Teacher Interview Questions

Teacher Interview Questions - Teaching experiences:

Please review for us your teaching experiences such as levels subjects taught, years, location, etc.
Please tell me about your most challenging experience while working with children or in the classroom?
What was your most rewarding experience during student teaching?
How well has your college/university prepared you for the field of teaching?
What experience have you had with students from culturally diverse backgrounds?

Teacher Interview Questions - Instructional Skills:

Describe the best lesson you have delivered. Why was it successful?
Describe your typical lesson.
How will you instruct students with varying abilities?
If students were having difficulty teaming a skill or concept, what would you do?
What techniques would you use to be sure that students understand?
How do you feel when a student fails?
What techniques do you use to keep students actively involved during a lesson?
It seems like there is never enough time to cover the curriculum or to get children to master content and skills. Would you comment on that?
Are you constantly searching for things you can show, tell, or demonstrated to students? Tell us about some recent discovery, something that you have found.
How do you deal with the unmotivated student?
Tell me about some specific motivational strategies you use to get students excited about teaming.
Given the multitude of material that must be taught, what is the optimum way to cover all subjects and still meet individual needs? How does your management of your classroom facilitate this?
What would you do if 50% of a class did poorly on a test?
Have you developed any new ideas about teaching in the past few months? Describe one or two of them for us.

Teacher Interview Questions - Technology Skills:

How would you apply technology to enhance daily instruction and increase student learning?
What activities has this technology replaced, if any?
Are you comfortable with the use of technology in the classroom?
What are your computer skills? What computer software have you used?
What technology-based activities do you have your students do?

Teacher Interview Questions - Planning Skills:

How well organized are you? Why is organization important for a teacher?
What do you include in your daily lesson plans?
Do you prefer to do long term or short term plans? How do you plan for instruction?
How closely do you follow your plans?
How do you feel when you don't meet a deadline? What do you do when students do not meet their deadlines?
What are some of the considerations you make when planning your lessons?
How do you go about planning a unit?
How much homework will you assign? How do you know how long it will take your students?

Teacher Interview Questions - Classroom Discipline & Management:

Describe your philosophy regarding discipline.
What was the most challenging discipline problem you've encountered and how did you handle it?
What techniques would you use to handle discipline problems that may arise in your classroom?
A student is consistently late to your class. How do you handle the situation?
What kinds of rules do you have in your classroom? How are they established?
What do you feel are the most important factors in classroom control?
What techniques do you use to increase the probability that students will behave appropriately?
Share three interesting techniques used in the classroom.
Describe a situation in your last job when you felt pressure. How did you handle it?
What is your attitude towards individual vs. total class punishment?
Compare negative and positive reinforcement and describe effects of each.

Teacher Interview Questions - Knowledge of Subject:

What coursework have you taken that has made you especially suited for this position ?
What kinds of materials and supplies would you need to do your best job?
Are there any materials you have used that you find are especially effective for slow learners or bright students?
What kinds of tests do you like to give?
Describe your educational background and teaching experience related to your subject area.
How do you stay current in your field.
In which curriculum area do you feel particularly strong?
What goals do you hope to achieve in your subject?

Teacher Interview Questions - Relationships with colleagues, parents, and students:

Are you willing to sponsor any extra-curricular activities?
What kind of person do you like to work for?
What kind of people do you find it difficult to work with and why?
How do you feel about parent contact?
How would your students describe you as a teacher?
Tell me some ways you would involve parents in your classroom.
How do you let parents know the progress of their child?
In your opinion, how effective are parent conferences in solving student problems?
What would you tell a parent who complained about his/her child not having enough homework?
How much do you want to know about your students in order to be most helpful to them?
What three things do you most want to know about your students?
What would you do if your Principal made a decision you didn’t like?
Give an example of how you handle conflicts.

Teacher Interview Questions - Personal Qualities:

Why do you want to teach?
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
Tell me three things you believe about teaching.
Why do you want to teach in our School District?
You have heard students complaining constantly about another teacher. What would you do?
What are your plans for continuing your professional growth?

More readings and help on job interviews: