Math Teacher Interview Practice

W. Describe an innovative project you plan to use in the classroom at [high school] and explain what our students will learn from the project.

A well-designed project in the chemistry classroom engages students and the teacher in real-world applications of content and hands on learning. I steer toward project ideas that are directly tied to content students are required to learn and that are of high interest. Such projects foster a wide range of skills (such as time management, collaboration, and problem solving) that students will need at college, university, and in the workplace; and they can be tailored to suit students with a wide range of abilities and learning needs. An example of a project I might use early in the fall term is the Periodic Table Trends Project. There are several variations I have used depending upon the learning goal. At St Mary's the honors chemistry students worked in collaborative groups to research an assigned group of elements to create a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation to be given to the class. The students all created their projects according to a common rubric and a checklist while the choice of sources, presentation format, use of visuals and division of labor was left for students to decide. Students learned about the main group elements and their periodic trends for their own assigned elements as well as other groups of elements as they took notes on classmates' presentations.

What contributes to the gap in achievement among students of different races?

Both poverty and race have an impact on the achievement gap. Schools with low test scores often have a high student population that lives in poverty, while schools without a lot of poverty have higher test scores. Students at underfunded schools often do not have the same resources as students at schools that receive more funding. Students of color are much less likely to graduate from high school and attend college than white students with the same family income.

S. How do you know when students are "getting it," and what do you do with that information.

Checking for understanding is something I do during every lesson. Chemistry, like math, builds on itself and therefore it is crucial for me to get frequent data on what students are learning, how much they are learning and how well they are learning it. I use the data to make decisions within the lesson--do I need to explain or model again or differently. I also use this data to help me plan for subsequent class periods according to how well the class as a whole is growing in their understanding of a foundation skill or concept. I usually start class with a Do Now testing recall or understanding of the main topic from the prior class period. During the lesson itself I check for understanding by, cold call questioning, circulating the room while students practice, and I also favor cold calling a mixed ability sample of students to answer a key question and a twist on this is having a different mixed ability sample of students work problems on the board. At the end of class I may use a check-up (graded quizzes that don't count toward their class grade) an exit ticket or a murky point card to assess mastery of the lesson objective.

Part of a district priority goal is to "Develop a...culturally proficient..workforce." Describe what it means to you to be "culturally proficient"?

Cultural proficiency is the level of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that allow people to work well with colleagues and teach learners in cross-cultural settings. Districts committed to cultural proficiency are well-equipped to create environments that help students do their best learning. Culturally proficient educators value diversity, can problem-solve issues that occur between people with different cultures, have institutional cultural knowledge, practice cultural self-assessment, and adapt practices to accommodate for culture.

We expect teachers to use culturally responsive pedagogy. Please describe what you know of this concept.

Culturally responsive pedagogy serves to counter structural and educational inequities. Culturally proficient educators are committed to developing pedagogy that is meaningful, does not just address the surface-level aspects of culture like dress, music, and crafts, carries meaning, and shows students how to genuinely respect and learn about cultures that are different than their own. These educators engage in a lot of hard work and reflection to knock down their own biases.

Based on your experience, what do you believe to be the Equity issues that a high school must address in order to close the Achievement Gap? What can data tell us about the needs of specific populations?

Equity in education means that personal or social circumstances such as gender, ethnic origin or family background, are not obstacles to achieving educational potential and that all individuals reach proficiency in key course objectives. School data provides the starting point for removing barriers and creating a space where all students succeed no exceptions. (1) Enhanced cultural competencies (2) Comprehensive support systems for students such as tutoring centers, AVID or other academic skills courses, (3) Family outreach and family friendly schools such as having interpreters (5) Classrooms that support learning through building community and meeting students' varied needs through differentiated instruction etc. Students who feel known, find community and academic support, and acquire skills to advocate for themselves and assess their progress will achieve their academic goals.

The reasons why families don't get involved in their children's education are many & varied. What are some reasons & how can educators invite & encourage the involvement of all kinds of families?

Families may remember the 'phone calls home' for poor behavior or academics when they were in school and want to avoid hearing about what their child is doing wrong over the phone. Also, non-first-shift work schedules can make it difficult for families to get in touch with teachers. Educators can encourage the involvement of all kinds of families by making frequent positive family contacts and can help families feel include" by maintaining frequent communication on what's happening in class and how their students are doing academically.

D. What is your biggest weakness?

I can be forgetful if I don't continuously work on keeping myself organized. This has been something I've been working on since I've been in grade school. I keep multiple sets of calendars and reminders to keep myself as organized as possible.

What is your assessment philosophy?

I do frequent formative assessments throughout my learning units to determine whether or not students are learning. I use assessments like warm-ups and exit tickets to gauge student learning before or after a certain lesson. I have students complete these and turn them in to me. I sort them into three piles: tickets that show students have demonstrated mastery of a concept, tickets that show that students don't yet understand a concept, and tickets I want to revisit later. I'll use this information to determine if I need to spend more time teaching a topic in class or if I need to work closely with specific students. When students are completing project-based assessments, I give students flexibility with what they do their project on which lets them showcase their strengths.

In addition to teaching, what outside activities are you interested in and how might these interests contribute to [school name].

I enjoy running outside of teaching. I have learned that there have been efforts to give Toki students track and field and cross country opportunities. I'd love the chance to take part in that. If there is a STEM club, that's something else I'd love to take part in or start. I really love sharing my love of my favorite subjects with others and giving middle school students the chance to do math or science outreach would provide valuable leadership opportunities.

Tell us about your professional experience.

I graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in biology in 2016. I volunteered as an after-school science club leader at a number of Madison schools and community centers throughout my undergraduate years and then got an outreach internship at the Discovery building where I designed and implemented meaningful learning experiences to bring the research going on on campus to the public. This helped me realize sharing my love of science with high school students is where my passion lies. I enrolled in Franklin Pierce University's Graduate Teacher Education Program to get my master's degree in education and biology, chemistry, and environmental studies licenses. The first half of my student teaching placement was in an 8th grade life sciences classroom where I designed a unit and assessments on evolution and natural selection. One period out of 7 was with students in the district's TAG magnet program, which gave me experience designing lessons for advanced learners.The second half of my student teaching placement took place in team-taught biology classrooms and in project-based biomedical science classes. I had the unique opportunity to be the long-term substitute teacher for these high school classes for six weeks after I concluded my student teaching placement.

How are you committed to fostering excellence in our black youth?

I have appreciated learning about MMSD's multifaceted approach to fostering academic excellence in Black youth. The school district has an emphasis on more than bridging achievement gaps, focusing on helping all learners meet their full potential and recognize their brilliance. I am committed to meeting the social-emotional and academic needs of black students through culturally responsive teaching (example of this?) I will focus on creating content that reflects the cultural background of my classroom whenever possible, which will help students of all cultures feel like my classroom offers support for them to learn and succeed. I will bring an understanding of the historical impact implicit racism and bias have on society and will continuously make myself aware of any own my own implicit biases (How can I do this?)

How have you fostered safe and supportive learning environments?

I have helped students achieve an understanding of what students and teachers can do to make classroom environments safe and supportive. I set this goal because I wanted students to understand the impact that their choices had on the entire class and I wanted them to feel like I was doing my part to meet their needs in the classroom as well. Students and I created a class behavior expectation plan that detailed what students could do to make the class as successful as possible and what I could do to help them be successful as well. After discussing all of our expectations, we wrote them out on a large poster board and posted it in the classroom. Posting this for everyone to see helped students feel like their input was having a positive impact on the class environment.

T. What role does instructional technology have in your classroom?

I have integrated instructional technology into my classroom in these ways: 1. Take students to computer labs to conduct research. 2. Teach students to use the Internet for research projects. 3. Collect and monitor students' response through interactive tools like Edmodo. 4. I have a Weebly classroom website. 5. I use ppt 6. I assign at least one project in which the students create a PPT or Prezi presentations with video and audio integration optional. 7. When available I use Vernier science equipment for labs and data collection and analysis using LoggerPro.

Describe you understanding and experience with standards-based instruction and give examples from your teaching practice.

I know that The Common Core Standards are a set of learning expectations created to help students become ready for college and careers after school. Standards for social sciences, science, and other subjects are integrated into the frameworks at each grade level. The standards demonstrate high demands for skills in mathematics and ELA subjects in college and in the workplace. While I'll be teaching math content in my classroom, I'll need to write lessons that have writing, discussion, and reasoning integrated into them.

Why are you a good fit for this position and school?

I maintain reflective teaching practice, always looking at my actions in the past and what I can do to best serve my learners I am committed to meeting academic and social-emotional needs of all learners, and in particular, students of color and special education students. I have a passion for designing engaging learning experiences that demystify science and put it in context of what it's like in the real world. Making learning experiences like this accessible to all students helps all students realize they can "do" science

What instructional strategies would you use to make sure the class is engaged in challenging learning opportunities?

I often engage in inquiry-based thinking, which is important in preparing middle school students for high school math. During my middle school student teaching experience, I have helped students develop valuable inquiry skills. I wanted my students to stay curious about the world around them and also dive into critical thinking and understanding about scientific content. As we continued with a unit about composting, carbon and nitrogen cycles, and the impact of greenhouse gases I wanted students to be able to see a real-world problem and ask themselves "What can I do to help remedy this?" I helped students meet this goal by providing engaging and hands-on lab experiences related to composting. I served as the facilitator of this while students engaged in the scientific exploration. Students created compost chambers with plastic bottles and food materials from the cafeteria for a longitudinal science experiment to figure out what makes the best compost. Students examined the conditions within this system daily and took data on nutrients, temperature, moisture, appearance, and pH. I had students ask questions about the impact of the conditions of their compost on how it would work, emphasizing questions that put their experiment in real-world context.

How do you proactively plan for a range of learners to successfully engage in learning in my classroom? Share what engagement looks like in the classroom.

I start by examining individual student needs so I can determine how to best support them. I often try to split lessons up into more than one activity to change things up and make class more interesting for students. I enjoy sharing learning experiences that add fun game elements to the objectives for the day and get students moving. When students are truly engaged in my classroom, they are taking ownership of their learning. I did a "Funky Monkey" lesson.

Our academic vision states that we will ensure the success of all students. How will you contribute to this vision a daily basis?

I will have high expectations for all of my students. find the best in every student. I have learned that students will perform to match our expectations. When we limit our expectations, which is easy to do based on things outside a student's control like language abilities or socioeconomic status, we are unintentionally limiting what they can achieve. I include this as part of my teaching philosophy as a promise to future students and myself that I'll always expect the best from them and will always model for them how to have high expectations for themselves.

You're sitting in a faculty meeting and a colleague says "This is the stupidest thing ever. There's no point to this, might as well play Minecraft." How would you respond to him?

I'd let the colleague know that even though there are things I'm sure many people want to spend time doing, there is a reason for the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to make sure every educator has the tools they need to best support their students, not just to bore them. I'd encourage them to just pay attention for the hour or so we'd be required to be there.

What are some privileges that you believe are allowed to you? How have they helped you thus far?

I'm privileged economically and geographically. My middle class background grants me internet access to prepare for this interview, enough money for healthy food, and a secure home. My neighborhood has easy transportation access so I can get all resources I need. I have been securely middle class since I have been very young, which has helped me stay attentive in school and have access to higher education.

What is the most important thing you learned from student teaching or substitute teaching

Importance of flexibility

A. Why did you decide to become a teacher?

In college, I I volunteered as an after-school science club leader at a number of Madison schools and community centers throughout my undergraduate years and then got an outreach internship at the Discovery building where I designed and implemented meaningful learning experiences to bring the research going on on campus to the public. This helped me realize sharing my love of science with high school students is where my passion lies. I enrolled in Franklin Pierce University's Graduate Teacher Education Program to get my master's degree in education and biology, chemistry, and environmental studies licenses

Z. Teachers often become overwhelmed by the amount of grading and paperwork in a science class. Please explain how you give useful feedback to students on their labs, papers, and homework.

In my experience, students learn the most from their mistakes and therefore the precise feedback I give assessing their work is very important. The way I have successfully been able to manage the paper onslaught is to use rubrics, focus my feedback on one aspect at a time, and teach my students to use the rubric to evaluate and improve their own work. Early in the term, I invest time in providing and going over each element of the lab notebook rubric (or the ChemNotes rubric) so that students know what to do and how they will be assessed. During this time I will focus our attention on just one part--for example a strong background section, or setting up a data table or transforming raw data into a graph. Narrowing the focus shortens the amount of time I am grading and it really helps my students master the rubric step wise. I attach the completed rubric to the paper and return it. There is a student assessment and feedback portion that is completed by the student after processing my feedback on the rubric. This feedback loop means students are redoing and revising their work until excellence is achieved.

K. Describe a standards-based classroom. What does it look like to students? To parents? What would an observer see?

It is a classroom where teachers and students have a clear understanding of the expectations (standards). They know what they are teaching/learning each day (standards), why the day's learning is an important thing to know or know how to do (relevance), and how to do it (process). For parents, a SBC is more transparent than a traditional grading system in that their report cards and online grade portals will give a specific level of mastery on learning goals instead of just a single letter grade for the course. An observer visiting a SBC is going to see a clearly posted learning goal for the lesson and would observe all aspects of the lesson leading directly to achievement of that learning goal. There would be plenty of opportunities for students to practice and the lesson would end with a formative assessment, sometimes an exit ticket, or a self-assessment or a muddiest point card.

Q. Would you rather be liked or feared?

Neither. I would like to be respected. I wouldn't want my students to fear me; fear is not going to motivate students nor does it promote self-management skills or love of learning. Similarly, I would not want students to view me as a friend. I am not their peer and being too friendly with students would not only be inappropriate but would also make it more difficult for me to make decisions in the best interest of students and the class. When you are respected, then it is possible to get the job done without resorting to either extreme.

O. Share a favorite units/assignments from teaching chemistry.

One of my favorites was using the model of a 7-floor apartment building to help students understand how electrons in atoms of elements populate energy shells. It was hands on; it used something familiar to help explain an abstract concept; working in diverse teams, students designed their posters and presented them to me for feedback; after each team had an accurate model the students competed to see which teams could correctly populate energy levels for a given element using their posters. I have additional examples if you desire an example of something more involved.

C. If a lesson went wrong what would you do?

P: Things don't always go according to plan and it is wise to be able to quickly notice and adapt a lesson. A: For example, I designed a lesson plan around how insulin affects blood sugar. Even though I ran my idea for the poster project by my cooperating teacher, when I actually did it with my students I saw too many not understanding the concepts involved. R: I reflected on the gaps and gave students more guided practice opportunities. The next class had more success learning and being able to model how insulin works.

What is your experience and interest in working as part of a Professional Learning Community, whether interdisciplinary or subject specific? What strengths do you bring to a collaborative team?

Professional learning communities bring educators who are committed to being reflective about their teaching practice and student achievement together to share insight on what's working and what isn't working at helping students be successful. Effective professional learning communities require all staff members on a team to continuously share and analyze class achievement data so the PLC can determine whether or not students are meeting achievement goals. This should be done prior to decisions related to curriculum or pacing are made. I served as a member of the biology peer learning community when student teaching and LT subbing in the high school and had valuable opportunities to learn how to best met the needs of my students from other science educators and share some of my insights as well.

H. Describe a lesson that went well.

S/T: A lesson that goes well is one aligned to a critical learning target and which engages students in full participation to mastery of lesson objective. A: I taught a lesson on Mendelian principles of independent assortment and creating Punnett squares. The culminating project for the lesson was working in their learning teams to apply their knew knowledge to the Aussie Shepherd case study and create a poster to state their conclusion supported with evidence. During the gallery walk students assessed each other's posters and gave positive feedback. R: Students were fully engaged at all times and I could tell by the posters and the comments and questions that they had successfully applied the concepts to solve a real world problem.

L. How do you plan your lessons?

S/T: A well planned lesson is tied to the relevant standards and includes three main components: Objective, Activity, and Assessment Strategies to check student understanding. A: Having created a curriculum map aligned for the school year, I pull from that my unit plan that has the key unit questions. For each objective I use a 3 step approach: Objective. Assessment. Activity. This disciplines my planning. A well framed objective defines my lesson goal. Then I determine how I will assess effectiveness in reaching the goal. This includes ways to connect to prior knowledge as well as thinking through all the questions students might have and common misperceptions so I am prepared to intercede. Lastly I decide on an activity students will use to apply and practice the concept. My lessons close with a formative assessment of some kind and I use that data to guide subsequent planning. R: Good unit plans and component lessons are a road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during the class time.

