Mock Interview Questions and Answers

Hi everybody and welcome to my weebly website. My name is Amy Florence and I will be

guiding you through a brief introduction of my grade one teachers treasured moments website after

providing a little bit of background information about myself and how I arrived at obtaining my Masters

of Science in Education at Medaille College. I will be answering some questions in a mock interview

format whiling visually showing you pictures pertinent to my past which have all been stepping stones

bringing me to the present and my exciting future yet to unfold.

I would like to briefly share a little about my background experiences that have led me to choose a career

in education.

Reflecting on my life so far it is clear that every work opportunity I have had were stepping stones

directing my path towards education. I was always in a leadership position that complimented my

natural abilities of being a personable caring individual with an extraverted personality who cares for

every person who crosses my path. My resting expression is smiling which creates an environment of

safety, warmth and acceptance which could be how I tended to fall into caregiving roles. I used to work

one on one with a girl who had down syndrome through a government program called life skills training.

Simultaneously I was also managing a popular gymnastics club which entailed coaching athletes ranging

in age from Toddlers to Teenagers, organizing schedules, running birthday parties, summer and

Christmas camps, fostering positive rapport with parents and coworkers and creating new coaching

schedules. I used to have private schools who did not have a gymnasium come to the gymnastics club to

achieve their physical education credits. This is where I was first introduced to Montessori . Multiple

different groups would come to earn their credits and the Montessori children were astounding in

every way. They all listened, respected each other, respected the equipment, their maturity was way

beyond their years it is was incredible to witness and delightful to coach.

My coaching ended when I moved to Montreal for University where I attended Concordia University and

this is actually where I fell in love with teaching in a school setting. I was an educator for a young

autistic Mohawk child in Montreal. I worked with him at home, in the community and in his school on

his reservation. During the class time I enjoyed helping him as well as his classmates complete their

tasks and assignments and I fell head over heels in love with teaching from that moment on.

When I graduated university and moved back to Ontario I was faced with the what next decision, I

knew I wanted to teach however most of my friends were teachers and unable to find employment in

the public sector so remembering the incredible impact the Montessori students had on me I enrolled

into the Montessori Teacher Training Certification full time program at Toronto Montessori Institute,

excited and eager to find employment in the private sector. After completing the ten month program in

June 2010 I began teaching full time at a private Montessori school in September 2010. I had the time

of my life teaching 2.5 to 6 year olds, for six years I was in my glory however curiosity piqued me. I was

interested in educating older individuals and so I applied to Medaille and here I now am almost

completed the Masters of Science in Education program fueled with a passion for teaching and excited

to educate elementary students all the way up to grade six of differing socioeconomic and diverse

cultural backgrounds.

There are many things that I have learned in the teaching program that will help make me an excellent

classroom teacher and colleague,

From my previous teaching experience including my sixteen week student teaching practicum portion of

the program I know I have followed my heart in the right direction. It is impossible to teach someone to

be passionate about something it is a quality that is innate in each one of us and that is teaching to me,

my passion and calling in life. I feel alive in the classroom and look forward to creating exciting lesson

plans that motivates and engages the students, making the curriculum magical and intriguing. I am a
genuine individual who is optimistic, polite and cheerful which I have been told are ideal characteristics

that are conducive to collaborating effectively and efficiently with other colleagues. I feel very proud

that I consider myself to have never met a stranger meaning I am a friend to all and am able to get

along with everybody. Personality aside what I have learned through the teaching program at Medaille

that makes me an excellent classroom teacher is my newfound technology skills and pedagogy that

includes more theorists than just Maria Montessori . These new theorists whose theories I implement

into my daily lesson plans such as Howard Gardners multiple intelligences and Benjamin Blooms higher

order thinking skills have forever changed the way I create engaging exciting lessons. Here is an

example of a lesson I taught that I was able to integrate with other curriculum areas, which I thoroughly

enjoyed creating and displaying. When I was student teaching with a grade one two split class I was

teaching story elements and having finished character and setting we were tackling problem and

solution. I decided to introduce the concept as a puppet show. I had two characters that were trying to

meet up but just kept missing each other. The characters asked the class to help them solve their

problem and eventually the two characters were able to meet up. It was such an enjoyable experience

to hear their roaring laughter and genuine excitement that some students were almost jumping up and

down through their enthusiasm. After the puppet show the class stood in a circle and through dramatic

arts depicted each student selected a familiar character that the class would recognize from popular tv

programs and movies they all knew. The class had to guess what the problem was and brainstorm what

a possible solution could be to solve the problem. They then created their own story of characters,

settings, problem and solution on little books I had made for them bringing English Language Arts into

the lesson as well. Once their own unique stories were finished if they so wished the students had an

opportunity to present their story to their friends which helps them practice their public speaking skills.

The results of the lesson were off the charts phenomenal.

How will your knowledge of the current trends in education inform you as an educator in our

district/board/school?

Trends are so exciting and forever evolving that being a subscriber to differing educational websites

keeps me on track and on top of current trends that can be applicable to classroom lessons. Open

communication with other colleagues about ideas they are implementing into their lesson plans is

another great way to stay current with trends that I personally love as it involves connecting with others

and sharing ideas. One of my new favourite trends is flipping the classroom, in particular because I have

had the wonderful opportunity to experience what a flipped class is like. Our wonderful technology

teacher Mary Beth would film all the lessons we were learning in class enabling us an opportunity to

view the lessons at our pace and time. I would view, pause, rewind, start over until I fully grasped a

technical concept. It is a subject that used to send me spinning with confusion, not understanding

technical jargon I would quickly become overwhelmed and shut down. Because of the flipped class

format I have now successfully accomplished many technical feats I never dreamed were possible. One

is this weebly website and the other my author Smart notebook author study. I am a true believer in

flipping the class and look forward to possibly implementing it into my classroom one day.

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

You should hire me because of my love for teaching, my passion is evident, my positive energy

contagious, I love to make the curriculum magical and come alive for the students. I believe that being

an active learner and participant is so important so I ensure that is interwoven into all my lesson plans.

My interpersonal skills are exceptional, I am a caring, qualified individual that collaborates extremely

well with others, this is my calling in life and where I was meant to be, the classroom feels like home to

me. That is why you should hire me.

Conclusion
 This last portion of my portfolio provided a brief outline of what you will be viewing on the

screencastic mock interview. The questions asked and answered were about my background as an

educator before and during my time of study at Medaille and what led me to becoming an educator.

Interesting items I have learned here studying such as my technology skills that were nonexistent

before, an example of one of my favorite lessons was discussed and how I was able to integrate cross-

curricular learning with it. Trends in education and how to remain informed was touched upon and why

I should be hired was explained. I hope that my video and this brief summary helps solidify my teacher

readiness and how prepared I am to enter the field of education as a certified teacher.