ED 402 Professional Seminar Sharon AlessiAshley MacCain Christina IbanezPatrick Williams

“To be a good teacher is hard work. You have to be totally engaged and positive and creative and happy all the time to be a good teacher and have a hell of a lot of responsibility and not a lot of respect, not a lot of pay in the end.” (Hayley, taught for 3.5 years)

 Portfolios set new teachers apart from other candidates by presenting tangible evidence of their skills and abilities.  Portfolios allow candidates to exercise control over portions of the interview  Portfolios are an important marketing tool for promoting the beginning teacher's skills and abilities.  Portfolios can be used to augment answers during an interview

 “I found the portfolio to be very helpful. I feel that it helped me provide vivid and tangible examples of my teaching methods, ideas, and skills.”  “Although the portfolio took hours of preparation, it is an excellent visual tool to use in an interview versus explaining verbally everything in detail.”  “It showed professionalism as well as my organization skills – not to mention my teaching strategies.”

DO…DON’T…  Take the time to organize  Be selective in choosing artifacts  Use your portfolio to make the best first impression  Be able to rationalize your choices and discuss the portfolio  Sell yourself short  Include every sample  Rely on the interviewer to read your entire portfolio  Allow the portfolio to carry the interview

Let’s take a look and see what is wrong in the following interview video clip.

 Fidgeting  Chewing Gum  Not being able to answer a question  Avoiding eye contact  Speaking unprofessionally  Having a cell phone turned on during the interview

Let’s take a look and see what characteristics we see in the next video.

 Impeccable Communication skills (verbal and written)  Honesty  Motivation  Strong work ethic  Organizational skills  Teamwork skills  Flexibility

DO…DON’T…  Dress professionally  Exude confidence  Do your homework  Be honest  Emphasize your passion for the profession  Present yourself as relaxed and calm  Let yourself get flustered  Walk into an interview blind  Make up answers that you think the interviewer wants to hear  Downplay your experience and expertise

 It is important to have a good working relationship between parents and teachers  Teachers need to understand that the parent is the first teacher. It is the teacher’s duty to respect the parents and their decisions  Remind parents that your door is always open to them, and that good communication is the key to their child’s success

Let’s take a look and see how this parent/teacher conference went.

What was wrong with this conference?

Let’s see how conference #2 went.

How did the teacher’s actions change the tone of this conference?

Benotti, M. (2011). Eleven ways to make your interview successful. AAEE Job Search Handbook, Buchanan, J. (2010, June). Informaworld. In May I be excused? Why teachers leave the profession. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from content=a fulltext= dontcount=true#s Campbell, C., Cignetti, P., Melenyzer, B., Nettles, D. & Wyman, R. (1997). How to develop a professional portfolio: a manual for teachers. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Humphrey, E. (2010, March 3). Parent Dish. In Make the most of parent-teacher conferences. Retrieved April 15, 2011, from parent-teacher-conferences/ Johnson, K. & Hodges, C. (1998). Developing professional portfolios in a teacher education program. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Job Employment Guide. Teacher interview questions. Retrieved April 15, 2011, from guide.com/teacher-interview-questions.html

Abromitis, B. (November 8, 2008). Suite101.com. In Successful prek-12 parent teacher conferences. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from conferences-a77874 Davies, C. A+ Resumes for teachers. In Teacher Interview Questions and Answers. Retrieved April 15, 2011, from questions.htm Teaching Interview Questions. Interview questions for teachers – tips and guide. Retrieved April 20, 2011, from The Teacher Spot. Parent-teacher conferences. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from: ence.html