Saturday, October 15, 2016

The Most Difficult Aspect of Teaching

Principals want to know whether you have a cogent and solid philosophy of teaching.  If your philosophy isn't well-established by the time of an interview, you will be casting considerable doubt on your ability to do the job.  Here's a question (and response) that frequently comes up in many interviews.

     What do you think is the most difficult aspect of being a teacher?

     A:   Patience.  One of the toughest lessons I learned is that change does not come about overnight.  Just because I put together a dynamite lesson plan doesn’t necessarily mean that every student will “get it” the first time around.  Just because I make a sincere effort to involve parents in the affairs of my class doesn’t mean that every parent will come on board.  And just because I reprimand a student for some inappropriate behavior doesn’t mean that he will change right away.  I have to always keep in mind that good teaching, like good gardening, always involves a large measure of patience.  A gardener doesn’t expect all his seeds to sprout at the same time; neither should a good teacher.  I think that if I can keep that concept in mind then I’ll be successful in this profession.
Here’s an opportunity for a large dose of humility and an equally large dose of reality.  Show that you’ve done some self-evaluation and demonstrate that you’ve learned something in the process.  You’ll win a lot of fans that way.
__________________________________________________________________
Check it out: