Interviewing

So I had an interview today. Actually it was a second interview, where I had to teach a lesson to a group of eighth graders I had never met before. I will likely never see any of them again, even if I am offered the job, because they will be heading to high school in the fall. It's a weird thing, to teach a lesson as part of a job interview. It's not really a true look at someone's teaching style, but it is as close as you can get without going to a classroom that is actually theirs and watching them do what they do in their own space, with their kids.

Planning a lesson for kids I will only ever teach for the one class period is awkward. I don't know what skills they have or what kind of cross curricular connections or connections to their lives are possible. I am not afforded the opportunity to assign homework or let them think about an idea overnight and return to it the next day. Any course correction that I needed to make during the lesson still required all of the everything I was trying to accomplish to come to an end before the students were dismissed for lunch. 

I don't really know how it went. I had fun. I think some of the kids even got something out of the lesson that they can take with them to future writing assignments. But even during the lesson I was thinking about things I could have and should have done differently. There are at least five things I can think of without too much effort that I wish I had said that I didn't. I'm trying not to think about it too much.

I was able to identify the student who needed the most attention with writing. He had some fantastic ideas, but hesitated to put them into his brainstorm. He didn't start writing a paragraph at all. He was supposed to be elaborating on the sentence "I was angry." He preferred to engage in philosophical debate over getting angry vs. being inconvenienced. I really enjoyed this kid, and wished I had the privilege of spending more time working with him. When I lamented to the principal that I couldn't get this kid to write anything, he assured me, "No one can." But oh, the ideas locked in his brain. There has to be a way to unlock the potential inside this kid. But I digress...

On the way out, the principal asked to see the paragraphs the kids wrote and told me he was going to try to get back to me about a decision tomorrow or the next day. I'm trying not to read into the speed. I know the school year is coming to a close and he wants the whole thing wrapped up. Me too... I want to know what I'm doing next year.