Feedback in Red
Questions asked
What experiences have prepared you for this role?
- Teaching in Grade 5 class 2 years ago.
- Previously teaching in a PT role, that is allowing me to get into a variety of different
classes, and work with a variety of learners and get to know them and each thing they
bring to the classroom.
- Currently in a ⅚ role,
- Also teaching grade 2- variety of different grades this past year- allowing me to be
comfortable with both primary and junior grades.
- Also talk about how you connect with your students and how you build your relationship
with them. Not the time to be modest.
How do you use Assessment and evaluation in your classroom and how does it change as the
year goes on?
- Beginning of the year- right now i’ve been getting to know my kids and activating their
prior knowledge- when it comes to music and with a variety of new learners this is huge
to get to know so you can start planning (Assessment for learning).
- During a unit, I am constantly assessing students and providing feedback for them to
improve upon. This helps guide my instruction by allowing me to see what they
understand (do I need to spend more time on a concept? Can we move on?)
- Throughout the year students are also developing an awareness of how they learn and
are using that to advance their learning and taking a responsibility for it. Self and peer
evaluation (Assessment AS learning)
- Assessment of learning is where assessment informs student, parents, teacher etc of
achievement at a certain time. Usually done at the end of a unit such as a project.
- Evaluation- purpose is to assign a grade or ranking. What grades are associated with-
the end goal.
- Start with the big ideas in the curriculum and getting to know your students. What are
their strengths as learners? Any differentiation? You cannot assess anything until you
know what you are actually assessing.
- Treat this question as a cycle. You begin by looking at curriculum and growing success
and familiarize yourself with the big ideas. Then you can begin with a diagnostic
assessment of what your students know
- Talk about what tool you use- rubric, checklist etc.
- When talking about assessment AS learning- talk about the tool (whether it is a
checklist) that is in student friendly language that ties in with your success criteria and
learning goals. Students cannot successfully do assessment as learning if they don’t
know what they are looking for.
- Then tie in your assessment OF learning tool (rubric, etc) to have similar language to
what the student checklist was. This way students are knowing what is expected of
them and can understand the language.
A parent comes in angry at the beginning of the day. How do you handle this?
- Listen to them to start- but schedule a meeting to discuss further.
- Sometimes a parent may need to vent about something.
- Scheduling a meeting allows for both parties to come back (teacher to come prepared
with any notes or work to help back them up).
- When i set up the meeting I would make administration aware as to what was going on
just in case they wanted to be a part of it- or had anything they would like to add.
- In the meeting be understanding of the parent and that you both want their child to
succeed- find the common ground.
- Throughout the year always have open communication so there are no suprises- if there
are no surprises a parent should not be getting upset if they are constantly made aware
of their child’s progress.
- Stress the open communication with the parent so that their are NO SURPRISES come
report card (Stere likes this)
- Don’t set up office hours of when parents can contact you- Parents should always feel
like they can approach you to discuss their child.
What is your behaviour plan? What if you constantly have a student acting out in group work?
- Proactive vs. Reactive
- Talk about what you have done in the past (real, rich examples)
- Damian- anxiety student- acting out due to anxiety- you need to find out what is causing
the behaviour to start implementing a plan that will work- for him we took him out 2x a
day for body breaks
- Strike vs Reward system- allows me to reinforce the positive behaviour as well as
discipline
- Progressive- don’t automatically keep them in at break for a minor infraction
- I like to do the 3 warning system- 1, 2, 3 they owe me time.
- Happy and Sad board currently in grade 2
- Proactive IS KEY
- Forgot to mention co-created expectations for kids- This is huge for Stere too. That way
it holds the kids accountable.
How do you communicate with students, parents, other teachers and administration?
- Stress the open communication with each of them
What technology do you utilize?
- Chromebooks- for language we have used the wrdsb library site- gives a lot of books
online for listen to reading, or reading different books
- Prodigy and Dreambox for math as purposeful practice- gets students engaged
but they are also learning
- Kahoot online- engaging questions done in a gameshow format that students answer- it
tracks point and the kids got super into it- we had it with the City of Ember multiple
choice questions
- Increased a level of engagement.
- iPads- apps to help with math and language purposeful practice
- Google Classroom- last year used with the 5’s. Was able to upload documents we were
working on from my Google drive- and they can submit.
- After reading we would have reading responses online they could share and we
can have a digital discussion as well with commenting.
- Technology is great but it is not the only thing- cannot always rely on it with internet out,
or end of the year when we return chromebooks
As a PT teacher, how will you communicate with parents?
