I suck at interviews. Help me please with the perfect answers.

[EdwiniasRevenge]

I have an interview on Monday. I can do the application. I can do the lesson. I fail the interview. Some of the questions i think i have struggled with are below, with my current answers for you to polish for me. Any guidance/perfect answers would be appreciated.

Why do you want this job?
my reasons: its a county school as opposed to city.
the school has positive, realistic and clear ambition for the school.
its a school i would be happy to send my own children to.
I would say that parents are clearly supportive/ positive but ofsted report suggests not wholey true.
I can teach the full age range for which I am trained (lots of middle/upper schools in this area dont).

What could you offer outside of the classroom?
look at what the gaps in extra curricular activies are.
I could offer a range of crafts
what would a student panel be looking for on this?

What do you think you biggest weakness would be?
options I could use:
I am over critical of myself. Sometimes leads to me spending more time planning etc. But you always know I will jave done my best, and it means that each lesson is critically evaluated to allow constant improvement.
Attention to detail. Again a time thing.
I'm always right...but not sure how to sell that into a positive

I really struggle with student panel interviews in general. What are they looking for?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Not sure about student panel, but I was once told in feedback after an interview that when asked why this school, the answer should be more along the lines of because I feel I could offer xyz. More about what you could do for them than what they could do for you. Does that make sense?

Yes that does make sense.

I hadn't looked at it like that at all.

Why do you want this job?

Look at the school website and see what they think their USP is. Pick up on it, and say that this chimes with your own educational philosophy. The age range and ambition answers also good.

The other two questions are not ones I would ask, so difficult to think about what I would be looking for! What's your subject (is it Science - or am I mixing you up with another poster?!). What flavour Science? Nature club? Gardening? Electronics? We do a year 7 Science club that is for all the bags and smells that they would love to do every lesson only sometimes they have to do other stuff...

Weakness - I would ask what someone's greatest challenge had been, or, for an NQT/RQT, what support they would prioritise for themselves - so perhaps something along those lines.

Student panel - our students look for much the same as us. They want to know that you would be engaging and enthsiastic, but also that they would be in safe hands with you in terms of results. That you would have an orderly classroom and mutually respectful classroom - ours ask about behaviour management. They like well thought out answers. They don't like being patronised!!

Yup science :)

So a quick subject related Q

I'm teaching digestion yr7.

planning to do the mash a bit of food, slosh it in a bag squeeze it thru some tights practical.

I want to do it as class practical, but worried its too messy. But worried that if i do demo its not interactive enough.

tWhat do you recommend?

I agree with Noforasking about making it about what you can do for them. My new place really latched onto the things I can offer that they didn't realise they we're missing.

With the demo, I'd get them all round a table and have diff kids help out with the demo. Some holding bits, some squishing bits, some describing the products with the grossest adjectives etc.

Give them a worksheet with the questions you're going to be asking pre printed to fill in as you go. You can make it a literacy activity with the adjectives bit (describing/multistructural extending to explaining/relational etc) and/or add in some numeracy with facts about absorption or something, can they perform any calculations on it. So they're doing the thinking/writing while you're demonstrating. That way everyone's engaged and busy and some get a small role in the demo.

Demo is OK if you keep it brisk and ask LOTS of questions. How many pupils? Will they all be able to see?

What is the focus of the lesson? Structure of the digestive system, or digestion? Because I find the tights thing becomes more about water and the large intestine than digestion and absorption in the small intestine as the food stays in the tights.

Have you been to any TeachMeets recently? Are you on twitter? Show that you're taking responsibility for your professional development despite the level of support from your current place. (And there's so many teachers who can help with your Qs asked here too!)

Oh, you need a wowy starter. Something to get them thinking while you hand out sheets/move desks etc.

I am just finishing PGCE but have been to some IOP workshops so thats good.

any recommendations for a starter. I did consider doing something with a 9m piece of string to do a bit of wow factor but rejected that because ddoesn't allow me to assess prior knowledge.

I will read all other comments properly when I sit down in the morning to plan..