Interview Themes

6.  Management and Discipline

            You’ve probably seen classrooms in which students were orderly, work was productive, and a sense of purpose and direction filled the room.  You might also have seen classrooms that were chaotic, disruptive, and seemingly out of control.  Maybe you were even a student in one or both of those classrooms at some time in your educational career.  Principals and other administrators are vitally interested in how you plan to manage your classroom.  Your management skills and discipline policy will be vitally important in the decision to hire you.  Know that you will be asked more than one question in this area.  Read, research, and review everything you can – your success here will frequently be a major deciding point.

üEXTRA CREDIT:      According to research from several observers, teachers in a typical classroom lose about 50% of their teaching time because of students’ disruptive behavior.  Be prepared to discuss how you would address this issue somewhere in the interview.

            To establish a positive classroom environment, share what you will do the first few weeks of school with your students.  How do you create and maintain positive rapport with your students?  How would you deal with a student who was always late to class?  Describe your discipline policy in detail.  Describe some classroom rules you would use.  To many administrators nothing is more important than a well-crafted discipline policy and a well-articulated management plan.  Be prepared to share your thoughts on both.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:      “…school districts place a tremendous emphasis on discipline and classroom management….  They want to feel confident that you, as a new teacher, have a good, sound, fair method of class management.  You can’t wimp out in this area.”