Learning is a Conversation #ITA17

I'm currently in the Innovative Teaching Academy ran by AJ Juliani. This is a blog post in relation to the class. Sidenote: AJ and John Spencer are getting ready to release a new book titled: Empower. I'm super pumped for it. 

Has technology made us learn new things in new ways, or are we just learning the same old things in new ways?

When answering this question above, I can't help but think that learning doesn't happen in a vacuum. It used to be, but things have changed. Learning is a culture in itself. We have to think of the culture of learning that extends far beyond how technology has helped us learn. 

Being a social studies teacher, I tend to think in terms of cultures: the ebb and flow of life and how things interact with others. Learning has now changed beyond the school walls. 

When getting students to learn today, teachers have to look beyond the walls and think about where this learning might take them. We have to think of the audience. Large audience? Small audience? Does it need to stay within the classroom? Are we learning to create for a global audience? 

Wait. Global audience? That didn't use to be an option. 

Everything stayed within the four walls of the classroom. Students created for the teacher. Sometimes, they might have created for other students. This is where technology has changed everything. 

In regards to learning, we used to learn by reading. Now we're learning from videos, blogs, websites, online classes, MOOCs, PLB, YouTube channels, Twitter, Voxer, Google Hangouts, Skype, YouTube Live, Facebook groups or Facebook Live, and on and on. You can now pick the brain of an expert "in person." We have so many avenues of obtaining information. 

Learning is now a conversation. 

Where I think technology has changed learning is that learning can now be a conversation and not not just a "read and get" one-way conversation. It's interactive. It let's the learner dive deeper than just a textbook. 

I mentioned that I think learning is an element of culture. I'd argue that classroom cultures shift from classroom to classroom. Schools even have their own culture. Each team, whether it be a teacher team, a sports team, a business team, or whatever has a separate culture about it. The leader of that environment has to embrace what learning is today. You can't limit yourself, or others under your leadership, to what has always been. You have to embrace it. Maybe that leader is a teacher. Maybe it's "Mary, the Mom" who is trying to plant cucumbers and has sought the help of a master gardener through Google Hangouts. Maybe it's a boy that has a love of dinosaurs and his parents have found documentaries on Netflix/YouTube to watch and obtain information. Maybe it's me, the "Un-Handy Man," that calls on YouTube, watches a video, reads through all the comments, and double checks links and resources for validity in order to help myself replace the flapper in my toilet. I then went to the hardware store, engaged in personal and professional dialogue about what I needed, the specifics of my toilet and unique problem, and then we were able to find what I needed. 

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The Simplest Definition of Innovation in Schools

I'm currently in the Innovative Teaching Academy. It's a class put on by my friend, AJ Juliani. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this great class and learn from so many awesome people. 

"What is innovation?" is the topic of the week. We had to answer that question by creating a meme. (Sidenote - George Couros' book, "The Innovator's Mindset" is a fantastic read on the topic. It affirmed many of my beliefs about what being an innovator truly is. I suggest you give it a read.)

This is my meme. 

 

I imagine someone a lot smarter than I did came up with some grand definition of what innovation in schools really is. Problem is, I probably couldn't understand it because there would be big words. So, how about we keep it really easy. 

The quick answer to this is that if students are truly engaged, it's probably innovative. If students don't want to leave your room to go to the restroom, it's innovative. They'll hold it. They'll do the pee-pee dance while working. Their eyes will start to have a yellow tint. They'll do whatever it takes to stay in the room. My best lessons are like this. I can see it happening. There is a certain energy during this type of learning. I also have a ton of dud lessons. Hopefully, I can eventually make all of them innovative. It takes time. 

The simplest definition of what innovation is in schools is if your students are doing the pee-pee dance while creating then it must be innovation. 

It takes courage, a huge amount of bravery, a willingness to leave your comfort zone, and to ultimately let go of the fear of failing. I had to get over myself for real innovation to take place. I had to release control, release the "I'm the most important person in the room" mode, and release the "Learning Isn't About the Teachers" role. Get over yourself. 