N. What are your professional career goals five years from now?

S/T: Substitute teaching and my stint at ISB teaching chemistry, have exposed to me to an incredible variety of content, student populations, and classroom management styles. What I am looking for next is a longer term opportunity or ideally, a permenent position. Once in such a position, I see my first year or maybe two years, as a time of getting my feet under my desk as a high school chemistry teacher. I want to have a positive influence in the lives of high school students; sharing my passion for science; both the joys and the frustrations! Longer term, I want to involve local scientists in my classroom as speakers or perhaps even mentors to students interested in a science career. I have also considered mentoring students in science competitions such as science bowl, the chemistry Olympiad, or science fair projects. R: I am a lifelong learner, and whatever I do in the future I will do to both further my own growth as a teacher as well as set an example for my students.

I. How would you differentiate a lesson?

S/T: There is a diversity of student abilities and ways of learning that makes it necessary to differentiate instruction. [A] Some of the ways I differentiate instruction include varied reading materials, stretching it questions, case studies and problem-based learning activities. I favor projects because I have found that the open-ended nature of PBL activities allows students to start where they are and stretch for the next learning level given appropriate encouragement and guidance. [Example is Flame Test Lab with optional calibration of spectroscope] [R] As a result of differentiating instruction through content, materials, and pace students are able to meet lesson objectives.

P. Share a favorite unit/assignment from teaching biology.

S: During a 3-month placement teaching biology, T/A: I created and taught the unit on Genetics and Heredity. My favorite assignment was the Aussie Coat Color Case Study to give students a chance to apply their knowledge to a real life problem. I have a friend who breeds mini Aussies and we used her breeding pair phenotype and birth litter outcomes combined with the canine coat color genetics data to decide whether or not to keep breeding the same dogs or to add a new sire/dam to the kennel. Students worked in their learning teams to read about canine coat color and then to analyze data, decide how to display the data and develop a solution to the problem supported by evidence. During a gallery walk, students used post it notes affixed to posters to provide specific positive feedback to other groups. R: I could tell by the poster outcomes, the questions asked and the discussion that students had devised several evidence supported decisions about the breeding decisions.

G. Explain your behavior policy.

SUCCESS 1. Prepared to learn. 2. On task bell to bell. 3. Respect the speaker. 4. Ask and answer questions. 5. Follow class procedures. I strive to use minor interventions and small consequences that I can administer consistently and fairly without hesitation before things escalate or get emotional. I assume the best and narrate the behavior I desire. I am a heavy user of positive corrections when my expectations are not met--"Class, I need your eyes on me and pencils down." I correct individually and privately to get 100% compliance. I praise behavior that meets my expectations often, openly, and as specifically as possible. I explain the logic behind our class rules and expectations so that my students know why and how our rules will help them get into college, or an apprenticeship or meet other personal goals outside of the classroom.

R. Explain how you would scaffold a lesson.

Scaffolding is when I do some of the work for the students when they are just learning a new concept or skill; it is also used with individual students who are not quite ready to do the work on their own. One of the ways I scaffold chemistry lessons is through subdividing a complex task into manageable steps and then "thinking aloud" while solving a problem during direct instruction. Graphic organizers are another tool I use for example when teaching mole conversions I use the mole road map or the train tracks method of solving stoichiometry problems by using dimensional analysis. Lastly, practice practice practice while I circulate the room. My goal is always focused on pushing the students to do more of the cognitive work as they are ready until each has mastered the concept or skill.

J. If you were in our position, interviewing candidates for this assignment, which character traits would you look for and why?

T: Were I hiring a teacher for this job, I would look for the traits of passion and knowledge of the subject taught, creativity, persistence and collaborative abilities. A: Passion and knowledge lead to engaging lessons that keep students connected and interested in learning. Creativity in finding and using activities that engage students is also something I would seek out. Persistence is important because students need to know their teacher is willing to keep on looking for ways to help them learn and be able to apply their knowledge in school, Lastly, collaborative abilities are important because in this day and age of large class sizes and diverse student abilities sometimes I need to rely on another teacher with different strengths to offset areas where I may be struggling to meet a student need.

