Hello again and welcome to the first session of the court how to nail the teacher interview. I'm so grateful that you decided to move forward with this course I know, you will receive a great benefit from what we learn in this and following lessons. As you know, the interview is where you have the greatest opportunity to impress school administrators enough to take a chance on you and hire you as a teacher. That's a lot of pressure because this interview can change your life and the life of your family, right. This is the moment you have been working toward for so long. And in most cases, you only get one shot and with no preparation, so you're nervous and stressed.

And to top it off, you're competing with probably 15 to 20 other candidates who want the position as much as you do, that's a lot to deal with. Thankfully, you're enrolled in this course and I'm going to help you nail that interview. So let's get started. Make sure you take good notes and study them before the interview. All right. First things first.

Don't be nervous. Yeah, I know. You're saying, Sam, that's impossible. I know. I know. Just Just hear me out.

Sane and thinking you're nervous automatically turned the situation into a negative one. I'm not saying to stop the emotion of nervousness, just give those emotions a new name. So, instead of saying I'm nervous, say, I'm excited, nervous, a negative, excited, it's positive, right? You get excited when good things are about to happen, right? change the direction of your anxious emotions. From now on.

Never say the word nervous when talking about or even thinking about the interview. When people ask you, are you nervous about the upcoming interview? Tell them No, I'm excited. You're not lying. You're just changing the situation from negative into positive from fearful to hopeful. Even in the interview, you might have a panel member advise you don't be nervous.

You can respond by saying I'm excited. This will portray you as someone whose focus is on the positive. And that's a good thing. That was just a bonus lesson that bonus lesson. So let's get on with the main focus of this session ready? When I'm interviewing candidates for a teaching position, I'm looking to identify certain personality traits that come out in the responses to the question the panel ask, what do you believe about the teachers role in the classroom?

What are your priorities? I want someone on my staff to have the same beliefs and priorities that I do experience in education. Don't count that much. When I'm looking to hire teachers. Let me say that again. experience and education don't count that much.

See, most candidates have the education required to be qualified for the job. Many have experienced either as a substitute or as a teacher at another district. So I don't look too much at the education or experience to determine who I want on my staff. In this lesson, and in the subsequent lessons, I'll tell you what qualities matter Most school administrators when hiring a new teacher, I'll share with you the beliefs and priorities that you need to have to be able to stand out among the other candidates applying for the job. I've divided these session into the different recommendations for you to nail the teacher interview their only recommendation Because ultimately, you'll have to decide what character traits you will demonstrate in the interview. But based on my 30 years experience in education, I would strongly advise that you follow these recommendations ready.

Alright. The first recommendation is make building positive relationships with your students a priority. See, it's all about relationships. kids won't learn from you if you're not someone they want to listen to. You have to be someone who wants to create positive connections with your students, all your students, even the ones who don't want to learn. Students who are behavior problems with other teachers won't be problems in your class.

If you have more You're going to connect with that student in a more personal way. I'm looking for a teacher who believes in kids, all kids, not just the one to follow instructions and sit quietly. That's easy. I'm looking for a teacher that believes that all kids are good. This is important. So let me say that again.

I'm looking for a teacher who believes that all kids are good. A candidate who talks about bad kids versus good kids and the interview will automatically get their name crossed off my list. All kids are good. They make mistakes, and some make more mistakes than others. But that doesn't change the fact that they are good kids. It's our job as educators to educate them regarding their poor decisions.

I want to teach you to believe that every kid every kid has value. So if you want to make points with the interview panel, one of the most important points you have to get across is that making positive connection with your students is one of your highest priorities. You might even get follow up questions that ask you how you're going to create these positive relationships. I want to share 10 ways that you can do just that. I've included these positive relationship creators as a PDF download attached to this lesson to make sure you get that. Alright, so here are the 10 ways that you can create positive relationships with your students.