I remember the first time that I tried Genius Hour / Passion Projects four years ago. I had no idea what I was really doing. I pitched it as a do anything you want and just show us what you learned by creating something that you present. Pretty sure no one left to use the bathroom that day. 

Trust. I had administrators that ok'd my adventure. They trusted that I knew what I was doing and knew it was what was best for kids. They were also there to check-in and bounce ideas off of. 

Just do it. Yes, that's Nike's slogan, but for crying out loud, do something. 

Get out there and do something. Push yourself. Put yourself in your learners' shoes. Would they really want to be in your class if you said it was optional? 

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7 Things I Can't Do for Students (and 7 Things I Can)

The best way for me to vent is to write. I have found that I need to blog to get my mind off of things. So, today, I write.

At the end of every school year, I end up turning into someone not myself. It’s really someone that I don’t want to be, but it’s like it just comes out. I can’t help it. My main reason is that I’m tired. Tired of a lot of the antics from students, tired of policing the same students to somehow behave appropriately day after day, after day, after day. Tired of harping on the same students to turn their work in even though I have reminded them to the umpteenth power already. Tired of saying, “Be prepared by doing _______.” and kids not doing said thing, but then upset at the consequences from not doing said thing. I might and probably some of my students that I routinely get on might even consider me a jerk. As we end the year, I wonder if that’s how they’ll remember me? Some cantankerous, crotchety guy. I don’t mean to be that way. I was raised to work extremely hard in the classroom, to not do dumb things, and that I could be guilty by association. I can’t, for the life of me understand why some students just want to simply exist. I just don’t get it. Wouldn’t it be more boring to just do nothing in school than do the assignment.

So, because of these things here’s a list of the Top Seven Things I Can’t Do For Students...followed by things I can and already do do. (Saying do twice in a row always makes me giggle)  

