Dactah Havahd

Today we tried our hand at interviewing for teaching positions. It's an exciting idea, testing out your theories and practices in a mock interview, prepping yourself for what will hopefully come down the line sooner rather than later. All our hard work, our research, our fieldwork, our volunteering, our blood sweat and tears!

Colleen acted as Dr. Corrigan, Dean of Imagination School and Mike acted as Dr. Werba, the superintendent of Maple City Schools.

Both Dr. Corrigan and Dr. Werba had done extensive research on their two schools. Dr. Corrigan's school was a centered base school that elaborated on the importance of students conducting their own research and exploring their interests as well as commanding the role of their education.

I enjoyed Dr. Corrigan's mindful questions, which asked how the classroom would be structured; how would you group desks and tables to allow students to work cooperatively and how a teacher would organize a group if students were not meeting the expectations of working as a group.

Dr. Werba's schools, Maple City Schools, was a direct lesson approach with a more teacher centered theme. The distinction between the two types of schools was clear, but I was surprised by the type of questions Dr. Werba asked. The questions seemed more imaginative and exploring. The first question Dr. Werba asked Rachel was if Rachel had her own talk show, who she would have as her first guest. My favorite questioned I was asked, by either Mike or Colleen, was Mike's question about my classroom. Dr. Werba asked me: It's 8:50 am and the students are walking into your classroom, what does your classroom look like?

 I got to really visually walk through what I would want my ideal classroom to look like. I thought over my answer and then decided to put together what I would want. I thought of the classrooms I have peered into during my fieldwork, watched how students ambled sleepily into during the morning routine and witnessed firsthand just how important routine truly is.

I told Mike that my classroom would be set up with a message on the board which came with three instructions: 1. Morning work in math or another content area that covered the lesson that was taught the day before. 2. Time for students to read a book we were reading as a whole class 3. Time for students to write or draw in their morning journals. During this time, students would have morning tasks that need to be completed; watering plants, feeding fish, bringing lunch counts down to the office. By 9:00 I wanted my students at their desks, ready for the day after completing their daily tasks. I told Mike that I wanted my routine so en-grained that the students were able to complete their tasks independently without my guidance while I finished any minor details that needed to be corrected: take attendance, speak to any students privately that needed my counsel.

I got hired! I will be working at Imagination Schools. Come see me! :)