All hiring processes are a little bit different, but you can expect at least one interview for a teaching job. Depending on the school and time of year, you may have multiple interviews and be asked to do a sample lesson with a group of students. No matter what, you will want to show the school what you have to offer and be looking to see if the school will be a good fit for you. Here you will find great tips for interviewing for a special education job.
This is the second part of my series on successfully navigating the hiring process for a special education (or any) teaching position. The first part focuses on writing your resume and cover letter and developing a network to land an interview. Here, I will look at how to prepare for a successful interview and sample lesson.
This is the most nerve-wracking part of the process, but I have some advice to help calm your nerves and steps to help you prepare.
Interviewing With Confidence
Interviews – regardless of the job or the people – make me nervous. I know I am being judged. I usually want to make a good impression and I absolutely don’t want to blank on anything important. Preparing for an interview will help reduce your nerves and keep the important stuff at the front of your mind.
Refresh Your Memory
When you are in the interview, you will want to be focused on highlighting your skills and experience for the specific position. So at some point before your interview, you will want to reread your cover letter, reread the job posting, and look back through the school’s website. This will help you to remember what they already know about you and why you want the job. Write down some notes about items you want to highlight and bring those notes to your interview.
Prepare Your Questions
An interview is a great chance to get more information about the school and the people you will be working for and with. Here are a few of my favorite questions to ask:
What do you like about working at this school?
What are the school’s current priorities?
Can you describe the training and development opportunities at this school?
How does this school structure and organize their special education program?
Choose 3-4 questions and write them down because you might forget once the nerves set in. Having questions prepared can demonstrate that you are serious about the position.
If you anticipate multiple interviews, then select questions based on who will be at the interview. At an interview with a principal or special education director, ask questions about the program and training opportunities. If the interview includes teachers, consider questions about why they like the school and how they work together as a team.
Sell Yourself Honestly
An interview is not a time to be modest – you want to be clear about what you can bring to the school. There are a few questions that you will want to make sure you are ready to address. What curriculums or programs do you have experience working with? Are you trained or certified in any programs? What is your experience with developing IEPs?
Even if you are a beginning teacher and your experience has been limited, you should have at least some experience in these areas – so give specific examples and speak to that experience. Also, express your willingness to learn and receive training in any areas that you are not very experienced in.
Why do you want to work at our school?
This is one of the most important questions to prepare for – even if it doesn’t get asked. Your answer to the question will help the principal or hiring committee determine if you will fit in well with the school culture. This question also communicates how committed you will be to the school and if you actually want to be there. It is a good idea to look back at your cover letter and their website so that you can speak to the aspects of the school you are drawn to.
If the question does not get asked, preparing an answer can help establish your mindset going into the interview. You can even bring it up naturally during the interview, such as when discussing programming or the student population.
Stay Engaged
Usually, interviews include some discussion and two-way conversation. You should take advantage of these moments to learn more about the school, staff, program, and position. You can absolutely take notes and ask follow-up questions during the interview. In fact, I encourage this. Taking notes and asking questions indicate that you are interested in the information you are getting from the interview.
Preparing a Sample Lesson
Some schools require a sample lesson before making an offer; others may only ask if they are having difficulty making a decision or if you are new to teaching. It is not very common, but it is a possibility. It is an opportunity for you to show the committee how you teach and to get to know the students that you will be working with.
Seek All the Information You Need
The school should communicate their expectations for the lesson (how long, subject, etc), but make sure to ask questions if anything is unclear. Also, it is perfectly acceptable to ask for some information about the students and classroom – the specific grade level(s), how many students, any limitations on reading and writing, and any assistive technology that they may require. This information will help you plan meaningfully. It will also show the hiring committee how you plan around student needs.
Keep It Simple and Focused
Depending on the expectations set by the school, you may have a lot of freedom to choose what you teach. While it is tempting to plan and show them everything that you’ve got, you really don’t want to overdo it. You want to demonstrate your competency and skills. Simply set a learning objective and design a straightforward lesson around that one objective. I highly recommend some form of “I do, we do, you do.” If possible, choose a lesson that you have done before or a topic/skill that you are familiar with. This will keep you from complicating your lesson and set yourself up for success.
Basic Differentiation
A hiring committee or principal will be looking to see how you address the needs of individual students. This is one reason you should ask for information on the students that you will be working with. Use this information to differentiate your lesson. This does not need to be overly complicated. All you really need to do is create a simplified version of your task and a challenging version. During the lesson, let the students self-select their level of difficulty. This way, you will demonstrate your differentiation skills, but you will not need to have so much knowledge of the students to specifically assign different levels of the assignment.
Practice
You will be nervous when you are teaching your sample lesson in front of the hiring committee and with students in front of you. One way to help things go smoothly is to practice the lesson a few times. Practice it with your partner or your mom or your friend. Sometimes running through it will alert you to potential roadblocks or challenges in the lesson that you can fix before the big day. Your practice students can also give you feedback about your instructions or the clarity of the activity. A little bit of practice and reflection can go a long way in preparing you to shine during your sample lesson.
Relax and Try to Have Fun
When it comes right down to it, the easiest way through a sample lesson is to stay in the moment and enjoy the opportunity to teach. Get to know the students in your sample lesson and begin building rapport. Learn their names and ask them about themselves. Check in with all the students and monitor the room to ensure everyone completes the task. If you notice a student struggling, check in to see if they need additional support or encouragement.
Thank You Notes
After an interview or sample lesson, it is proper etiquette to thank the interviewer and/or committee members. This can be a quick email to your main contact and ask them to extend your gratitude to the team. A thank you note can be a great way to plug yourself or express your interest one more time, but mostly, your gratitude will be appreciated.
Offer: To Accept or Not to Accept?
There are a lot of factors that go into making the decision to work at a school. You should take your time to weigh those factors and make the best decision for you. There is no need to give the school an answer immediately. You can sleep on the decision and talk it over with a mentor. If you have interviews coming up or you are anticipating another offer, you should wait for those other opportunities. Just be sure to communicate with the school why you are waiting to give them an answer and, if possible, try to provide a time frame.
In the end, preparation for an interview and sample lesson will help you sell yourself and perform your best. This is the hardest part of the hiring process, but it doesn’t have to be stressful. Once you have accepted your position, don’t forget to check out my TPT store for tools to help you start the school year off strong!
I hope these tips are helpful and guide you to interviewing success. Leave me a comment and let me know how they help you!