’s different for everyone. I never want students to feel left out or
overindulged, so I always try to be fair and consistent with everyone. But it’s those little moments of recognition I think
that keep them happy and excited to learn.”

5. How Do You Like to Communicate/Build Relationships With Parents?

“I think it’s really important to get to know the important family members in each student’s life. Which is why at the
beginning of the school year I like to invite parents to my classroom and have individual meetings with the families. I’ll
also send out a survey to get a better understanding of the student’s home life, needs, and family dynamics. Then,
throughout the year, I always try to touch base with families to share positive updates and small wins about the student in
addition to discussing any challenges the student might be facing academically or behaviorally.”

7. Tell Me About a Time When You Worked With a Team to Solve a Problem.

“In my last role as an adviser of Student Body Organization, I had to partner with our students to meet a really tight
deadline to finish or accomplish our project.We were all a little frazzled because the project required a lot of revisions,
but we put our heads together and divided the work, even staying late a couple days to make sure we finished on time. I
definitely don’t think we could have accomplished it without working together, and I believe the same is true as a teacher
working with other staff—you can’t go it alone if you’re going to successfully improve upon a student’s behavior.”

8. Tell Me About a Time When You Helped Someone Become More Successful.

. “She did everything for the [child],” he explains. “If she needed to do a house visit and spend hours there on a
Saturday, she would do [it]. And so the whatever-it-took mentality and the investment in, ‘I’m going to make sure that you
succeed despite all the barriers’ was impressive.”

9. Tell Me About a Time When You Accomplished Something Satisfying/Overcame a Difficult Challenge.

“When I was in call center, I dealt with one particularly difficult customer who wasn’t satisfied with their purchase.
Most of my team was struggling to connect with them, but I was determined to set things right. I was patient and listened
to their complaints, and we worked together to come up with a solution that seemed like a good compromise for the
customer. They left the store in a lot better of a mood than when they entered, and that feeling of turning someone’s day
around felt truly great.”

11. Tell Me About a Time When a Situation Changed at Work and How You Dealt With It.

: “When I was a camp facilitator, I often had to keep campers entertained through rainy weather or a blip in the camp
schedule. The first time it happened we didn’t really know how to handle the group, so I decided to put together a one-
sheeter of activities and games we could use should we need to go off course in the future. I can confidently say no
camper was disappointed with the change of schedule—they loved all the games, and our staff was relieved how smoothly
things went after that first time.”

13. How Would You Handle [Specific Subject Situation/Misconception]?

“One problem that could occur is that students won’t line everything up by the place value or decimal. They may line the
five up right below the eight and therefore get the wrong answer. I would teach them to line the decimals up and then put
zeros as place holders so they don’t get confused. I would also encourage them to draw a line from each addend all the
way down to their sum to make sure all the decimals are in line. I always remind students to read carefully and double
check their work to avoid common mistakes like this.”

14. Walk Me Through a Typical Lesson.

“I’d say one of my greatest strengths is bringing organization to hectic environments and implementing processes to
make everyone’s lives easier. In my current role as a teacher and adviser of student bosy organization, I created new
processes for pretty much everything, from scheduling meetings to planning monthly all hands agendas to selecting and
preparing for event appearances. Everyone in the school knew how things worked and how long they would take, and the
structures helped alleviate stress and set expectations on all sides. I’d be excited to bring that same approach in this
institution, where everything is new and constantly growing and could use just the right amount of structure to keep
things running smoothly.”
15. Weakness
“My greatest weakness would probably be waiting too long to ask questions to clarify the goals of a project and to make
sure I’m on the right path. I noticed in one of my first coding jobs out of college that I would get an assignment and,
because I assumed I should be able to work independently, I’d waste time going down a particular road that didn’t 100%
align with the ultimate goal and then would have to spend additional time making changes. After it happened once or
twice, I started asking my manager more questions about why we were adding a particular feature, who it was intended
for, what about the previous functionality had made for a poor experience, etc. And especially for bigger projects, I would
reach out when I needed a gut check to ask follow-up questions as well as to share the work I’d done so far and what I
was planning to do next. In the long run, it meant I could finish projects faster and do better work.”

