Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Interview Questions
Tell us about yourself. What would you like us to know about you?
If you had a co-teaching experience while student teaching, tell us about it and how it sets you apart
from other candidates.
Tell us about the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) and your experience engaging with it as
part of your preparation to teach.
What is your educational and professional preparation?
What strengths do you have that would enhance our teaching staff?
What would your worst critic say about you?
What three words would others use to describe you?
What is a unique quality specific to you?
What research have you done about our school?
What are your interests outside of teaching?
Describe experiences working in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in your common content
courses and the benefits of collaborating with colleagues in other content areas.
Can you give a specific example of a project where you worked collaboratively? What were the goals,
challenges and outcomes?
Give an example of something valuable you learned from a colleague.
What kind of assistance would you most like from other staff members?
Discuss your feelings about working in a team environment in which some items (i.e. curriculum) are
agreed upon as a team, department, school, etc.
What kind of teachers would you prefer to work with? Why?
What do you feel is the most effective way to communicate with parents? Describe how you have used
these technique(s)?
Describe the reasons you would contact a parent.
What would you include in your Open House presentations to parents?
Describe your teaching style and how you accommodate the different learning styles within your
classes.
What do you consider to be your strengths and how will you use them in your teaching?
What methodologies do you use in your teaching?
How would you develop an overall teaching plan for the year?
Would you rather try new teaching strategies or try to perfect the approaches which work best for
you? Explain.
An experienced teacher offers you the following advice: When you are teaching, be sure to command
the respect of your students immediately and all will go well. How do you feel about this?
How do you decide what should be taught in your class?
Tell me about a lesson you use that integrates one or more standards.
Content Knowledge
Why did you choose to become a teacher? What do you hope to accomplish?
What does it mean to be a professional educator?
Describe characteristics of the best/worst teacher you have known.
What is the correct professional dress and demeanor for a classroom teacher?
What are your three most important reasons for wanting to be a teacher?
What are your professional aspirations in the next five years/ten years?
What are your thoughts on being a role model and its importance in the classroom?
What has been your most positive teaching experience? Negative?
What do you think will provide you the greatest pleasure in teaching?
Tell us about the three people who have most influenced your own education and educational career.
School/Community/Position
If you had given students 15-20 minutes after your lesson discussion to do their homework and a
student puts his head down on his desk, what would you do or say?
You have a special needs student with ADHD in your classroom, she is repeatedly disruptive talking
to those around her, getting up to sharpen her pencil a couple times during the class period, and
making comments such as, This is stupid. Who needs to know this stuff anyway? What would you
do?
A paper was due at the end of a two-week unit. Johnny didnt meet the deadline. He tells his parents
that he did not have enough time to finish it. His mother is a school board member. What would you
say or do?
If you told a student (who was disruptive) to go to the office and she refused, what would you do?
A student is doing poorly in your class. You talk with her, and the student tells you that she considers
you the poorest teacher she has ever met. What would you do?
You give an assignment. A student ridicules the assignment, saying it doesnt make sense. What
would you do?
If you see a 180-degree turn in a student, what would you do?
A parent comes to you and complains that what you are teaching his/her child is irrelevant to the
childs needs. How would you respond?
How would you initiate a discussion with a student who has not completed their work for two days in a
row?
What personal attributes do you possess which will enable you to be a positive role model for
students?
What are your plans for continuing your professional growth?
Tell me about an interesting article you have read recently in a professional journal.
What current trends in public education please you? Displease you?
Discuss your experience in leadership positions and how you can best add to the leadership here?
The fundamental purpose of school is learning, not teaching. Do you agree or disagree with this
statement? Why?
To whom would you go if you werent sure how to handle a situation?
Are you interested in coaching?
If you were coaching, how would you handle a student who does something unsportsmanlike?
Project yourself five years into the future and place yourself into your vision of what this learning
environment will look like?
Please respond briefly to the following: All children can learn; Multiple Intelligences; Site based
management; Inclusion; Cooperative Learning.
Unique Questions
If you could pick a famous person to interview, who would you pick and why?
If you could be one color of the rainbow, which color would it be and why?
What would staff, students, and parents say are the strengths of the school?
How does the school support professional development?
Do you have an induction program?
How do teachers integrate technology into the classroom?
Describe parental involvement within the school?
What is the school policy or philosophy on inclusion?
What extracurricular activity opportunities might be available?
Are there any aspects of my background or qualifications that are unclear or need further
explanation? If so, Id be happy to clarify them for you.
What is the next step in the hiring process? When do you hope to make a decision?