Teacher Candidate Interview Video

Section Six of the Elementary Portfolio Project provides me with an opportunity to give

you, the reader, a tour of my Weebly website. This website was designed as a way for me to

showcase not only my work and achievements in the Master of Science in Education program at

Medaille College thus far, but also to showcase my proficiency in technology. In addition to the

Weebly website, I demonstrate my aptitude for technology during a mock interview video using

Screencast-O-Matic, where I answer potential interview questions as I navigate through my

Weebly website. Having the opportunity to participate in an interview simulation has been quite

beneficial. I took my time formulating my answers, reviewing my work, and truly thinking about

my past, present, and possible future experiences throughout this journey into the field education

and how I could apply this reflective practice to the interview process in the professional world.

Reflecting upon this process, I realize the importance of being able to design a website, which

will be used in the future to maintain an open line of communication with the families of my

future students as well as communication and support with my future colleagues. I find

technology to be quite daunting at times, so I am grateful for this opportunity to really work with

it in an educational capacity. I had never before been exposed to anything like Screencast-O-

Matic, so it was quite an informational practice for me. I can certainly see how this technology

can be successfully used in the classroom as a tool to differentiate instruction or as an explicatory

addition to a certain lesson. This section has truly been a practice in reflecting upon my work in

the program and given me an opportunity to not only familiarize myself with new technology,

but also an opportunity to use this technology as a new way to showcase my competencies and

pedagogical practices in planning, instruction, assessment, technology, learner accommodation,

culturally responsive teaching/diversity, classroom management, professional collaboration,

curriculum and professional standards, as well as professional development. You can find my

Weebly website at https://msmodriscoll.weebly.com/ and my Screencast-O-Matic interview

video at https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cFjVr4FSbZ.

Teacher Candidate Interview Questions & Responses

Partaking in a simulated interview is a constructive and beneficial way to become

familiar with the interview process pertaining to the field of education. It is an opportunity to

hone interview skills, reflect upon knowledge and experiences, as well as becoming comfortable

with answering these types of questions. The following questions have been posed to teacher

candidates and represent possible interview questions.

1. Briefly share a little about your background experiences that have led you to choose
a career in education.
 I received my Honours Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto with
a major in Books & Media studies and minors in American History and
Spanish

 I am receiving my Master of Science in Elementary Education and

teaching certification from Medaille College

 I have been surrounded by education my whole life. I come from a long

line of teachers, in fact I will be a fourth-generation teacher in my family.
I have been in the classroom and even grading papers for as long as I can
remember.

 I am a certified yoga teacher, which I think really opened me up to a love

of teaching. I love teaching yoga and sharing my passion for yoga with my
students and I really feel that that translates into the classroom.

 I have been a flight attendant for over 13 years. I love to travel and have
been fortunate enough to visit about 30 countries and over 70 cities around
the world. As great as that has been, I found that I was not being fulfilled
by that job anymore. So, I began teaching Core French to grades 3-8 as an
emergency French supply teacher. I did that full time for a while, and that
is when I discovered that my heart truly lies in teaching.
2. What have you learned in your teacher training program that will make you an
excellent classroom teacher and colleague?
 I have learned in my teacher training program a variety of instructional
strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners, like cooperative learning
groups, think/pair/share, creating colorful and engaging anchor charts, as
well as ways to differentiate instruction.

 There was an emphasis on lesson planning, which I think is a great asset to

a new teacher, as many other programs do not focus so much on the actual
planning and preparation of lessons.

o I have created very detailed lessons over the course of my program

that take into account student background, experience, and
abilities.
o These lessons even included Bloom’s Taxonomy. Within every
objective there were Bloom’s key words so that I could engrain the
theorist into each lesson

 I have learned the significance of scaffolding and Vygotsky’s Zone of

Proximal Development, with creating lines of questioning that promote
higher order thinking. I have certainly learned the importance of
Vygotsky’s More Knowledgeable Other and understood that the MKO is
not always the teacher and can indeed be another student. This has shown
me the benefit of peer tutoring and working in pairs or groups so that
students get the opportunity to become the MKO and help and support
each other.

 In this program, culturally responsive teaching was paramount, which I

think is necessary in today’s classrooms.

o Not only do we have multicultural classrooms, but children of all

needs and abilities, struggling with sexual orientation and gender
identity, as well as students of various ethnicities and
socioeconomic status.
o It is necessary for today’s teachers to have skills and competency
in culturally responsive teaching

 What will make me an excellent colleague will be the amount of

collaboration I have participated in.

o Professional collaboration is essential in the field of education, and

in this program we have had many group projects, teaching small
groups our lessons, and seeking help from each other on a regular
basis.
o That support has been priceless and I think that support is
something valuable that will translate into professional life.
3. 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?
 I taught an English Language Arts lesson that incorporated social studies,
which you can find under the Quick Links on my Weebly site.

