What Three Things Make You Angry?

     Q:  What three things really make you angry?

     A:   I get really angry when a lesson doesn’t go as well as it should.  I put a lot of time and effort into each lesson and I hold high expectations, not only for my students, but myself as well.  When a lesson doesn’t work then I get very upset.  I also get angry with myself when my enthusiasm and excitement for a science lesson isn’t there.  I know that classroom teachers need to be good role models for their students and one of the best ways to demonstrate that is through my own enthusiasm for learning.  But, sometimes, with science, it just isn’t there and I know that that’s not fair for the kids.  Although science was never one of my favorite subjects in school I have to work at making it always exciting for my students.  And, finally, I get angry when we run out of time.  Sometimes my students and I are really getting into a lesson – they are working hard on some hands-on, minds-on activities in social studies, for example, and we see that it’s almost time to get ready for the buses.  I sometimes wish I had another hour or two in the school day in order to get everything in.

            This is a terrific question and your response will say a lot about who you are as a person.  Don’t ever make the mistake of blaming anyone else for your anger.  Don’t blame kids, don’t blame colleagues, don’t blame administrators, don’t blame your former professors, don’t blame your cat, don’t even blame your parents or your friends.  The key is to take full and complete responsibility for your actions and for your anger.  Make sure the things that anger you are school-related and that they are within your control to change.

How will your students’ overall performance improve as a result of technology?

Q:  How will your students’ overall performance improve as a result of technology?

     A:   I believe my students’ performance will improve in three specific areas.  One, students will have increased opportunities to become more actively engaged in the dynamics of a lesson.  Technology will offer them an array of information available nowhere else.  Second, I believe technology will help me help my students improve their thinking skills as well as their problem-solving abilities.  Through the use of technology, we will be able to focus on higher-level thinking skills that go beyond rote memorization into new worlds of discovery and exploration.  And, third, it will provide me with some incredible opportunities to differentiate my instruction.  I’ll be able to use technological resources to target specific students with specific instructional options.  I was able to incorporate all these concepts into a unique project during my student teaching experience.  The project, which we named “Explorers for Hire” was developed as part of our social studies unit on the exploration of the New World.  Students had to obtain information from the Internet about specific explorers, they had to write personal biographies, they each took on the role of a specific explorer and applied for a selected exploration, they mapped and tracked their routes of exploration, they planned their voyages and the supplies they would need, and they reported the results of their exploration in the form of special documents and records.  It was a great project – one the students embraced enthusiastically and one that generated a new interest in social studies.

            In your response to this question you need to include two things.  One, you must demonstrate your knowledge of technology and its instructional advantages.  And, two, you must provide the interviewer with a specific example of how you put those principles into practice.  In other words, you must be able to “talk the talk and walk the walk.”

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:      “We once interviewed a young lady who told us she was well-versed in technology – she told us she could operate a CD player and use an overhead projector.”