How to Prepare for a Successful Elementary School Interview

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Show Notes:

Believe me, I know how stressful it can be to interview for your first teaching position.

It can feel like a lot of pressure because it's the culmination of so much work over the past four or five years, and because so many of us who become teachers feel like we’ve grown up just knowing that we wanted to teach – it’s not just a profession to us, it’s our calling.

So, when it finally comes time to start interviewing, it can feel a little bit like an identity crisis if an interview doesn’t go well. We are just so certain that we were born to teach and any outside experience that challenges that can feel crushing.

But that is not going to happen to you, because today, we are going to talk about what you can do to prepare before you ever get to the interview.

We are going to talk about what kinds of questions interviewers like to ask, broken into categories of general questions they will likely ask, teaching questions, and classroom management questions. Finally, we will talk about what to do on the day of your interview to ensure that you have a positive experience.

Like anything, success is all about when preparation meets opportunity.

If you’ve done the work to be well prepared, when the opportunity for a job position comes up, you will be that much more confident and more likely to have a positive experience than if you don’t prepare and just try to wing it. If I learned anything during my student teaching experience, it was to always be over-prepared for any lesson I planned to teach and preparing for an interview is a lot like that.

Inside this episode, you'll learn:

• What to do before your interview to feel fully prepared.
• What to include in your teacher portfolio (and how to use your portfolio to stand out from the crowd).
• The 11 most common interview questions you'll likely be asked.
• Classroom management questions to ensure you're prepared to answer (with tips for how to answer these questions successfully).
• What to do the day of the interview.
• How to follow up in a way that will make you shine!

Be sure to download my free resource to help you prepare for your next elementary teaching interview:

I hope this was helpful for you as you prepare for your elementary school teaching interview. Please comment below and let me know what was helpful for you, or if there's anything I didn't cover that you'd like more information about!

💛 Lori

P.S. Need to brush up on your classroom management skills? You might want to check out my Chaos to Confidence Classroom Management System!

Dr. Lori Friesen | Beginning Teacher Mentor

Creator of the R.E.A.D.Y. for School Academy, Dr. Lori Friesen has mentored thousands of beginning teachers across the country through her workshops and courses. Host of the popular podcast, Beginning Teacher Talk, and creator of the innovative literacy program for 1st and 2nd grade, Dogs Help Kids Read and Succeed, Dr. Lori is dedicated to serving educators and inspiring learners. Learn more at drlorifriesen.com and at howdogshelpkids.com.

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