1. I can’t make kids care about school. Let’s be honest. Not everyone likes “school.” There are things that I don’t like about school. There are things that happen that I don’t think are very beneficial to a learner. What I can do is that I can try and make students look toward the future and see how the long term effects of their actions today influence the future.
2. I can’t consistently engage kids better than electronics. There is a difference between being entertained and being engaged. Being entertained is like watching a movie. It’s more one way. Being engaged is two-way. Being engaged in today’s culture is like watching Dancing With the Stars while simultaneously engaging in twitter conversations with people all over the globe during the show. There has to be input from both parties. There are just some things in school that can’t be engaging all the time. School can’t compete with the digital overload that students have access to. We just can’t. Learning is hard work and not necessarily for your entertainment. I work in a 1:1 school system. One chromebook isn’t enough, students have to pull out their phones and iPods, also. Attention spans have dropped. Spending an hour on an assignment is extremely hard for students to do. What I can do is provide as much choice as possible, try to connect to their world as much as possible, and encourage them to dive deep. Here’s what we’re currently working on in my class. Here's what it looks like in class.
3. I can’t do students’ assignments or make them turn it in. This seems like an easy one. I won’t do an assignment for you. I can encourage you to start, to continue, to press on, to look at the future, to not just live for today, to explain the long-term effects of doing off-task things, or to talk about planting a seed that grows later. I can help you by answering your questions. I tend to answer questions with questions. I can assign them a lunch-n-learn with me during lunch, or a detention, or a Friday School. Those things don’t necessarily help. The only students that things like detention influence are ones that already care. (See number one in this list.)
4. I can’t make them act like Mother Theresa. Look, not everyone’s perfect. I get that. I pretty much wipe slates clean everyday. I teach in middle school. First, they are trying to figure themselves out. Second, they are trying to figure everyone else out. Third, they are trying to figure out what they want to investigate in their own life. Fourth, they are trying to manage jumping up into secondary school and trying to make it as least awkward as possible. Fifth, by time they get to sixth grade, a lot of their thoughts have already been shaped by former teachers and how important school is perceived at home. I can read books like “Inch and Miles: The Journey to Success,” which is the kids version of John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success so they know what it takes to be successful. I can read them things like the “Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon so they understand how positive and negative energy affects culture and how to choose your friends wisely. I can read “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander that gives a glimpse into the daily life of students in middle school that struggle with the same things that they do. I can read a quote of the day from “365 Days of Wonder” by RJ Palacio to try and get deeper and have discussions about life and show some empathy.
5. I can’t be in charge of their home life. Parents/Guardians are in charge of home lives. As much as I want every student to have the best life outside of school, the reality is that most don’t have that TV sitcom home. I can make my room a safe place. I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not too positive with students that can’t figure out how to “student” correctly after 160 days of school. (Random: I think studenting should be a word. There is a proper way to student. It’s kind of like the word parenting. A parent parents. Shouldn’t students student? I know, my mind is wired a little different.) Those students that just can’t figure out how to turn things in at the end of the year still, continue to talk out, continue to be annoying, continue to back talk, continue to treat others not nicely, are the ones I’m talking about. I can remember to look at others through the glasses that they are doing the best that they know how instead of judging them.  Maybe they haven’t learned yet? More importantly, maybe they haven’t been taught?
6. I can’t make them responsible or be organized. I can provide support and ideas for organization like Google Keep, journaling, and using Canvas calendar, but a student won’t learn how to be organized or responsible unless they are held accountable and taught how to be organized. Even then, some students just won’t because it’s a choice. After 6 years of previous schooling (K-5) most of those habits have already developed. It’s also a caring issue (see number one) and a home life (see number 5) issue. Sometimes, being held accountable is writing a personal note. Sometimes, it’s calling them out in front of their peers. Sometimes, it’s a hug. Sometimes, it’s a stern gaze or suggestion. Sometimes, it’s having them call their parents from my desk phone to “tell on themselves.” Sometimes, it’s just being there to lend your shoulder.
7. I can’t pull their legs anymore. I think it’s best to be straight up honest by the time they get in the middle school. This game called life is about to get real. Choices matter. Completing your work matters. Who you hang out with matters. Learning how to work hard matters. A lot of students are just getting a taste of what it takes to “student” correctly. (See, studenting is a thing, hehe.) I can tell students what they need to do to improve. I can help them make goals to get better. I can be honest and inform them that what they are doing isn’t cutting it and they need to try harder. Speaking the truth is a very hard thing to do. It seems that most people avoid the truth nowadays. Speaking the truth in love is what is needed. Listening to the truth is really hard, too.

I hate it when I get to the end of a school day and I have spent all my time on those students that fall into one or more of the seven things above and have neglected all the students that are working hard, behaving correctly, and care. I struggle with that balance. I struggle with letting students fail because it’s the right thing to do. I give limitless chances to redo or retake an assignment. I let students hand things in late. I feel I do enough on my end. There has to be some responsibility from the students.

I’m tired.

Good thing summer break is coming :)

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Stuck

I'm stuck.

I feel my lessons are "good enough." They get by. Students are challenged. I've been using the same lessons for a couple of years now. The problem is that I've always thought that good enough is neither. Neither good, nor enough.

I'm out to change that. As I wrap up this school year and start making preparations for next year, I decided to enroll in the Innovative Teaching Academy that's put on by my good friend, A.J. Juliani.

I'm excited to learn more. To grow. To improve. To meet other educators that share the same passion. To find some new things to make the teaching and learning in my classroom better.

Here's to a great #ITA17

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Teacher Thoughts: Don't Quit. Never Give Up.

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End of Season Letter

Our basketball season ended a couple of weeks ago. I always have a love/hate relationship with the end of the season. Sad to see it come to an end, but happy that it happened and that I can spend some time with my family. (Or actually write a blog post.)

I am sad to say that this season didn't produce any trophies, championships, or other things that the world deems as a success. It was the first year in four years that one of my teams hasn't "won" something. I also have never set out to win anything. Winning is never a goal of mine. I am upfront about that in the beginning of the season. I am focused on all the little things that go into winning. This class had a lot of things not necessarily go their way this year. They battled. They fought. They didn't complain.  Many factors go into that. Some we could have controlled. Others we couldn't. My job as a middle school coach is to prepare my players for their future careers in high school, while also competing in the here and now. I teach fundamentals, spacing, and all the players know that I love defense. Unfortunately, we didn't end up with many wins this season.