Y. Explain how you will maintain academic rigor in a classroom while also addressing the needs of struggling students?

Teach to rigorous standards as this conveys my faith that all students in the class can rise to the standard. I scaffold students as necessary in their efforts to reach the standard. I check for understanding throughout a lesson using various questioning techniques that ensure high quality in student outcomes. I recently began using a statistical sampling method that gives me class wide feedback on mastery and which allows me to set some students loose solving problems independently while others join me for extra guided practice, re-teaching or explaining something in a different way. I also maintain high expectations using questioning techniques: Right is right (I do not accept partially correct answers) No Opt Out questioning (I do not accept IDK/I offer option to call on a classmate and then circle back to the first student to repeat the correct answer.) Using these methods in my WHS placement I saw that by March mark period everyone in the class had a passing grade with the exception of several students that had been absent or failed to turn in enough assignments for me to provide a grade.

B. Tell us a little about yourself, your background as an instructor, and why a job at Toki Middle interests you.

The first half of my student teaching placement was in an 8th grade life sciences classroom where I designed a unit and assessments on evolution and natural selection. One period out of 7 was with students in the district's TAG magnet program, which gave me experience designing lessons for advanced learners.The second half of my student teaching placement took place in team-taught biology classrooms and in project-based biomedical science classes. I had the unique opportunity to be the long-term substitute teacher for these high school classes for six weeks after I concluded my student teaching placement. When my former cooperating teacher return, I started substitute teaching in MMSD schools, primarily in middle and high schools. This helped me further develop my classroom management and instructional skills.

X. What are the areas that you have identified as needing to develop in your instructional practice? How will you make these improvements?

Two of my professional development goals for the past year include adding at least 2 new differentiated instruction strategies to my tool box and integrating the NGSS eight science and engineering practices into my curriculum map and unit plans. To make the first improvement I read a book on differentiated instruction and I incorporated two new practices into my teaching; I differentiated process (watch a video, read the text, or find and summarize a science article on epigenetics) and differentiated student outputs for the Genetic Disorders Research project (Prezi/PPT or Report or completed guided worksheet). For the NGSS, I completed an 8-class webinar covering each of the practices and completed a written implementation plan submitted for one graduate credit.

What is your classroom management philosophy?

When it comes to classroom management, my best tools are student engagement and relationship-building. When I design learning experiences that are meaningful for students, Students need to find purpose in their work to be engaged and I need to create authentic experiences for this to happen. I enjoy creating units that have an authentic purpose and an audience ("Day in the life of a diabetic model"). Students were engaged in this because it MATTERED! When I correct student behavior for the whole class, I try to frame it in a positive manner that shows what I Need them to do. For example, saying "I need pencils down and eyes back on me" rather than simply "Stop talking." When I need to correct an individual student's behavior, I do so privately and quietly. I also helped students understand that my goal was to create a learning environment as safe and supportive as possible. I have worked with my students to create classroom expectation plans that help students take ownership over their own achievement and behavior in the class, since they take part in designing these themselves.

What impact does institutional racism have in K-12 education and how can your practice as an educator help overcome it?

While public discourse on racism takes place often, covert "under-the-surface" racism is prevalent in schools. It can often be difficult for white educators in particular to be aware of their own biases and escape from the trap of a history and ideology that cloaks itself as normal, which can have a negative impact on student achievement. I will regularly work with my colleagues so we can develop a shared understanding of anti-racist practices, taking care not to place this burden on my colleagues of color alone.

M. Are you familiar with Bloom's taxonomy? How would you use it?

Yes. Bloom's is a framework for acquiring knowledge and putting it into practice. The foundation level is knowledge where students recall facts or concepts, list steps, or define vocabulary words. Subsequent levels move up in complexity and critical reasoning skills. I have used Bloom's in my lesson planning and my in-class questioning activities. For example, a student might be asked to name a periodic table trend and then I might ask a stretch question asking another student to explain why that trend exists. Other ways I use the approach include talking to the text, and grouping problems in the lesson set from lower to higher order thinking. It is important for my students to not only know and be able to recall facts about a chemistry concept (such as the periodic table and the elements), but also be able to apply, analyze, and evaluate.