Interview questions in education - there are really only 3!

I may be in the minority here but I really like interviewing people.  We have three student teachers this semester and as my principal(@chadsmithelearn) and I have been doing for the last few semesters, we bring them in for a mock interview.  We ask them some of our typical questions, talk about their answers, let them ask questions they have always wondered and give all the insights we can about the interview process.   I have a pretty logical thought process.  I think of the entire world as a large solvable algorithm.  If you look hard enough or tilt your head just right, you can find the pattern. First, take the million items(no exaggeration) that you have to have to be an amazing teacher.  Add the specific niche you are looking to fill with the position.  Divide it all by the timeline and you end up spitting out 25 questions that you think will bottleneck the herd and yield the perfect teacher. (Or you get lazy and google teacher interview questions.)  Let's be honest though, when we cancel out all the noise, we ultimately end up with only three real questions.  They all have different wrappers, but at the core all interview questions come down to these three:

1.) Do you know what you are doing?

2.) Are you passionate about kids?

3.) Will you get along with everyone else who works here? 

The advice I gave the soon to be interviewing teachers to be was simple.  Your answer to any question has to cover at least one of the three areas: knowledge, passion, or compatibility -- the more the better.  

I explained my algorithm and told them to share their thoughts to the question asked, make sure they share a specific story that relates to their ideology and make sure the answer shows knowledge, passion, or compatibility.  

I actually write down very little during the interview process, but if you were to look at my notes afterwards, you will see a slew of K's, P's and C's.  It's the way I like to do it.  Everyone has their method but I have a feeling that at the end of day, every administrator is looking for someone that knows what they are doing(or will), is passionate about kids, and will play nice with others.  

And while we are at it...when you get asked if you have any questions, don't let your only question be about the timeline - a good interview is a two way street. 

Climb a Tree Inspired PD

This weekend, as I was cooking on the deck(a favorite past time of mine), my three year old asked me what I found to be a peculiar question - "Daddy, can you teach me how to climb a tree?" I just laughed and said, "no one teaches you how to climb a tree, you just start climbing.  Just go as high as you feel comfortable and if you get stuck, I will help you."   I have always been a "doer." Whether it was learning to climb a tree or creating a hybrid course.  I just like to go out and "do it."  During my freshman year of college, I interviewed for an assistant position with a biology professor. He explained he was looking for someone to set up the blackboard(learning management system) site for his classes as it was recently mandated and he didn't see it as good use of his time(he assumed it was a fad).  I had just learned about Blackboard two weeks prior at freshman orientation but answered with the confidence of a blackboard aficionado, "that won't be an issue."  I didn't wait to be taught blackboard.  I just went out and taught myself how to use it rather quickly and became quite skilled at it.  Oddly enough, when I went to get my first teaching job, I interviewed with a science department head that just happened to be a friend of my college employer.  The school had just adopted ANGEL(a very similar learning management system) and my stock went up.  Small world! 

Back to the tree climbing...It got me thinking about PD. How do we create doers? How do we create a tree climbing professional learning environment in our schools?  How do we get teachers, students, and administrators to seek self-directed learning and veer away from the institutionally-centered artifacts of old age sit and get, one day professional development?  Below are a few steps my principal (@chadsmithelearn) and I are looking to try this year.  I will keep you posted on how our little climbing expedition goes.

1.) Do yourself a favor and read Daniel Pink's DRIVE.  (warning...please wear a helmet as your mind is likely to get blown.)

2.) Differentiate.  Some of the staff will need it small and slow... some will want to take off the floaties and jump in the deep end.  Give choice...see #3. 

3) Maintain a focus but allow for autonomous choice of time, task, technique, and team with the your professional development model.  Check out ours below... 

This is by no means the pinnacle.  It is, however, a great slow and small start that gives your school the ability to choose what they do (task), how they do it (technique), when they do it (time), and who they do it with (team).  It is our hope that this honors the incredible professionals teachers are day in and day out.  

4) Be diligent and don't get discouraged.  Some may not like it, some may not take advantage of the gift of autonomy or being honored as professionals but refer back to (2) - some may need more help than others. 

This model allows teachers to climb the PD tree, they can go as high as they feel comfortable and you are always there to help if they get stuck.  CLIMB ON!  

