Section 6: Teacher Candidate Teacher Interview Video

This section, section six, Teacher Candidate Teacher Interview Video, is the final section

of my portfolio. This is the section where I will exhibit my technology skills and artifacts

visually through a screencast presentation. Here, you will be able to watch a video of me

simulating an interview where I will answer a set of pre-determined interview questions. I will

also exhibit my technological talents by displaying my teacher website and its various sections.

Teacher Candidate Interview Video

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cbjVfhlA2p

Embed Code: <iframe width=1238 height=786 frameborder="0" scrolling="no"

src="https://screencast-o-matic.com/embed?sc=cbjVfhlA2p&v=5&ff=1"
allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>

Teacher Candidate Interview Questions & Responses

Briefly share a little bit about your background experiences that have led you to choose a career in
education?

Becoming an educator was not a career choice I had considered at all before the summer of 2008.

I had just finished University the year before with a bachelor of arts in Political Science and Sociology

and a Public Relations graduate certificate program and when I could not find work in Public Relations I

decided to look elsewhere for a job. The job I found was at a summer camp for Chinese students who

were looking to come to Canada for their secondary education. My position at this camp was as a teacher

and I had the privilege of teaching the students about Canadian history and our culture and what life was

like living in Canada. I spent 24 hours a day with these students whose ages ranged from five to seventeen

and discovered something about myself that I did not know. I absolutely loved to teach! I absolutely

loved standing in front of the classroom and teaching the students all about the country I was born and

grew up in. On a trip to Niagara Falls we drove past the Brock monument at Queens Landing and told

the students the story about General Isaac Brock and was very animated when I told it. By the end of my
story the students were actually cheering and it was then I knew I could be and wanted to be a teacher. In

addition to this experience I also took Human Resources Management at Seneca college and one of my

classes was training and development and in this class, we were tasked several times with teaching our

classmates about many different things and I had so much fun doing this that all of my prior nervousness

in speaking in front of a crowd disappeared. I am also a musician and play guitar and sing and every so

often I have the opportunity to teach other people how to play. Whether it is an adult or a child I

absolutely love sharing my knowledge with other people and love knowing that I helped them succeed

and seeing the look on someones face when they have mastered a skill or technique makes me so happy.

What have you learned in your teacher training program that will make you an excellent classroom
teacher and colleague?

I have learned so much in my teacher training program that will make me an excellent classroom teacher

and colleague. The first thing is that I am able to plan fun and engaging lessons that make students think

about what they are learning and inspire them to seek more information. I am able to plan for common

misconceptions, culturally responsive lessons, and accommodate students at all levels and with all

disabilities. In addition, I have learned how to collaborate with others. I know that collaboration is

absolutely paramount when working in a school in order for students to succeed and in my student

teaching placements and during my time at school I had to collaborate on assignments and lessons every

single day. I have also learned how to instruct students in a variety of different ways in order to keep them

engaged and focused. In addition, I have also learned how to instruct students in a way that is culturally

responsive and accommodating for all. I know that each student learns differently and that I must be

aware of this and make sure that they all have the opportunity to take as much as they can from each

lesson. I have also learned how to assess student learning and how to provide meaningful feedback to

them. One of the most important skills I learned was classroom management. I have learned that from the

first minutes you step into a classroom management should be the first thing you speak about to the

students and that will set the precedence for the entire year. I have also learned how to use the SMART
Board and other technology effectively and am able to plan lessons that are interactive and engaging for

the students.

Provide us with an example of a lesson you taught. How did you integrate it with other curriculum
areas, address the CCLS, technology, student engagement and motivation? What were the results
of the lesson?

