Where Have You Struggled?

Interviewers are most interested in knowing how you plan to face some of the inevitable challenges of teaching.  You are not a perfect "product" when you graduate and obtain your initial certification...administrators know that.  But, they also want to know how you plan to deal with that inevitability; in other words, what are your plans for self-improvement.  Here's a question you are certain to be asked.  Make sure you're ready to respond.

     What personal skill or work habit have you struggled to improve?

     A:   Early in my student teaching experience I often found it difficult to say “no.”  I would volunteer for anything and everything.  I guess I just saw so many jobs that needed to be done that I jumped in and wanted to do them all.  I soon saw that this was taking time away from lesson planning, classroom management, and individualized instruction.  Now, instead of trying to be all things to all people, I try to tackle those ancillary duties that will have the greatest impact on student learning.  I haven’t perfected that yet, but I’m much better now at managing my time.

This is a good opportunity to highlight a task or chore that popped up early in student teaching.  It would be appropriate to select something that everyone struggles with – time management, lesson planning, classroom management – and ways you tried to improve yourself as a result.  Don’t select something that is personal (“I have anger management issues with three of my ex-boyfriends.”), but rather something that is universal to all teachers.