Admin Interview

At Central Columbia, we are fortunate to have a very supportive administration. That includes our principal, Jeff Groshek. I was able to interact several times with him throughout my experience, and I even had his daughter in class for a few weeks. For AEE495 assignment number 6, I was asked to speak with an administrator about teacher interviews, and have a mock interview myself. I had no reservations about walking up to him and asking for his advice at any point of the internship, so he was a natural fit. We got together the final week to formally go through the process.
From the start, Mr Groshek  made it very clear that in an interview he wants to get to know the candidates personally. You can always refer to the portfolio for technical information, but he really cares that they would fit well in the school community. That is what impressed me the most about the interview.
I feel like I handled the questions well. I am well aware that I tend to ramble on with my answers, and even while trying to keep it in check, it was still noticeable. Mr Groshek told me that he likes it when candidates pause and think before they speak, which I did. The only think I did not care for about this interview, or any interview before, is that there is no real time to look through my professional portfolio. My real life experiences with them have been different than what I was instructed to do in the pre-internship seminar. I asked Mr Groshek my standard, but solid, question: How does the district support the professional development of new teachers.
The hard part of mock interviews is the fact that you already know the person interviewing you, so the atmosphere is more comfortable. The advantage of that is that they are able to gauge how genuine you were. I was told I came across just the same. The only real thing I can do to prep for the future is gain more experience. Anything pre-constructed seems to be on point, but on-the-spot answering and related items are still difficult. Hopefully I can use this experience to my benefit in the near future!