 It was a 4th grade lesson on making inferences using the wordless book,
Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole.

 In this lesson, students needed to use their ability to extract evidence from
the illustrations and combine it with their social studies background
knowledge in the Underground Railroad and safe houses.

 Students were highly engaged throughout the lesson, as they were working
in groups to make inferences from the illustrations. I know it was
successful because both groups of students at the end of the lesson wrote
two different narratives for the story based on their groups’ inferences. It
was very interesting for all of us!

 Another lesson I created was a literacy lesson that used Google’s Book
Creator, which is also on my Weebly website under artifacts.

 Students are to create a re-telling of their favorite fairy tale, where they
had to include characters, setting, dialogue, narrative, and illustrations.

 They have to use Book Creator to write a narrative, draw the illustrations
and then publish their work online.

 This lesson really encompasses planning (I created an exemplar for

students, which you can also click on to access through my Weebly
website), assessment (I created a rubric for students to follow),
engagement, as it is hands on, and students are motivated by technology.

 In this lesson, I address reading and writing standards for both New York
and Ontario, in addition to the publishing standard for the writing process
in the Ontario Curriculum Expectations. It also addresses the ISTE
standards for educators and learners.

 This is a successful lesson as students are able to express their creativity,

remain engaged while using technology, and take ownership in their
writing. And it’s pretty cool to be a published Book Creator author online!
4. How will your knowledge of the current trends in education inform you as an
educator in our district/board/school?
 I believe it is a teacher’s job to give students the tools they need to leave
the classroom in their own greatness.

 In this program, I have become familiar with many tools that inspire
success and confidence in students

 Using technology to encourage creative and innovative learning is

something I think is important in our digital world and we must teach our
students how to be responsible digital citizens

o I think technology is also an excellent way to maintain an open

dialogue with parents and guardians, as having positive home-
school partnerships are an essential part of a student’s academic
success

 Through my skills in culturally responsive teaching, I foster inclusion in

my classroom

 Having respectful classroom management techniques such as Skinner’s

positive reinforcement, establishing expectations of behavior and
employing Wong’s establishing routines & procedures at the beginning of
the year facilitate a safe and productive learning environment.

 Being committed to professional development is important, as learning, to

me, is lifelong.

 I believe in providing equity, access, and opportunity to all students and

helping them with whatever they need to achieve success

5. Why should we hire you instead of the other applicants we have interviewed?
 My experiences as an international flight attendant are very valuable in the
classroom. I would like to bring those rich experiences throughout my
travels back into the classroom to build the background knowledge of
elementary students and to expose them to different cultures and
experiences at an early age.

o speaking foreign languages, openness to a variety of cultures,

patience, problem solving, organization, and time management
skills are all beneficial to the field of education.
  Coming from an environment where I am consistently working as part of a
crew, I am very much a team player and understand the importance of
support and working together

 I am bilingual and love the French language; I would love to teach French
Immersion or Core French.

 I think the ability to speak another language is an essential skill in life, as

it not only opens up many doors in the professional world, but it also
opens up a world of other cultures, other foods, travel, and the ability to
learn a variety of languages over the course of a lifetime. It truly creates a
well-rounded person

 I am coming into this later on in life, as a career change that I have

carefully thought about and chosen with my whole heart.

Conclusion

Concluding this Elementary Portfolio Project with technology seemed very fitting. It was

a learning opportunity for me but also an opportunity to showcase my skills, competencies,

knowledge, and pedagogical practices in a completely different way. Technology is the way of

the future, and the skills I have acquired through this section in designing a website and creating

a video will prove to be more than beneficial. My Weebly website has been a showcase of my

work in the Master of Science in Education program at Medaille College. This website will

change and flourish as I develop my skills and gain experience in the classroom, and I am certain

it will be an excellent way to maintain positive home-school partnerships with my future students

and their families. Working with the Screencast-O-Matic technology has also provided me with

insight and different ideas of how I can include technology into future lessons and it will

certainly also serve as an important educational tool. Participating in a mock interview has been

an opportunity to familiarize myself with possible questions during future interviews and also a

chance to reflect upon my time at Medaille College and creating the Elementary Portfolio
Project. This final section of my portfolio has truly been a reflective process and given me the

chance to practice navigating the new road that lies ahead.