I've been invited to serve on the hiring committee for a 5/6 teacher for our school. ("Hiring Committee" is actually not an accurate description. A group of representatives will meet with candidates, ask questions, and make a recommendation, which will be considered, but not necessarily followed).

What kinds of questions would you want to ask a potential new teacher at your kids school?

By Mrsheidi on Sunday, April 23, 2006 - 03:36 pm:

I taught high school math and science for 5 years...hope this helps.

How do you communicate with parents? (They should be able to either email the homework every day or keep a website updated.) As a high school teacher, I was able to keep a group list and I emailed the HW every day and kept them up to date on what we did in our science labs. Ask for proof of experience with this, ie a website you can go to etc.

Ask them to explain their classroom management style. The best teachers keep their classroom under control, yet are approachable. I would also ask them how they organize their rooms and what they do for students who are absent. I had an absent folder that I updated daily and my kids would go to it the day after an absence.

I would also ask how they present their material to the kids. The teacher should be able to give you an "agenda" on what a typical day would entail. You also need to get the feeling that they would let the kids participate a lot.

I would inquire about their special needs experience. Ask how they handle IEP/ILP's. (Those are plans that parents/students have if their kids have special needs. A teacher can be fired if the plans are not followed.) Different states use different acronyms for the plan. For example, some plans say that a kid might need more time to take a test or to be able to re-do homework.

Last but not least, I would ask them how they test their children. The best teachers use a "spiral" method in which they test over the new and old material continuously.

Of course, references are a MUST...GOOD LUCK!

By Melanie on Monday, April 24, 2006 - 06:37 pm:

Thank you for the suggestions!

I found out that one of the applicants used to work at our school and was laid off with our declining enrollment. There are four other applicants besides her, but it's nice to be able to go back and talk to parents who had kids in her class and staff members who worked with her. It sounds like she never wanted to leave and is really excited at the prospect of coming back.

I am looking forward to this process!

By Mrsheidi on Monday, April 24, 2006 - 09:01 pm:

Sounds fun, actually! I've always wanted to decide those things. It's nice that your district, much less state, does that!!