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How long have you been a principal? How long did you teach prior to becoming an administrator?

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How long have you been a principal? How long did you teach prior to becoming an administrator?

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I am currently in my 2nd year as an assistant principal, prior to that I was a classroom teacher for 7 years, and then I was a para for 2 years.

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What made you choose the teaching profession originally?

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What made you choose the teaching profession originally?

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When I was in high school I was taking art classes and the art teacher at my high was an awesome teacher. When I was in his class I remembering thinking "man I really want that guys job!" He was really good at relating with kids but he also challenged students to do great things...so I thought I'm good at working with people, I really love art, so considering those 2 things I thought right there and then that that was going to be the career that I pursued and that was Art Education.

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What advice can you give me to better prepare me for the teaching profession? 

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What advice can you give me to better prepare me for the teaching profession? 

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I would say if you can get into the classroom to actually work with students before your student teaching, that is a great idea. The more you can get into the classrooms the more beneficial it would be even if its not working, maybe your volunteering or observing but the more you can be in the building, classrooms, and working with kids the better idea your are going to have of the profession.

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What are some of the challenges I will face as a new teacher? What are the rewards in teaching? Could you provide me with specific examples from your own teaching experience or from some of the teachers you supervise?

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What are some of the challenges I will face as a new teacher? What are the rewards in teaching? Could you provide me with specific examples from your own teaching experience or from some of the teachers you supervise?

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The biggest challenge for a 1st year teacher is juggling all the responsibilities that you have. There is a lot of things that will be going around within your classroom and school. Be organized and plan your lessons, at the end of the day reflect on your lesson plan...did it go well or what can you improve on. There is a lot of things that will be expected of you by your students, by your parents, by your colleagues and you will be expected to fulfill all your duties. Keep track of everything going on but still allow some time to take a step back to reflect on what you've done, consider if anything needs change and implement that change. Another challenge is going to be working with some students who are not ready to learn. Finding that piece that motivates your students to do what you need them to do is a huge challenge. Lastly, using your colleagues, how will you collaborate with them intentionally so that you can use your resources that are in your building, the challenge is how do you challenge yourself to collaborate with others and how will you seek input from others. Be able to take feedback or constructive criticism and use it in a way thats reflective and not one way that you internalize as it as a criticism but take the expertise of others and use it to your benefit.

And then rewards, I mean thats why we are all in this job right, as far as the growth of our student. One of the rewards was seeing the growth in my students. When I was teaching art with students from 6th to 8th grade I could see how much they've improved within a time frame. You'll also see them mature as people and when you set challenges in front of them for them and you see them rise to the expectations and meet their goals and challenges its not only exciting for them but it is as well for you. And then those moments when everything in your classroom is going perfectly and your there and get to enjoy it, its like that "ahhh"...those are the moments when I would be like this is why I am doing what I do. The best class periods will be when every student is following directions, collaborating with each other, and sharing great ideas. That is when you'll see that the students are doing most of the work because you already set the structure in place that allow them to interact responsibly and work together to achieve whatever it is that you need them to do.

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What does professionalism mean to you? What qualities do you seek in a new teacher? How can I "stand out" during the application, interview, and hiring process after I earn my teaching license?

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What does professionalism mean to you? What qualities do you seek in a new teacher? How can I "stand out" during the application, interview, and hiring process after I earn my teaching license?

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The first thing that comes to mind when I think about professionalism is your work ethic. To me professionalism starts there, how hard are you willing to work to do whats best for your students. Involvement, how have you been involved in addition to what is just expected, how have you helped the community and what other capacities have you worked with students in addition to student teaching. Have you done any volunteer groups, mentor students.

The ability to work with others, the ability to take feedback and use it in a positive way, in a way that is meant for you to grow. The person should be presuming positive intent.

I would capitalize the fact that your bi-lingual. Make sure that that is included in your resume. Also, if you have any artifacts that you've done with students like examples of students work show them to the employer and explain to them what standards you worked with and how you engage the student/s in the activity.

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What changes, if any, would you make to the educational system? Consider various aspects of education reform, funding, state assessments, etc…

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What changes, if any, would you make to the educational system? Consider various aspects of education reform, funding, state assessments, etc…

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Currently we are working in a couple things in our school district, one of those is trauma informed. Understanding that students come from diverse backgrounds that aren't always the most conducive environments for them to be learner ready. A lot of these students who suffer from trauma are coming to us where their minds are fixed on external factors and they can become so easily triggered with a lot of things in school. A lot of students require a different approach and along with that implementing strategies at school that orientate restorative practices where we aren't just punishing students but having a conversation with them on how to fix or repair whatever it was that broken or damaged from the their actions.

I would like for us to move in the direction of standard based grading. Right now our grading system is more subjective and it is not based whether or not the students have learned or mastered the standards that we are suppose to be teaching. Our state assessments are all based on the content standards but our grading system isn't aligned with us grading the students on whether or not they've mastered the contents standards. If that is the way we are testing students then that is the way we need to be teaching and that's the way we need to be assessing our students so that they have feedback in terms of helping them grow as far as the standards are concerned.

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If you could choose another career field, would you? Please explain your answer in detail.

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If you could choose another career field, would you? Please explain your answer in detail.

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I have asked myself that before and never really picked one thing. There is a lot of things where I have said "oh that would of been fun, this would of been cool." As an art teacher there were other career opportunities that I could have pursued but nothing that I really took seriously. What I do now is what I always wanted to do.