Ed Leadership Lessons from a 3 Year Old

Yesterday was School Start Eve.  Like many other administrators, I was up very early with ideas, to-do lists, and loose ends streaming though my mind.  Luckily I was with my early to rise side kick who was singing..."we're on our way, the mission of the day, starts when we say rocket...ROCKET!" (Little Einsteins)

She started her day with dinosaur egg oatmeal as I had coffee and email.  I was working on a to-do list that had just found its way to a second page and I heard my three year old say,

"Do you have to go to work today?"

Me - "Yep."
Kasey - "At school?"
Me - "Yep."
Kasey - "Ok - long pause - remember to be nice to the teachers, try your best, listen to Tracy (our secretary that she LOVES), and have fun."

I just smiled.

Print can never even come close to the sweet little voice of a three year old girl putting her own slant on the same thing I tell her before she goes to preschool or dance class.  She said all of this with her index finger pointed in the air and a stoic look.  As I thought about it, she had some pretty amazing advice for me.

First and foremost...BE NICE TO THE TEACHERS.
Everyone knows the first week of school is tumultuous for everyone.  Spirits and stress are high, adrenaline starts wearing off, the duties schedule has now been changed four times, and the wi-fi is only working 60% of the time.  It would be easy to get irritable about something little.  After all, you have a million things to do.  Just remember, your teachers are about twenty-four hours from meeting their new family with all their little quirks and nuances.  Twenty-four hours from getting to know 20-30 kiddos that they will end up knowing as much about as anyone.  Twenty-four hours from starting to lose sleep over a child that looked upset all day but wouldn't tell them why. Twenty-four hours from an onslaught of educational acronyms that would make non-teachers weep to try to figure out.  Twenty-four hours from starting quite arguably the most important job in the world.  Be nice to the teachers... literally the easiest and most effective piece of advice for starting the year.

LISTEN TO TRACY(secretary) - Need I say more? :)

TRY YOUR BEST AND HAVE FUN.  Can it really be this simple?  The answer is yes.
You were asked to be an administrator because a group of people really believed in you and your ability to help staff and students achieve more.  All you can do at this point is continue to grow, try your best, and make sure you find time every day to have a little fun.

Have a great year.

What does March Madness have in common with elementary education? LOTS!

I left school at 5:20pm.  I was home by by 5:30pm.  I have only moved from the couch to start the grill, get brats off the grill, and to put my three year old to bed.  Strangely, she loves basketball.  Well, she loves me and clapping, not so much basketball.

I love the 1st round(2nd for the technical people out there) of the tourney and love the parallels is runs with the my job as an administrator in an elementary school.  The following are the top ten parallels. 

10. Every team that is there is there for a reason just like every one of our students.

9. Some teams are stronger than others, just like our students.  Some of the teams come very prepared for the tournament ready to go deep.  Some of them do not.  Some of our students come more ready than others.  (The nice thing about elementary is that our teachers are so skilled they can level the playing field).

8. Every team out there loves to be cheered on.  Every student in an elementary loves to be cheered on!

7. Scheduled bathroom breaks(halftime for NCAA).

6. Great coaches who have changed with the game and are growing every year just like the great teachers who adapt to help their students. 

5. Zone defense.  2/3 in the NCAA.  Elementary schools usually run a 4/150 at recess!  Teacher are great defenders. 

4. We see 40 minutes of a game.  There are thousands of hours that go into the 40 minutes we get to watch that no one knows about.  Teachers do this day in and day out.  I have been at the school late countless times seeing teachers preparing for the "big game" the next day. 

3.  We are always blown away every year by an unexpected "Cinderella" team.  This phenomenon happens every day in school. I am blown away by something a student, a teacher, or a parent does on a daily basis.  

2. In every game there is always a game changing moment.  That amazing place in time that can go either way and can change the course of the tournament (ie. Bryce Drew's last second shot off a set play know one could have ever imagined).  It happens everyday.  A student you didn't think would ever "get it"  comes out of nowhere and literally floors you with a statement or a project you never thought possible. 

1.  Excitement! So much excitement...every minute...every single day!

GO SCHOOL!