Career Corner

You got the call! After investing hours in the job search, a prospective employer has called to invite you for an interview. You’ve prepared for this moment by researching the district’s website, reviewing sample interview questions, participating in a mock interview, and developing questions to ask the interviewer. However, when the caller indicates that you should plan to teach a ten-minute lesson, your anxiety level escalates. As you graciously thank the caller for the upcoming interview and opportunity to teach a lesson, your inner voice is screaming, “Where do I start?!”

First of all, don’t panic. You’re a teacher. You can do this! Don’t let the audience and abbreviated time frame intimidate you. Here are some tips to help you prepare an A+ demonstration lesson:

Consider the employer’s objectives. What are they looking for? The observers will be interested in several components, including: a) planning and preparation; b) classroom environment; c) knowledge of content/teaching strategies; and d) professionalism.

Planning and Preparation
• Prior to the interview, ask who your “students” will be and how many you should anticipate. Will you teach “real students” or administrators, school board members, teachers, and/or parents posing as students? Additionally, be clear on the parameters—time, context, number of students, topic, etc.
• This is not the time to stretch your creativity. If possible, choose a lesson that you have implemented before and revise it for the abbreviated time frame. Demonstrate your strengths.
• Your plan should be thorough; provide a cover sheet with the rationale for your lesson.
• Don’t try to cover too many objectives in your lesson. Keep it focused.
• Rehearse the lesson—time it and have it critiqued.

Classroom Environment
• Anticipate that you will have little set-up time. Keep your plan simple! Don’t assume that any resources are available. You may inquire about available technology, but don’t rely on it.
• Consider taking the first minute to have students prepare name tags so that you can call on them by name. They can wear the name tag or write their name on a sheet of tri-fold paper, positioned upright on their desks.
• Be prepared for the unexpected. There may be contrived discipline problems from administrators, for example.

Knowledge & Teaching Strategies
• Engage the students—this is key!
• At the end of the lesson plan, describe “extensions,” i.e. “If I had more time, I would …”
• Try to ask some higher-order thinking questions.
• Plan for differentiated instruction—even if particular student needs aren’t revealed beforehand. In your lesson plan, indicate how you will accommodate various needs.

Professionalism
• Demonstrate your resourcefulness by researching the district and local community website. If possible, “localize the lesson” by incorporating a school mascot, tradition or community landmark.
• Check out professional association websites for resources; mention this in your lesson plan or cover sheet.
• Along with your thank-you letter after the interview, include a self-reflection: “If I taught this lesson again, I would …”

With conscientious planning, your mini-lesson will truly show the prospective employer the teaching strengths you bring to the classroom. Therefore, prepare carefully, practice, and pursue this phase of the interview process with confidence. You’re ready to demonstrate your passion for teaching!

Do you have other tips for handling the demonstration lesson? If so, please post.

Deborah R. Snyder
Associate Director, Education Career Services
Grove City College, PA, on behalf of AAEE

Posted by AAEE at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We live in an online world, and you have chosen a public profession – a potential precarious combination. Online social networking sites provide education majors and teacher candidates a challenge to balance online activities with the realities that just about everything in the life of a teacher is public. A recent survey of employers by NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) revealed that 29% of the employers use social networking sites as part of their recruitment effort, an increase from 17% the year before. An unflattering online presence can lead to a job candidate being removed from the employment consideration. As long as the employer consistently uses this process for all applicants, online searches for candidate information are fine.

School district administrators may or may not search for your online profile when you are being considered for a job, but that doesn’t stop school board members, students, and parents from doing so. Should a student find your online profile, count on it being circulated around the school within hours. That’s nothing to worry about if your Facebook, My Space, or another online site provides a profile that is consistent with your role as a teacher. Should the “discovery” provide some embarrassing photos or posts, you may find your ability to maintain the respect of students to be compromised. Still, this is something that you should be able to overcome, although it would be better to avoid such a situation in the first place.
However, should a parent find something about you online that causes them to doubt your professional or personal judgment as a teacher entrusted with the welfare of their children, your career could be at stake. You can count on that information being passed on to your principal if it already hasn’t made the rounds at school.

Social networking sites are not inherently bad. In fact, they can be quite useful for you to stay in touch with friends and to make new ones. Used wisely, social networking sites do exactly what the name implies – allow you to network with colleagues both personally and professionally.

Too many college students and young professionals, however, allow their online profiles to get out of control. Even if you set your privacy settings on your site, posting photos or comments that are questionable is unwise. Establishing a professional online presence also means monitoring where you are tagged on the pages of others. It won’t matter to a principal if a compromising photo of you is posted on someone else’s page. He or she will still have to deal with the parent demanding, “How can you hire a person like this to be a teacher of my kids?” Perhaps your friend who posted the photo and tagged you as the one who is passed out by the toilet after an all-night party will be able to assist you in finding another job outside of education.

As you maintain your online site, ask yourself, “Would I be comfortable posting this material on the wall of my classroom?” If not, don’t put it online even with the strictest of privacy settings.

A colleague of mine commented succinctly on how online profiles are different from what we had “back in the day” when he said, “There are photos of me doing things when I was a college student that I do not want my employer to see. But my photos are stashed in a box in my basement and not posted online for the world to see.” You’re smart enough to be a teacher; be smart about your online profile, too.

John F. Snyder

Co-Director, Office of Career Services

Slippery Rock University of PA

Posted by AAEE at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How much time are you prepared to spend on your job search? A few hours a week? A few minutes a day? Well, those who have been successful with their search tell us that it took 6-8 hours a day for many weeks before they obtained the job offer they were seeking. A job search is like a full-time job, reviewing job posting sites, attending job fairs, making phone calls, filling out applications, mailing resumes, sending e-mail messages and keeping good records. Just finding the teaching opportunities that match with your license will take many hours. This will require research techniques and perseverance to stay on task, focusing on the goal of landing your first teaching position.

You should plan to utilize many resources for your search. The internet is a great place to begin, but don’t neglect other sources of information, namely your network. You know how that commercial goes “can you hear me now?” and “you are covered by the network.” Well, use this same principle when working with your personal job search network. Stay connected with your network and rely on them for information, resources and referrals. In addition, register to use your university career center job posting system. Also, use commercial web sites like TopSchoolJobs.org for learning about teaching positions across the nation and around the world.

After learning about the job postings you will then need to fill out the teaching application forms. Many can be filled out online, but these are not standardized forms that are used by all school districts. In some cases you will need to download a PDF version of the application and fill it out by hand, or use a typewriter. Before submitting your online application or mailing the printed form, print a copy for your records. You can not always depend on the systems to work properly and you don’t want to waste time by needing to redo these forms. The copies of these forms will also be helpful when completing the next application.

Every part of this activity takes time. We know of a first year teacher from Ohio who began her search in February, filling out nearly 60 applications (all of them unique). Her search was fairly well targeted to three states. Even though she heard the job search is like a full-time job she tells us she was surprised at how much time she really had to invest into her search. However, thanks to her determination, persistence and God’s grace her efforts paid off and she accepted an offer in early July.

You too can be successful with your search, but it will require many hours of research, writing, e-mailing, and phone calls to make yourself known to the school districts. Stay focused, develop a good plan, implement the plan, and keep your energy high as you persevere towards landing your first teaching position.

--Douglas Reichenberger
Director, Career Development Center
Malone University, on behalf of AAEE

Posted by AAEE at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)