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Thursday, May 26, 2011
Teaching Portfolio for interview...any advice
I am preparing a portfolio for my possible upcoming teacher interviews and wanted to get some advice as to what I should put in it. ***My teaching experience consists of student teaching and subbing so I don't have years of work from students to include. Any advice and tips would greatly be appreciated!!
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4 comments:
When it came time for me to apply for jobs, I applied to 17 school districts in and around my town (considering I was willing to drive an hour in any direction). I interviewed in 4 of those districts. During the first 3 interviews I was asked the following question (or some variation of it): "If I were to walk into your class during the language arts block, what would I see?" I lost it at this question every time. Before my 4th interview, I realized that I should probably really think about that question and come up with a strong answer. Of course, when that final interview came, that question was asked. I was much more prepared and the next day I was offered a job. It's been several years, but I know that literacy is still a huge focus across the country. When putting together your portfolio, think about what language arts would look like in your classroom for a variety of grade levels. Good luck! By the way, thanks for the nice comment on my blog!
Thanks so much for the advice!!
It's true that strong interview answers trump portfolio contents (at least here in AZ!). My school just merged with another and all teachers had to interview again. We had access to the interview questions 5 minutes before so that helped. My best advice is to think about what they are asking, don't be afraid to ask them to repeat if you feel like you get off track while you are talking. Having well prepared answers about your strengths (and weaknesses, they will ask!), what you would include in a literacy block, how you would differentiate instruction, deal with a difficult student, communicate with parents etc. I also brought a small portfolio that included lesson plans, photos and student work samples (do you have any of that from student teaching?). Good luck!
HI,
I just finished student teaching at the end of April, have been subbing since, and actually just got a job last week as a kindergarten teacher for the fall! So, I know exactly how it feels to be you! My portfolio consisted of a lot of lesson plans I made in college, my letters of recommendation, my philosophies on education and each subject, 2 themed units I created, and an assessment project from student teaching. I also had these standard things in there which were required for my college ( we had to do things in all of our EDU classes and show how they tied into MI standards). I worked super hard on it to get it all organized and "cute".... but I'm going to be honest with you... at the several places I "mini" interviewed at during 2 job fairs, and the school i interviewed at where I just got a job.. no one even asked to look at it. I was told by professors and principals this is very typical. It's nice to have just in case someone does want to see... but typically they are more interested in what you have to say rather than show. I did reference it once during an interview to show a unit plan for about 3 seconds... other than that it was just a big heavy binder I carried everywhere! Let me know if you have any questions.. especially about interviewing, since I'm fresh off the scene!
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Thanks for the sweet note ♥