Teaching at interview

[HystericalMe]

Hi,

I have a lesson observation as part of an interview for an NQT position. It is a while since I completed my teaching qualification and I am VERY excited and also quite nervous!

I will be teaching a whole Year 6 class. I had an idea that I'd like to teach maths or ICT, maybe cell referencing for using a spreadsheet.

Are there any buzz words for primary or important things to remember when doing a teaching interview? I have worked with Yr 5 and also Yr 7 so Yr 6 shouldn't be COMPLETELY alien to me. :/

Can you choose the subject? Are you sure? If so do Maths within ICT as you say but will they let you?

I might be able to advise you a bit later if my children ever settle down.
Not taught for a little while either, so someone better will come along...

it's standard, there will rarely be an interview that doesn't include teaching.

Don't do a show lesson, they'll spot one miles off

Can't you do something a bit more, umm, fun? Y6 yes do need to learn but did SATS last week. Maybe something IT but you will need to be sure of timetabling of resources, IT room or in class equipment.

Sorry if that lots sounds negative, I'm just trying to warn you of practicalities. Basic organisation, quickly building a relationship with the children, enthusing them - all far more important imho than fretting over spreadsheets (imho a bit of a tricky one to do)

If maths is your specialism, then can you think of something a bit more, umm, interesting?

I'd agree with MrsShrek, a pure ICT lesson will be fraught with problems

1. does the school have a computer suite, if so will they let you "book it" for your lesson, you will then have the problem of getting too and from the classroom to the suite, messing about and lots of Miss, Mis, he's in my chair!
2. if not, who has the laptops, how many, login problems, passwords not working, wireless network down! Its a risk using a whiteboard in a lesson, never mind a whole IT based one! I'd stick to the maths!

OK Thanks a lot!!!! science does sound like lots of fun.

For the spreadsheets, cell referencing, i was thinking of something like an advent calendar thing, where if they get the cell reference e.g. A7 then they get a prize from underneath and it was going to be a treasure map...
So they'd have found the treasure...

Very practical and also we could take turns at directing each other around the room like robots...

No computers involved.

For the science I'd have to think about how to make it a 3 part lesson. I'll do some more research and come back.

ahhh, now you explain it like that... that sounds way more exciting

loving the robot idea, and bribery incentives or a small prize always works

if you're clear how to make it last the right amount of time and how to structure it well, keep your idea

sorry got the wrong idea with you saying ICT and grid referencing, it looked like you were being insane brave and working on computers :)

I always think the main part of the lesson is the tricky part though, ICT or science, there'll be loads of resource organisation and I wont really know who to give the easier work to and who to challenge.

Also, 30 little advent calendars/treasure maps! Hmmm... That's going to take some preparation.

With the gases experiment, I suppose I could give each table/group a pot to experiement with and they can come back and report on what they've learnt - sounds better/more group work than my ICT idea.

Hi I like your ICT idea. Make sure you have checked with the school numbers, resources and abilities. If the school has a creative curriculum also check that and see if it can fit in with your lesson. I also always recommend you take a portfolio, talking through that often shows the teacher's true character. Good luck.

Did your invitation letter suggest what the school is looking for?

If not, might be worth looking at the new Ofsted criteria for lesson observations (it's what my school uses for internal observations by the head and also for interview lessons). The criteria do focus a lot on all children making progress - so consider prior knowledge, how you will know they haven't done it before, differentiation for different ability groups (we would expect at least a 3-way differentiated lesson for LA, Core, HA, all pitched appropriately for the age group), how you will know every child has made progress, catering for different learning styles etc. The school should tell you about ability groupings, any exceptional SEN and whether the children will be in mixed or ability groups for the lesson.

Good luck!

try and link the lesson to whatever theme they are covering, in my recent inspection we tried to do as much cross curricular teaching as possible so covered for e.g history & english in the same lesson, also remember to make the lesson objectives clear at the start of the lesson and have them displayed if possible, key skills is a big thing at the momet, at the end of the lesson ask children if they feel they have met the objectives and what skills they used, inspectors loved this and I came out with 1's. Ring the school and get as much info re the class as possible. You should teach a subject you are comfortable with don't feel you have to do a show lesson, it's the quality of the teaching and the way the children respond to you that is important.
Good luck!

If I give them a practical science investigation, can I differentiate by questionning?

In 20 minutes I will expect them to use all of their investigative skills but I will organise a group recording of observations.

yes you can differentiate by questionning also differentiation by outcome

yes - as ehedydd said, diff by outcome

Also do mini-plenarys, check halfway through what the children knew to start with, say "what have you found out" "what have you learned so far" etc, keeps them on target and is very much the current way to go practice-wise iyswim

How about a problem solving investigation that uses their maths knowledge...? My Y4s* loved my challenge to , "cut a hole in a piece of A4 paper that is large enough for me, Mrs SE13, to get through". Cue lots of talk about what they need to know, approaches they want to try out, safety with scissors (not wandering around the room with them). It also offers opportunities for the children to record their attempts and assess their progress towards the LO and, for children who excel in this area, can be extended so they can consider questions such as, "what is the smallest piece of paper Mrs SE13 can get through?", "what size piece of paper would we need to get 5/10/20/30 children through?", "is there more than one way to do this?".

This sort of activity offers lots of opportunity for paired talk, speaking and listening, chance to show your organisational and behaviour management strategies (be very clear about your 'stop' signal and expectations for moving about the class). It also demonstrates that you are able to teach without ICT and that you are not afraid of children being active learners. It requires only scissors and paper (no sellotape as the task requires that children use a single sheet of paper, not join it to any other sheet - beware of cheats!).

It would be worth finding out if the school use success criteria as a way of children knowing exactly what is required in order to meet the Learning Objective - if they do then build that in to the lesson (children who regularly use SC will be able to come up with some good ones for you to include). This then feeds into the, "how do you know what you're supposed to be doing?" questions observers might ask of a child. The plenary could be all about area and perimeter (which is the maths the activity is about) or about problem solving strategies.

*It took my Y4 class three days of investigation to crack it so I would expect Y6 to make faster progress. One child in my class had almost worked it out by the end of day 1 but not nearly enough to be successful.

Thank you so much!