TES questions Flashcards
Why do you want to teach, and not simply work with children/young people, and what experiences have led you to that decision?
I would love to teach because I would love to make a difference in someone’s lives - as a teacher, you are a huge role model and you get to teach children core life skills as well as the curriculum - it is enjoyable and rewarding and seeing children make progress is such an amazing feeling - this is why I want to be a teacher
Tell me about a lesson from your time at school where learning took place and what made it effective?
In primary school - I remember I had this teacher who used to encourage wake and shake and having quick brain breaks so that you are ready to learn - always felt like I performed better then
Important that they don’t sit still for too long
It was effective because it meant everyone was engaged again and ready to learn - had a quick brain break
When you’re a trainee, you may find the demands of the classroom and subject studies quite difficult. How have you coped with demanding work schedules in the past?
At uni, to do list - felt like there was always so much to do
Good time management skills
Setting a side time for hobbies and exercise
Spending time with family
Being able to unwind at the end of the day - for me that is exercise
What has made you apply for this teacher training route?
Learning on the job
Most experience in the classroom
Uni is lecture based but I prefer being in the classroom
Being in the school from the start - being apart of the team, getting to know the children
I have learnt so much from working in a school full time, want to continue with being in a school
As you are about to start your teacher training, what do you feel are the areas of subject knowledge which are strong? And what areas are less strong? What will you do about it?
Strong - Maths - always loved this in school, been better at it, and English - did this throughout school
Less strong - probably Science but I will improve this by looking at the curriculum and doing research on things I need to do better at
Can you give an example of when you’ve had to show resilience or work in a team?
Resilience - staying positive and keep trying when things don’t always go to plan - bouncing forward when things don’t always go your way
In my current job, I have been working with a child for a long time trying to get them to learn their phonics. I then did an assessment with this child, and they hadn’t learnt the sounds. After this, it is pretty disheartening and upsetting, makes you feel like you have not done a good job, however you have to bounce back and continue trying with this and not take it to heart
or
Talk about uni - my criminology dissertation, worked my socks off, didn’t get the grade I wanted but also was jugging my psychology dissertation at the same time so I had to carry on and be positive
Why is your subject/phase important to a child’s education?
I think primary education is important to a children’s education because it is when the children learn lots of valuable life skills, as well as the curriculum. For example, they learn how to play together, how to compromise, how to make friendships, how to share etc - which they need to form successful relationships when they enter secondary. It is also important as they learn the key fundamental skills such as reading, writing, basic maths skills
Secondary, I think early years is very important because they learn to read - reading is a vital part of education and if a child can’t read, even if they are good at maths, they can’t do it independently as can’t read the question
Describe a lesson you have observed or delivered, and explain to me how the teacher checked that learning had taken place
Firstly I would say monitoring / scanning the classroom while you are teaching, to see who is paying really paying attention and asking questions during the lesson to see if they have learnt what something is. For example if you introduce a new concept, then ask the class ‘what is a verb’? and you would expect every child to have their hand up, if they have learnt something new
When the children complete their worksheet / task of the day, if lots of children are confused and don’t understand what is going on - it means learning hasn’t taken place
Also asking questions while they are doing their work
What qualities do you believe teachers need, and to what extent do you believe you have them? Can you give an example?
Resilience and hard working - never giving up, shown by
Good time management skills -
Organisation -
Caring and kind -
Can you explain how a teacher might use an assessment in their teaching?
Give them an end of unit test to see what they understand and don’t understand
Informal assessment - teacher scanning room, asking questions, time spent with class
Use both types of assessment
Continual assssment / knowing weak points - can give feedback and know how to work with each individual child
Why do you believe it is important to have equality in schools and how would you promote equality in your classroom?
So that students have the same opportunities to succeed and reach their full potential
Make sure the resources are tailored to meeting every Childs needs - for example, having high, low, medium
Challenging negative attitudes amongst students
Avoiding stereotypes in curricular resources and examples - all inclusive environment
Using resources with multicultural themes such as talking about how people have different values, different views
Setting clear rules regarding how people treat each other - come up with a list of class rules
Treating all students and staff equally and
Explain to me what you would do if a child made a disclosure to you about abuse at home?
Tell them that they can talk to me if they want - I am here to listen
Tell them you can’t promise confidentiality but you will only tell the people that need to know
Go to the safeguarding lead and fill in a form or go to deputy safeguarding lead
What different sorts of abuse would you, as a teacher, be looking out for?
The main types of abuse would obviously be indicators of physical harm such as bruises and unexplained mark. It is also important to look out for emotional abuse so being withdrawn, anxiety, not being excited about home time etc. Also important not to forget small things like a child saying I haven’t eaten breakfast today - because you might see a pattern that they don’t eat breakfast every time they are with Dad for example - nothing is too small of an issue