What it did have though, was great kids, great moments, and apparently, life lessons.

I have always thought that my job as a coach is to not make winners today, but to cultivate an atmosphere and culture that is conducive to producing students and players that win at life 20+ years down the road. Sports come and eventually go. Lessons, learning, and relationships last a lifetime.

This letter will go up on my wall. It will serve as a reminder that I at least did one thing right this year. I really appreciate how this player took the time to write a well thought out thank you letter. He doesn't know this, but these types of moments are what drives me. Not winning. Not championships. Not any of that. It really doesn't. You may think I'm crazy. Shoot. Most people already do. :)

I will remember this note more than any score.

Thank you to the player that wrote this. It means a lot.

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More Than a Score

The ISTEP+ scores were released to the public last week. The scores were from the last school year. The newspapers have a breakdown of all the scores, how each school and district compare to each other and a bunch more data. That's what gets in the paper. Shoot, it's even the top story.

Let's take a look at what isn't in the newspapers:

• The teacher that stays after school to help students with reading.
• The money given and raised by the parent organizations to the classrooms and students.
• The presents that teachers buy with their own money to give to students.
• The teacher who just spent 30 minutes in line at the Dollar Tree to get Christmas stockings for all her students.
• The teacher that gave up family time to attend a sporting event of one of their students.
• The teacher that arrives early to help students with their math.
• The teacher that bought a student's lunch because they didn't have any. For a week. 
• The teacher that took a student aside to help them understand a life lesson.
• The teacher that acts as a father/mother to a student going through a hard time.
• The teacher that holds students accountable because there isn't accountability at home.
• The teacher that opens the eyes of a student to show them that education is the way out of poverty.
• The teacher that lights up a room with their presence and gets students to love learning.
• The teacher that gives up their lunch hour to help students work on their Genius Hour projects so they have extra time.
• The teacher that makes test days fun.
• The teacher that hugs students (and other teachers) every day to brighten their day.
• The occupational therapist that has helped a student finally figure out how to grip a pencil the correct way after 3,457 times of going through it.
• The special education aide that gets paid next to nothing, but would give an arm, leg, kidney, or whatever for a student that needed one. 
• The aide that has never raised their voice once to a student. 
• The custodian who takes a student under his wing and shows them how to take pride in their work by being disciplined and teaches them a skill that they can use forever. 
• The custodian who "had a little extra time this evening" and decided to wash and dry the basketball team jerseys while working her normal night shift load.
• The teacher who consistently gets berated by parents in emails and is so stressed out they regularly have to see a therapist.
• The counselor who daily listens to all of the middle school drama and somehow makes sense of it all.
• The lunch ladies that consistently make lunches for everyone in a school twice a day. I think it's hard to make supper for my family. How about 500 students every day? Twice. 
• The bus driver that says, "Good morning!" every day to all the students. 
• The coach that takes his team to a funeral viewing of someone that all the players know and teaches them how to comfort a family, grieve with something, and that it's okay for a man to cry. 
• The teacher that has lost a loved one, but doesn't take any days off of school so the students don't miss a beat. 
• The teacher that comes in on Saturdays or Sunday evenings. 
• The coach that takes the time to know all of his players and has visited their houses. 
• The secretary that is always there for students.
• The bookkeeper that always has change for a $5 so the teachers can get something from the vending machine.
• The lay coach that runs before and after school practices and still works full time. 
• The teacher that is never satisfied and learns more and more and more from getting involved in professional development on their own time to better meet the needs of their students. 
• The administrator that is lining up families that are in need so they can have a meal and toys for the holidays. 
• And on and on.

One could say that yes, all of these people signed up to do these jobs. But none of them deserve their work, their skills, their positive attitude, their hustle, their work ethic, their character, their tenacity, their ferocity, their occupation, their whole existence to be measured by a single score. Education is more than that. 

That list are the stories that need told. Not the scores of a test. 