- Twitter is a great way- incorporates technology- tweet out what we are learning in class,
anything cool we’re doing and what the kids are working on
- End of day/beginning of day being visible
- Getting the kids EXCITED about what they are learning so they go home and talk to their
parents about it
- Used example of Open House night- parent came up and said he had no idea his
kid was playing ukulele last year until report card time!
- Sometimes sending home a note when we are about to work on something different
(ukelele, recorder, etc) so parents know we don’t just listen to songs
What does a language program look like in your classroom?
- Talked about small group, daily 5
- Anchor charts created with students
- Use of technology to help aid
- Not working with small groups- circulating
- Students are on task but also collaborating at the same time
What does your Core instructional practice look like in your music program? Give 2 examples
- With this question I mentioned Hands- On (Music is done not just by listening to me
drone on, but actually doing- getting up, playing it, moving our bodies)
- Collaboration- Students are learning from each other in small groups- each student
brings something unique to the table and you want them to teach that to the other kids.
Kids learning from kids is great in the classroom.
- This type of question you want to hit on how are the kids going to learn? Different
learning styles, hands on, working together- pretty much what would They see in your
classroom when you walked in in regards to you teaching and the kids learning.
Why would I want my child in your class?
- Question needs to come from your experience - is it because you truly get to know the
students, what makes them who they are and speak to their strengths? Do you make a
place where they feel safe to make mistakes?
What extracurriculars would you be a part of?
- Speak to your strengths- something you’ve done in the past
- For Music PT i discussed music clubs (Jam group, choir)
- Also with collaborating with other teachers.
- Say what you will actually want to do.
New Question from September Interview
----- Our school Improvement plan has a focus on growth mindset and mathematics. How would
you collaborate with your co-workers about this.
● - This question through me for a bit of a loop but it’s ultimately how you will talk with your
colleagues (More than just e-mail or at PD)
●
Anything you would like to add? -- Last question
- A question like this all Principals look for a reflective pause
- Do not feel like you are inconveniencing them
- You want to feel like you are putting your final best self forward here- don’t reiterate the
whole interview, but if you feel like you have something great you forgot to add then do
it!
“In regards to data collection, how would you assess your reading program”
- This year, I have been meeting in small groups to work on concepts with students at a
smaller level- when doing this, I have been using the Fountas and Pinnell 2nd prompting
guide and have been using that as a basis for what we are focusing on.
- This allows me to work in the small group- and assess the student and provide instant
feedback, as well as examples- say for example reading with expression I can model
that for some of my students
“Our school has Book Club kits for literacy circles. How would you use those to differentiate your
reading instruction”
“If we watched a one hour math lesson in addition & subtraction what would it look like”
- Number talk- With a string or an image on the board to assist students with their
strategies
- Students are learning from other students
- Problem Solving: Students collaborating on a problem- sharing ideas
- I am circulating, asking questions to further enhance learning
- Students coming at the end to share ideas as a class- consolidation
- Purposeful practice- math games for students pertaining to what we are doing- used a
dice game to practice arrays on grid paper for students to see the array.
“From an interpersonal standpoint why are you a good fit here”
Provide an example of project based inquiry learning you have done.
KG Contract Interview
What behaviours do you model for our young learners that are important?
An unknown adult at the end of the day comes to pick up a kid. The kid recognizes the person.
What do you do?
How do you share strategies one-on-one and whole group to help with self reg?
The 4 frameworks of KG are separate but they are also related. How so?
What are some strategies you use when documenting? How do you ensure consistency with
your DECE?
How would you incorporate your classroom outdoor learning time?
LTO List Interview Questions (2019)
How did you prepare your lesson/week at a glance?
How do you use problem solving within your five day week at a glance?
Describe your lesson.
What do you find the most challenging as a teacher?
How do you prepare your classroom?
Tell us about a student that puzzled you. How did you solve it?
What has changed your teaching practice?
- Talk about 6s and focus on what they are coming in with as a 7
COming into room
- Plan to be in charge
Coming in with a plan-
Routines/procedures to keep them safe
Policies- expectations- build gap between me and them
How would I want my classroom
Safety
Why
Recipe with dealing with behaviours
Planning
- Student centered
WHy this age group?
Grade ⅞ Moffat Creek Interview
What are your experiences teaching junior and intermediate?
If we walked into your math class what would we see?
What is important in teaching this grade
You have a student who loses interest. What do you do?
What is your entry plan for term 2?
What is your weakness?
February Interview
What are three things your students would say about you.
What does assessment look like in your math class.
How do you deal with a student who loses interest.
Why is collaboration important with staff. How have you collaborated.
Stere interview
How are you leaving your class in good shape?
How do you improve community through diversity and inclusion.
A student tells you they hate math. What do you do.
Angry parent regards to bullying on Snapchat.
What are core instruction practices in your math class?