The Teacher Interview: Sample Questions & Answers

While a little long, this video offers eight questions commonly asked in the teacher interview, and how I would answer those questions. All of these are questions that I have been asked repeatedly in teacher interviews. While I did edit the video a bit, I can assure you it was to edit out the two year old calling for me in the background! :)

My best advice for the teacher interview is to practice, practice, practice your answers to the common questions. The more confident you feel in the interview experience, the better you will feel and do. I have interviewed for SO MANY positions. I did not get hired for all of them, but I did learn a lot along the way. One summer I applied to over 52 positions. Yikes! When I started applying, I was sometimes up against 200 or more people for one position, and interviewing against 20 or more (if I got a call back to interview!).

Good luck! AND Please let me know if there are more questions you have about the interview experience!

As promised, here is that list of common interview questions that I have personally been asked at one time or another:

a. Tell us about yourself
b. What is your philosophy of teaching
c. How do you use formative assessments to inform your teaching?
d. What process do you use to lesson plan?
e. How do you differentiate for students who are higher or lower?
f. How do you differentiate for English Language Learners?
g. What is your experience with the IEP and 504 process?
h. What experience do you have collaborating with other teachers?
i. Tell about a time when something went wrong in a lesson, what did you do?
j. What is your favorite part of teaching?
k. What do you do outside of teaching?
l. How do you stay current in your field?
m. What professional development experience do you have?
n. How do you have a cycle of inquiry in your classroom?
o. What approaches do you use to teach reading?
p. What are your strengths/weaknesses as a teacher?
q. How do you make accommodations for students who need it?
r. What do you know about the RTI system? What experience do you have with it?
s. What approaches do you use for classroom management?
t. Describe a typical class period.
u. What would a student of yours say about you as a teacher?
v. What would a colleague say about you?
w. What clubs or activities are you interested in participating in?
x. Are you interested in coaching? If so, what?
y. How do you integrate technology in your classroom?
z. Describe a type when technology failed during a lesson, what did you do?
aa. How do you increase communication between home and school?
bb. Do you have any questions?
i. This question seems so silly, but you need to ask at least one or two questions.
ii. The purpose is to show them that you have researched the school a bit, and that you are interested.
1. Your school has a high population of English learners. What professional development do you offer teachers to support them in the classroom?
2. What is your parent involvement like?