Oh, and by the way, that list are things that I have seen or heard of happening in my district so far this school year. There are more, I just got tired of writing. 

So, on this Thanksgiving evening, I give thanks for all the employees that work at schools everywhere. You make a difference. You don't do things for the newspapers. You do things for children. Here's to you. 

You are more than a score. Much, much more. 

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Daddy Hero

It's basketball season. I love it. It pushes me and challenges me and I really enjoy it. Due to the wanting of my team to become more closer, I tend to ask them a question that each of them have to answer during practice. One of the questions the other day was, "Who is your hero?" It couldn't be a superhero or a make-belief person.

I got one "Michael Jordan," but the majority stayed pretty close to home. In fact, most never lost their home.

Out of 13 players in the 8th grade, I'd say 9 of them said their dad, mom, or parents were their heroes. Most of them said their dad was their hero. 

They also had to back it up and say why they chose them. These are some of the things that I remember from the conversations. I don't remember them word for word, but these are close.

• He spends time with me
• He teaches me things
• Teaches me about life
• He taught me how to fish
• He's always there to listen
• She works really hard for me
• They love me a lot, even when I screw up
• We go on road trips and do stuff together

Our kids are always watching. They see and hear everything we do. 

This is something that really hit home for me as I'm super busy all the time. My own kids are watching who I am: What I do when no one's looking, how I treat others, how much love I show, or don't show, and how much time I spend with them on a regular basis,  There isn't a substitute for time with my kids. My phone needs to be put away more. My eyes, they need to look in theirs. They crave attention from me. They are eager to learn new things from me. I need to teach them more. 

Not one player said anything about material things. Nothing of monetary value. It was just time. T-I-M-E. Time together makes you a here. 

This is just a reminder to myself that I need to do better. May we all be a hero to someone.

Photo by Amanda Trebley Photography

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Innovate Anyway : First Week of #IMMOOC

Even thought I'm already behind in this :) I hope that I can keep up. Between family time, teaching, coaching, designing, and photography time is not on my side. So I'll be brief.

1. What do you see as the purpose of education?  Why might innovation be crucial in education?

I believe that the purpose of education is to prepare and develop students to be successful at life. To prepare and develop students with the intellectual, emotional, and physical skills necessary for them to flourish in an ever-evolving world.

Innovation in education is the ability to imagine what the future will be like and try to replicate that environment in order to prepare and develop students for the future.

2. “Change is an opportunity to do something amazing.” How are you embracing change to spur innovation in your own context?

Personally, I'm more reluctant to change. I like things simple. I don't like new things or new ways of doing things. I don't like new surroundings. Change is not convenient. 

Let's stop there. 

If our actions, our decisions, our thoughts are always about what's convenient, then we're not innovating. We're not moving forward. We're stagnant. We're not evolving. We're not improving. We're stuck. 

As a 6th grade social studies teacher, I have tried to shift my teaching away from content and more into the creative side of learning and thinking about how I can teach students to learn no matter the content matter. I have become more interested in how the students' are thinking instead of what they are thinking. I've emphasized creativity after deeply consuming content. This last couple of weeks have been spent on latitude and longitude in the classroom. Instead of stopping at that, I wanted my students to be able to use latitude and longitude in a setting that can help them later in life. Each student created a flyer to an event of their choice that incorporated latitude and longitude. Being able to tell someone how to get to a location is a life skill. Wanna host a party when you're older? Learn the skills now. (The purpose has to be more than just "its a standard." Here's some samples of student work of that project. 

The only caveat to this is that who knows what technology will be available in the future? What if what I taught them this week is already obsolete. Shoot, I start teaching latitude and longitude with atlases and globes.  Do I even need to start there? Then, I advance into Google Maps. I want them to know the why and how behind GPS even though a lot of students already have GPS receivers (phones) in their pockets anyway. 

Maybe innovation is to bridge the gap between what was, what is, and what will be? 

Getting out of your comfort zone is the first step into making an impact through change. 

It's awkward. 

It doesn't feel right. 

The status quo is the status quo. 

Innovate anyway. 