Why do you want to work for our school district?

I respect Snowy Peaks High’s belief in teaching to the whole child. Your focus on academics, character, community, and
nature fit perfectly with my own philosophy. It’s easier to teach well-rounded students.

What do you find most frustrating about teaching?

I get very frustrated with bright kids who become overconfident and don’t apply themselves. There’s nothing sadder or
more common than wasted potential. At my last position, I worked with several children who weren’t trying. I
implemented a research-based program to incorporate student ideas into the lesson plan. The addition of their thoughts
created more complete engagement. Test scores went up 15% in just two months.
Why should we hire you to teach here?
I’m well aware of your new technology initiative. We were tasked with the same challenge at my last school. Thanks to my
strong tech background, I was able to add online quizzes easily . I can check papers as fast as I can.
How would you get your classroom ready for the first day of school?
I want my classroom to be welcoming and nurturing. I also make the ground rules obvious. A welcome sign and labeled
desks help students feel at home from day one. Engaging posters and other visual aids help create a sense of excitement.
Beyond fun, a large list of rules and consequences at the front of the room helps the class start on the right foot.

How do you evaluate your students?

I evaluate students with formal and informal methods, including quizzes and tests. I also grade in-class activities like
reports, recitations, desk work, and group activities. One student, Terry, showed a strong grasp of concepts during in-
class activities, but performed poorly during testing. Through working closely with him, I uncovered an undiagnosed
vision problem. Terry got corrective lenses and his test scores rose to match his in-class comprehension.

Question 1. Why Should Classrooms Be Managed?

Answer :
Classroom management has been consistently linked to pupil achievement. Effectively managing aspects of the classroom
environment is therefore an important part of the teaching and learning process. The classroom environment must be
conducive to learning; however, classrooms can be crowded, complex and potentially chaotic places.
Why do you think you can become a good teacher?
Teaching is a mission, not a profession. I will strive to be a good role model for the students, and I understand young
people and their outlook of life. I constantly try to improve my knowledge of teaching methods, and try them in practice,
to improve my teaching skills, and become a better teacher.

Describe your teaching experience

I enjoyed teaching. helped a particular student in their life.
Teach like it is your last day today! TO TEACH MY STUDENTS HOW TO LEARN. Teaching is a noble profession.
One does not go into teaching for the money but rather for the twinkle in the eyes of a student when they have understood
a concept you taught them or figured out for themselves how to solve a problem based on your guidance. Teachers are
facilitators making things happen in the class room and outside. The greatest compliment is when a student (whom you
may have taught long ago) approaches you on the bus or in the market place and tells us something like, "You really
helped me learn..."

How much do you want to know about your students in order to be most helpful to them?
I need to know a student’s learning styles, passions, and challenges. One difficult student, Tim, was disruptive in class. I
joined him on the playground on and off. It turned out he was being bullied after school by his brother’s friends. I spoke
with Tim’s parents, and they had no idea. Tim became my star student, and as a result, my whole class got quieter and
easier to teach.

Why do you want to work for our school district?

I respect Sto. Nino national high school’s belief in teaching to the whole child. Your focus on academics, character,
community, and nature fit perfectly with my own philosophy. It’s easier to teach well-rounded students. The best lesson
plan in the world can’t help a child who’s struggling in all other areas of life.

How can you help our school/students?

I get very frustrated with bright kids who become overconfident and don’t apply themselves. There’s nothing sadder or
more common than wasted potential. At my last position, I worked with several children who weren’t trying. I
implemented a research-based program to incorporate student ideas into the lesson plan. The addition of their thoughts
created more complete engagement. Test scores went up 15% in just two months.

Why should we hire you?

Because I am not committed to just a job, but to the teaching profession as a whole. I place high value on constant
learning and I always take the initiative when it comes to attending conferences, workshops and talks that can prepare me
to be a better TA.

Ever since I was a teenager I’ve had a keen interest in learning and bettering myself, and I believe that if I use the right
tools and strategies, this hunger for learning and self-improvement can be picked up by students who can then incorporate
these values into their own lives now and in the future.