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Before your first interview you want to become comfortable with all aspects and duties that will
be expected of you as a teacher. You may be asked about any or all of them. Be prepared to
discuss your experience and how you would handle each of these chores:
1. Designing classroom presentations to meet the needs of your students
2. Work with students individually
3. Planning and assigning lessons
4. Grading tests
5. Listening to oral presentations
6. Maintaining classroom discipline
7. Evaluating student performance
8. Evaluating student potential
9. Create new assessment methods
10. Provide additional assistance in areas where a student needs help
11. Grade papers
12. Prepare report cards
13. Meet with parents
This is just a small list of the most challenging tasks. You will also be expected to work study
halls and homerooms. Most teachers need to supervise some sort of extra curricular activity. You
will be expected to keep your eyes open for potential cases of parental abuse or drug and alcohol
problems. If you sense a problem you will have to have the courage to take action and report your
suspicions to the appropriate agencies.
High school teachers are often asked by students to recommend universities or careerdevelopment
programs. Do you think you can payenough attention to your students to figure outwhat the best life
track for them would be?
You will also be asked how you will deal with thefrustrations that are the downside of teaching.
Yes, teaching can be a very fulfilling experience when you help a child overcome a problem and
truly learn. But, it can also be very frustrating. You will have to deal with promising children
who fail. You will have to deal with bright students who fall prey to drugs, violence and teenage
pregnancy. Can you be strong enough to confront these disappointments? Schools are sometimes
violent and class sizes are growing. Can you adapt your teaching methods to reach classes of 30
or more students? Can you keep them under control?
Many first time teachers take jobs in inner city communities to get experience. Often these
schools are run down and will not have the basic amenities you expected when you were a
student. Will your self-respect and self-confidence be able to handle these problems? Principals
and superintendents will not expect a simple yes response. They will want to know exactly how
you will deal with these challenges. Prepare and memorize a response in advance.
Teaching is also not the low hour workload it used to be. Because most teachers have to go
through professional development courses and supervise after school activities, you will often be
working more than 40 hours a week. The upside of course is that you will have summers off and
many breaks throughout the school years.
A recent development in some districts is the year round school year. Before you interview find
out if your district plans to adopt this model. If they do, make sure that you would be interested
in working year round. If not, you might considerapplying to a district with a more traditional
schedule.
Tenure laws are still in effect in most states. This does not mean however that once you are hired
you are guaranteed a job for life. For the most part you will have to work for three years in the
same district before you are offered tenure. Check the district out and make sure it is worth a
three-year commitment on your part before you apply