Number one, listen, take the time to stop what you're doing, and take an interest in what the kids have to say, you know, you might be busy working on a computer, something very important and you're focused on a computer. And all of a sudden that student will come up and just want to talk to you about the movie they saw last night. It's going to be so easy, so natural to just listen and keep on working on your computer. I get it all the time. But if you really want to make connections with kids, you stop what you're doing and Focus on the student, let that student know that what he or she is saying is important to you. That means so much.

So number one, the first one of these positive relationship creators is, listen. Number two is notice notice a haircut or their new shirt are their new shoes. Notice when they help another student, notice when the student comes in with watery eyes and asked him What's wrong, you know, you're gonna you're gonna find students in your classroom who are trying to hide trying to hide but be that teacher that notices them, notices them and takes an interest in them. A many times student would come in to class and have this expression on their face. That's, you know, there, something's bothering them. And I would ask them, are you okay?

And normally they say, Yes, I'm fine. But then I asked him again. Are you really okay? And they'll tell me what's going on and I'm able to connect with them again, building those bridges between You in the student is so important and it's so important that you make the time to notice them. Notice them. Number three is encourage, remind your students that you think they are smart, talented, capable, even if they don't believe it, encourage them.

Remind them how smart they remind them that you think that they're important. Number four, celebrate make a big deal about their birthdays and other events. You know, you don't have to go out and rent a clown or a bouncy house but at least mentioned and remind them hey, I know it's your birthday. Happy birthday. That's a big deal. Celebrate with them any any kind of successes they haven't other classes make make it a one of your priorities to celebrate kids.

Number five, compliment. Be on the lookout for any opportunity to give out compliments, especially for that student who you really need to connect with. Sometimes it's hard to find something to compliment you know, sometimes it's a it's a struggle to find something that Work complementing and look for opportunities to compliment them. Number six trust. One of the greatest ways to create a positive relationship is to demonstrate trust. You know, if you have to send something to the office or you have to run something over to a teacher across the hall, send that student that you really need to make connection to it.

Trust them, show them that you trust them. That's a big deal. They might be a little surprised that they're the one that you're going to trust with such an important responsibility. But they're gonna remember that and it's a great way to connect with the kids. Number seven, brag. I like to pull students aside in the middle of a conversation with the teacher and I tell him Hey, did you know that Johnny got an A on his test?

How do you think that's gonna make Johnny feel right? It's so important to brag on a student. Call their parents call their parents and let them know that you thought Johnny did a great job today. brag about After kids, this is a great way for you to connect with the kid. Nurse eight, ask, show interest in a student by asking them about their weekend, what they did what movie they saw, what's what's what music are they into? Ask them, they want to know that you think their opinion is important.

Right? So that's asked number nine think when one of my more challenging students had a good day I make it a point to pull them aside and just thank him for doing well. You know, that's a big deal gratitude is so powerful when you thank them for doing a great job and make it specific you know, don't just say Johnny thank you for your good day. No, it's a Johnny thank you that you're able to listen today and and and make it through the less even the lesson might not have been too exciting. Thank you for hanging in there with me. It's a big deal and it means a lot to them.

Number nine is tank number 10 is defend. There will be times when other students will want to put down that student who who, whose connection You're trying to strengthen, be quick to be the hero and defend him or her. For example, let's say Sally says, Johnny, would you be quiet? You're still annoying. This is your opportunity to say, Sally, that's not appropriate. Johnny, you're not annoying.

You're one of my smartest students, can you help me out by not talking? While I'm teaching? Don't you think Johnny's gonna appreciate that, you'll be able to make that connection with Johnny that maybe other teachers can. So there you have it. 10 of the positive relationship creators. Again, it's a PDF download that you can you can grab after the session is over.

Alright, so there you have it. That's the end of our first session. If you want to nail the teacher interview, I recommend that you let the panel know that you believe that building positive relationships is a high priority. So here's a possible question that you might get in the interview. How would you handle a student who is disruptive and defiant in your class? Hmm, how would you respond?

All right, I'll see you in the next session. Thanks for hanging in there. Thanks for listening. Talk to you later.