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10 Interview Tips for Educators

I was able to sit in on the interviews for a position on our team. Over the last five years, I have had some opportunities to be on an interview panel, but was never able to do them for a different number of reasons. Anyway, this was my first one. It was going to be my first time on the other side of the interview. This brought back many memories and how I was reminded that being interviewed is not easy. So, I kept this in mind as we prepared for the interviews.

My principal had given us copies of the resumes of the individuals.

Cool, great.

Actually, no. Something was missing. Two things were really missing for me. No, wait. I'd say three things weren't there. (After writing this, I added another, so there ended up being four.)

1. Where was the mention of your professional (maybe personal also) twitter handle? I feel I'm a pretty connected individual. Not because I like it, but I feel that it is a necessary part of being an educator in today's classroom. You need to be connected. You need to learn from others. You need to have developed a PLN of people who push you, who ground you, and who you can bounce ideas off of.  I needed to see what you were learning, what you were making, who you followed, who you were interacting with, what your conversations looked like. 
2. Where is your blog? No, this is not a requirement, but I would have liked to see your reflections on your work? Forget that last sentence. I'd almost say that a blog is a requirement. Especially to a young, just fresh out of college candidate. What your thinking process is? What are you trying in the classroom? What is going well? What are your frustrations? How do you write about your frustrations? What are you reading and how do they influence your own classroom? Mainly, are you a reflective person? Are you willing to change? What is your thought process? How well do you write? 
3. Where is a link to a classroom website or your teaching portfolio? I want to know what learning looks like in your classroom. Brand spanking new teacher? You still had experiences while student teaching to take pictures of. Experienced teacher? You've had time to at least take pictures on the "best" days of teaching where everything comes together perfectly and the cosmos opens up and unicorns fly over leaving rainbows and then a leprechaun finds the gold, too. You know, the awesome days of teaching? 
4. I'm also going to add a list of people who inspire you. I want to know where you get your inspiration? No one ever says, McGraw-Hill textbooks inspire me. What blogs do you follow? What podcasts do you listen to? What books do you read? Who do you follow on twitter?

Now, I know you probably can't list all of that on your resume. It's a lot. But what about a link to an about.me page? a google site? a weebly site? a blog? (wordpress, blogger, edublogs) an actual website? All you need is a starting point to put all your links to your "stuff." It doesn't have to be fancy, but the content needs to be there.

Coming in, I figured there would be questions to ask of the individuals interviewing. Our principal had brought in questions they had used in the past. We chose some off of the sheet. I added one that I stole from John Spencer as I asked a few in my PLN before hand what were some of their favorite interview questions. William Chamberlin, Jon Samuelson, Josh Stumpenhorst, Brett Clark and some others suggested similar things to John.

Mainly, they wanted to get to know the person, as a person. Not necessarily a teacher. What do they do in their spare time? What passions outside the classroom do they have? Are those things that others on the team will relate to? Are they creative? Are they problem solvers? Are they someone who will work well others?  Are they driven? Are they humble? What type of drink would they order at a bar? This one might not be totally appropriate, but I imagine you could learn a lot from this answer. Are they smart in the way they work with others?

"Tell me about something that you made in the last year that you are ridiculously proud of."

That's it.

Can you do it?

I didn't even specify if it was personal or professional? Although looking back, I really wanted both. I wanted to see if you did anything creative? What it was like? How you persevered? What interested you? Could you tell me about the process you went through?

After asking this question, which was actually a command, I got a lot of different answers, which was expected. I enjoyed them. I learned a whole lot about the person from their answer.

If you have made nothing that you're proud of, then I'm assuming that after a year with you at our school, you won't create anything you're proud of over that amount of time, either. Why would I want you as a colleague?

Bring examples of student work. Or at least be able to talk about student work. I want to see (digital or on paper) student work. What are students creating with you as their guide? How deep are their thoughts? How reflective are your students? Do you weave life lessons into your teaching? How can you take some boring content and make it fun, engaging, and memorable for your students? I want examples of this.

You say in your resume, "Create engaging standard based lessons." Ok great.