A lesson I taught that integrated other curriculum areas was a science lesson on the force of gravity. The

central focus of this lesson was to comprehend text using comprehension strategies such as reading ahead,

asking does this make sense? and looking for photos and diagrams while learning about the force of

gravity. This lesson crosses the science and literacy curriculums and allows students to practice their

reading comprehension skills while learning about the force of gravity. In this lesson students are paired

up and are tasked with reading paragraphs in a nelson literacy book and finding words or concepts that

they do not know the meaning of and writing them down on a post-it. The students then employ the

reading comprehension strategies of reading ahead, asking themselves does this make sense? and looking

for photos and diagrams that might explain what those words or concepts mean. This lesson is engaging

because it has the students working as a team while they discover for themselves what gravity while

employing the new comprehension skills they have learned to find out more information. Students were

also allowed to use IPads to look up words and concepts if they could not find them in the book. In

addition to this activity students were tasked with writing a would you rather paragraph that asked them if

they would rather live with or without gravity. This engaged the students as it allows them to really think

about living without gravity and use their imaginations to think of the things they would and wouldnt be

able to do. This lesson was culturally responsive because all students have experienced gravity before and

are able to go home and speak with their families about this. Those students on an IEP were given

handouts and were given extra time for assignments and given a scribe to write for them and a partner to

read with. The results of the lesson were that students not only learned about gravity but learned to apply

reading comprehension strategies to find out the meanings of words and phrases as they read. They also
were able to work as a team and use their imaginations to write a paragraph and the paragraphs the

students wrote were all very imaginative and surprisingly practical.

How will your knowledge of current trends in education inform you as an educator in our
district/school/board?

The current trends in education are increasingly about integrating technology into the classroom and using

this technology to provide engaging, interactive, and fun lessons and activities that allow all types of

learners to be able to participate and learn. This technology includes the SMART Board, using IPads,

using websites like Kahoot. I know there is a very big trend of making sure that students get their daily

physical activity and during my student teaching placements I utilized websites such as GoNoodle and

YouTube in order to get students up and dancing and exercising and moving around. I follow many

school boards and educational newsletters on social media and try to read as much about educational

trends and issues online and in the newspaper and I believe that this will leave me well equipped to work

for any school board.

Why should we hire you instead of the other applicants we have interviewed?

I should be hired instead of other candidates because I am a passionate and energetic person who loves to

learn just as much as I love to teach. I am able to collaborate with others and work well as a team. I have

had many experiences working as a part of team throughout my work and school backgrounds and I

believe that this experience will put me above the rest. I am also a very caring and reflective person and I

truly do care about all student learning and want them all to learn and be inspired by what I teach them. I

think a lot about my lessons before and after I teacher them and am always looking for ways to make

them more exciting and more engaging. I am also always looking to further improve myself through

professional development. I have DASA certificate and will be always be taking new and interesting

courses in order to make myself a better educator and to find ways to better educate my students.
Conclusion

This section, section six, Teacher Candidate Teacher Interview Video, was the

final section of my portfolio. In this section I exhibited my technology skills and artifacts

visually through a screencast presentation. I provided a video of me simulating an interview

where I answered a set of pre-determined interview questions and also exhibited my

technological talents by displaying my teacher website and its various sections. Writing this

portfolio has been an amazing experience that has allowed me to reflect upon all I have learned

and accomplished during my time at Medaille. I believe that writing this portfolio was a very

valuable experience and that it will serve me well in the years ahead.

References
Christodoulou, J., Davis, K., Gardner, H., Seider, S., (2012) The Theory of Multiple
Intelligences, p. 2 & p. 9
https://howardgardner01.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/443-davis-christodoulou-seider-mi-
article.pdf

Council for Exceptional Children http://www.cec.sped.org/Standards/Ethical-Principles-and-

Practice-Standards

Cullatta, R., (2015) Constructivist Theory (Jerome Bruner)

http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/constructivist.html

Harmon, K. (2012) Planning for Effective Instruction: Best Practices (Part 1)

http://www.marzanocenter.com/blog/article/planning-for-effective-instruction-best-practices-
part-1/

INTASC Model Core Teaching Standards

http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2011/InTASC_Model_Core_Teaching_Standards_2011.pdf

ISTE Standards for Educators

http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-educators

McLeod, S., (2014) Lev Vygotsky

https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

Medaille College TEAC/CAEP Claims

https://medaille.dcollege.net/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_18447_1&
content_id=_499615_1

Ontario Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession

http://www.oct.ca/-/media/PDF/Standards%20Poster/standards_flyer_e.pdf

Ontario Literacy Curriculum

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf

Ontario Physical and Health Education Curriculum

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/health1to8.pdf

Starr, L., (2006) Harry K. Wong and the Real Meaning of Classroom Management
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat008.shtml