The JV interview

While student teaching I had the opportunity to set up a mock interview with the principal at Juniata Valley. Honestly, since I have been student teaching at the school for the past 12 weeks I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be for an interview. I believe when it comes time to actually interview for a teaching position my nerves will set in.

When Interviewing I felt very relaxed and when the questions started, they more so turned into a conversation. One thing I noticed while interviewing was the body language and the tone my interviewer had. You could tell that he was passionate about the school he was in and he cared so much. To me, that was extremely admirable and impressionable.

When being asked questions I was able to answer them well, however because of my lack of teaching experience (other than my few weeks of student teaching) I felt like I didn't have enough "real life" examples to back up what I was saying. I used as much as I could, but I only had so much.

Even though I don't have a whole lot of experience backing me up I was still able to give solid answers and the entire time I was positive in what I had to say. After the interview Mr. Estep and I took a step back and had a conversation, he gave me advice that I will carry with me while looking for my first position. The biggest take away I have from our conversation that I would like to share is even though I don't have a lot of experience I can still have a leg up against other candidates as long as I have a willingness to adapt and change with the school (ex. technological advances) and I come in with a positive attitude and keep that attitude through the duration of the interview. Whenever you are being interviewed, how you present yourself is how the interviewer is going to imagine you in their classroom.

-Never take for granted the power of a first impression!