Prove it.

I want to see it. Saying you do it, isn't enough. I've only known you for about 15 minutes. That's probably not enough time to trust you. I need to see evidence. Where's the examples?


There are some things that I think are important when hiring.

1. Competency - Is the person competent? It's fairly easy to determine this. It's hard to fake competency in an interview if you can give multiple examples of things throughout the interview process. I have to feel that I can trust your competency in your content area. Also, just because you're talented in competency doesn't necessarily mean that you are fully competent. How do you work with parents? How do handle an administrator that is on your case about something? How do you handle data collection? What's your way of dealing with classroom management? What are ways that you reach students? Which brings us to...
2. Consistent (Trust/Integrity) - I need to be able to trust that you will come through on a day to day basis on our team. Do I see this through talking to you? Do I see it through your examples? Do you seem like someone who will follow through?
3. Humble - If you begin all your sentences with "I" this is good indicator or someone who is selfish. I need to see that you are okay with not being the center of attention. You do remember that we teach for the students, right? I need to see that in what you say and how you say it. I need to see that you are confident, but not cocky.
4. Hungry - I need to be able to feel that a candidate is hungry. No, not for food. For teaching. I need to see passion. Desire. A hunger to persevere, to adapt, to push the limits of the "box."
5. Smart - How well do you work with people? Are you people smart? Do you have common sense around people? Are you cooperative? Do you share? Are you willing to share? Do you play well with others? How effective are you at working with and through others? 
6. Culture - Will this person fit into our current culture? Two candidates with the same competency can really be entirely different in relation to the culture of the school and current team.  Culture trumps a lot. 

Numbers 3, 4, 5 come from this. (Thanks to Bob Dillon for tuning me into the EntreLeadership Podcast) While these are things that I already believed, I listened to this the other day and Pat Lencioni puts it very well in this podcast and in his book "The Ideal Team Player".

I say these things because I'm not sure that there's very much out there about how to interview well in this age of education. It's different from 2009 when I graduated from college. I don't really remember anyone telling me these types of things, either. I also am going to tell you that I think I have been interviewed about 30-40 times which would include multiple interviews for the same position like call backs and screening interviews. So in other words, I wasn't very good at it. I also tell you that I'm not very good at talking to people. I struggle with "small talk" and carrying on conversations. I struggle with maintaining eye contact with others. I struggle with talking highly of myself. I don't necessarily like talking to people that I don't know. All of that together doesn't make for a good interviewee. I understand that. 

There is hope. 

I had my best interview in my current position in which I'll be starting year 3 in two weeks. I was confident and competent because I had already spent 3+ years running a classroom. I have developed my style of teaching and how I do things. I shared a lot of my process of how I learn, who I learn from, where I want my classroom to "go," the flow of my room, how I work with others, etc. I had experiences and examples to back up my statements. I also shared my twitter handle, my class twitter handle, my blog, my class website, etc. so that everyone would get a sense of what my classroom "feels" like and looks like. I felt like this interview felt more like a conversation, instead of an interview. 

Come prepared to an interview to speak highly of yourself. Most teachers don't do it regularly. It's in our DNA. This is your time to shine. Just be humble about it. Put the focus on the students and what they did, how they took ownership of the room, how you facilitate the classroom for maximum efficiency so the student can do _______. 

Older people always say, "Be yourself." when you ask for advice about interviewing. There is a lot of truth to that. What you have to understand is that yourself at 22-23 right out of college is different than 26-27 after a few years of experience and so on. 

Press on.

I subbed for a year after graduation.

I got a maternity leave for a semester. 

I then left education for a year because I couldn't find a full-time teaching job. I worked as a screen print production artist/designer. 

I liked it. Shoot, who am I kidding? I really liked it. I saw things that I had designed or had a part in on TV. 

But, I missed the classroom. I felt I wasn't making a real difference. 

I started applying again. 

I got lucky and got a full-time gig. I was a runner-up the last time for a spot at that school. 

It was hard. 

6 years later and one more interview I'm where I am now. 

No one said it would be easy.

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