How do you react to frustrating situations? This is a question principals always have in the back of their head as they interview teacher candidates. Is this a person who can accept the "downsides" of teaching and grow into a better teacher or is this a person who is unwilling to accept the inevitable frustrations of classroom work? The question below often surfaces in interviews - it's one which offers you a unique opportunity to share some valuable information.
Tell me about a situation that frustrated you
during student teaching
A: I was frustrated when my college supervisor
made me write out my lesson plans for the first ten weeks of student
teaching. Many of my friends only had to
write complete lesson plans for the first four weeks and then they went to
“block plans.” However, in talking with
my supervisor I learned that it is always advisable to over-plan – that is,
write lesson plans that are more detailed and more involved early in the
teaching process. I discovered the
advantage of that on two occasions – once when an assembly had to be cancelled
and another when a teacher on our social studies team called in sick at the
last minute. I sure was glad to have
those extended and expanded lessons – they really came in handy. I understand now why I was asked to do a lot
of over-planning early in my student teaching experience.
Are you someone who blames
everyone else when things don’t go right?
Or, are you someone who takes advice and uses it in a positive way to
become a better teacher? This is a grand
opportunity for you to show how you turned a negative into a positive.
