Science teacher interview

[Busymum18]

Hi all, I am a chemistry teacher with 4+ years of experience. I have got an interview at an independent school and I am considering doing a demonstration as part of my observed lesson. I am a bit nervous about doing a demo of a practical for an interview. Any tips and suggestions would help. Thank you

I'm a HoD for Science, albeit not independent, so hopefully my advice helps.

There is nothing wrong with doing a demonstration as part of your lesson, just some things to consider (which I'm sure you would anyway!)

*how long is the lesson? If its a full hour or 30 minutes +, you will be fine. Our school gives 20 minutes and you would be pushed for time.

*Make sure you trial it before the day - nothing worse than it not going as expected!

*How does it link to the intended learning for the lesson? This is really key. If it is clearly linked to the learning and enhances that for pupils, it's fine. So often though, I see people use a demo which either doesn't clearly link or doesn't add much value.

*What will the pupils be doing while you are doing the demo? They need to be actively thinking/engaging so consider how you will do this.

*sounds obvious but will they all be able to see clearly?! I had a candidate do a demo a few weeks ago with the class gathered round a side bench - about 2/3 couldn't see clearly and some at the back just lost interest. If it is something large it will be fine, otherwise, ask if there is a visualiser to use.

In a nutshell, Yes, demonstrations are fine in interview lessons but they need to be well planned.

Best of luck!

Thank you very much for your input. It’s a 30 min lesson, I have been asked to plan for 25 mins to finish on time. So I think I ll skip the practical. It is a lesson on empirical formula and calculations. Any ideas to make it engaging, I had a card sort in mind.

Oh wow you'll be hard-pushed to do both empirical formulae and the associated calculations well in the space of 25mins. I wouldn't bother with all singing/ all dancing in that case. Mini-whiteboards or true/false cards for quick AfL, exam practice for the last 10min. They will want to see that you can teach, nothing else.

That’s perfect. Thank you very much, that’s precisely what I have planned. As part of the interview, I also have to reply to a parental email and do A level marking. Never done these before as part of an interview, but have done many more as part of my daily job. Any tips, in specific. Thanks again so very much

A-level marking is fairly standard I think. It tests your subject knowledge and understanding of mark schemes.

The parental email is interesting. I wonder whether they have had issues before and just want to test your interpersonal skills, but I'd also be wary of a school where parents have direct email access to you, if that is expected, because of the associated workload.

Either way, good luck.

Thank you so much. I will keep these in mind