WWTBAM Bored

Hi everyone,

I have an interview next weekend for a teaching program for career changers. One of the components of the interview is to give a five minute sample lesson to the interviewers and my fellow interviewees.

It can be from any grade level K-12 but must be five minutes and have a clear beginning, middle and end. I know there are a lot of teachers here and I was wondering if you had any ideas or suggestions?

I appreciate any input you are willing to share. My thinking was to do some sort of math lesson using manipulatives. For example a target lesson for 1st graders that shows how to add or subtract. Maybe create a fish bowl on poster board with sticky goldfish and give everyone an imaginary fishing pole. Have the students cast the pole to catch a fish and start adding them. Then have some fish jump back in the bowl to show subtraction. What do you think?

Thanks!
Tim

Tim, that sounds like an excellent lesson for an interview. (I'd never try anything that involved whip-shaped objects in my classroom, though! )

Also, the buzzword in Indiana is "manipulatives," not props. The proper terminology makes a world of difference with most administrator types.

I"m sure you've looked at these before, but here are a couple of sites that a math teacher I know uses:

http://www.sitesforteachers.com/resourc ... /math.html

http://teachers.net/cgi-bin/lessons/sor ... m=Computer

You probably don't want any of my physics lesson plans.

Thanks, Mike! You are right, I had heard the word manipulative before, thanks for the tip I will refer to them as such. This will be an entire day process for me next Saturday. There will be a one-on-one interview as well. So I am also brushing up on classroom management techniques.

BTW, my goal is to teach JHS or HS. However, I thought a simpler elementary lesson was easier to execute in just 5 minutes.

Thanks again for the help!

I like your lesson. I would call the props "hands-on" pieces, to engage the kinesthetic learners.

Good luck at your interview!

I am not a teacher, so view this suggestion accordingly.

Rather than using a fish bowl and fishing them out (and back in) one at a time, I would change the scenario to a larger tank, as you'd find in a fish store. You could then fish them out with a net, allowing you to pull out up to the capacity of the net each time. The distinction being that you are teaching, for example, that 10 - 4 = 6, rather than 10 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 6. I believe you want them dealing with the number 4, rather than counting to get to it. Of course, counting to get there could be mentioned as a way to "check their work," but it won't do much good once they start handling larger numbers.

You could also point out that this same (by then familiar) model would be brought back out once they start to learn multiplication and division. That is, if 3 kids dump 4 fish apiece into an empty tank, how many does it now contain? Or if the tank contains 15 fish, how many volunteers would you need to scoop out 3 fish apiece?

Good luck. Your posts are always very interesting and helpful so you will have no problem with the interview.

Thank you all for the tips and the suggestions! Estonut makes a good point! Thank you!

I will let you know how it goes!

Break a leg! Your (successful) history of interviews should be a big help. My one piece of advice: if they don't know how great an employee you'd be, you don't want to work for them. Best of luck!

t.

Tim,

Go to teachertube too. Teachers are storing videos and lesson ideas all the time.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the tips and suggestions! I ended up sticking with the fish theme. My target was 1st grade and on foam board I drew a fishing boat and a large net. In my lesson the students played the game show "Count them up!" The object was to count the number of fish in the net and then the number of fish in the boat. I then put those two numbers on the board and made an equation. It was a real hit.

I heard one of the candidates talking to another later in the day and they said the guy with the suit and the fish board was great.

I really think the whole day went well. I will find out by Friday if I was accepted into this particular program. When I find out, I will post here and give more details on the program

Thanks again for all your support!
Tim

Glad it went well . . . fingers crossed for you!





.

WTG! I'd say you're in!

Hi everyone,

I DID IT!! I made it into the teaching program! I am going to be guaranteed a position teaching Junior or Senior High School Special Education in August. I can not tell you how thrilled I am.

I have a long summer of intense training ahead of me before August and the school year begins but I have to say that I am excited beyond words!

Thank you for all of your great tips and suggestions! They like me, they really liked me!

Tim
America's Newest Teacher

Timsterino wrote:Hi everyone,

I DID IT!! I made it into the teaching program! I am going to be guaranteed a position teaching Junior or Senior High School Special Education in August. I can not tell you how thrilled I am.

I have a long summer of intense training ahead of me before August and the school year begins but I have to say that I am excited beyond words!

Thank you for all of your great tips and suggestions! They like me, they really liked me!

Tim
America's Newest Teacher

Hurray! Yippee! Congratulations!

I'm not at all surprised.

Lucky school system to get you! Lucky students!

Did I say "Hurray!"?

Great news! Congratulations, Tim.

Congrats Teacher! I might think of bringing an apple when we meet at the end of the month. Snaxx






.

Congratulations, Tim! I'm sure you'll be a great teacher.

Congratulations!

Like we had any doubt!

Timsterino wrote:Hi everyone,

I DID IT!! I made it into the teaching program! I am going to be guaranteed a position teaching Junior or Senior High School Special Education in August. I can not tell you how thrilled I am.

I have a long summer of intense training ahead of me before August and the school year begins but I have to say that I am excited beyond words!

Thank you for all of your great tips and suggestions! They like me, they really liked me!

Tim
America's Newest Teacher

Congratulations!

Fanfreakingtastic.

Congratulations!

Teachers who really want to teach made a huge difference to this country.

Congratulations, Tim!

Woo-Hoo! We all knew you would get it!
Did you have to wait long to hear back from them or did you find out right away?

Congrats! Special Ed at those levels is especially challenging. Best of luck, and bless you for choosing the vocation.