<p>Good luck today 5DL! Let us know how it goes!</p>
<p>Not yet. I need to see if the transitional funding is enough.</p>
<p>Good luck everyone!</p>
<p>Invited to the final interview DL 5!! :D</p>
<p>Yay! I was invited to the final interview. I’m so excited! Any suggestions from those of you who were accepted? I’m excited yet nervous! Lol</p>
<p>Congrats everyone! The final interview is such a great experience.</p>
<p>Few quick tips:
Keep your lesson plan very simple. 5 min isn’t enough time. The admissions committee just wants to see you can clearly explain a concept in 5 min. Stick to elementary subjects, its the easiest.
Group Activity- Just say a few things and try to get others involved. I saw this girl had her hand raised and she was sitting at a weird angle during our activity so a lot of people couldn’t see her. I spoke up and said she had a comment. </p>
<p>One-on-One - Show your passion for the program. Know your resume and be specific.</p>
<p>for the lesson plans how can we access that “students” have learned the material? should we hand out a quiz? should we ask for volunteers to try a problem? i was thinking of doing “how to divide fractions” but I have no idea. I’m not sure how to keep the “class engaged” in regards to the resume, do they ask about every single place you’ve worked out or can you pick and choose what to talk about?</p>
<p>to access that students have learned the material, i just passed out a worksheet for them to complete after i “lectured” them and then asked for volunteers to share what they had put for certain questions and why they had chosen that answer.
In regards to the resume, they basically choose what they want to ask you about. If you didn’t have a phone interview they ask a lot of specific questions and a lot of follow ups to certain things you’ve done on your resume, but they basically stick to one activity. If you did have a phone interview, the one on one is much shorter. My advice would be to just be yourself, show them that this is what you are truly passionate about and stress your leadership roles! It was a lot less stressful than I had imagined and they interview day is actually pretty cool ! GOOD LUCK!</p>
<p>I called a student up to the board. Additionally, I “checked for understanding” by passing index cards and having them raise up their cards with an answer. I also had a quiz at the end.</p>
<p>Well…I accepted! I thought about it and with much discussion I feel like I can manage. It definitely was not an easy decision but I’m glad I waited and spoke with a number of TFA staff members and CMs. </p>
<p>In terms of the final interview, my phone interview and my one on one at the final interview were about the same length. Both were about 45-50 minutes long. I was prepared to answer questions regarding challenges in the workplace and in my graduate studies. They asked me about my research though I think this was based on my being a grad student. My lesson plan was simple and utilized visuals, audio, and a brief comparative observation regarding what I was teaching. Some people were more interactive though only a few seemed “successful.” I think it’s difficult given the time frame unless it is adapted for elementary/middle school students. I did mine for high school students. There were a couple that required a lot of handouts which did take up the participant’s time. Assessment is important but consider the length of time you really have.</p>
<p>One of the things you are required to do is write your Name, Subject, Grade Level, and Objective on the board. You are only given a minute or prep time. I made a poster with this information so that I could use the minute to distribute my papers and manipulatives. There were several people in my group who did not even get through with writing on the board when their minute was called.<br>
I was the only one who did this in my group and I believe it stood out because it showed that I thought ahead.</p>
<p>You guys are awesome. Thank u so much. I’m definitely going to budget my time wisely and utilize handouts at the end. In regards to the question/answer portion at the end—is this included within the 5 min time frame? Does anyone have any lesson suggestions? I’m not sure how I can make diving fractions interactive. Lol im trying to break away from the didactic lecture type format.</p>
<p>If you plan Q&A time, that is part of your 5 minutes. I’m not sure how you can make math interesting since I never had a good math teacher - which is why I will be an English teacher. LOL. It may help to consider starting your class as if you already started working on that lesson previously. ie. “As you will recall from yesterday, we started with X & X. Remember to not do this/that. My mom made a cake and if you took a slice, and I had two…” Then you don’t have to rush trying to teach a whole new concept, but review what has been learned and add onto it.</p>
<p>The best advice I can give you is to teach something simple that you can explain almost in a conversational style. I printed out study guides as if I was teaching a test review. I compiled some facts but left spaces blank for everyone in the room to fill in as I was teaching.</p>
<p>Specifically, I taught cellular metabolism for high school biology students, so every time I mentioned a term or phrase that matched the worksheet, people were supposed to fill in the corresponding blank. It seemed to work pretty well, but it was still a lecture, more or less.</p>
<p>Definitely teach something simple! At my interview, there was someone who was trying to explain everything he could about the history of Hispanics in the US…which would have been a great lesson given A LOT more time. Math is actually easiest, since it’s much more discrete than most other subjects, but there are definitely lessons in other subjects you can do as well that are simple. </p>
<p>Follow the lesson plan cycle: Have a quick opener (connect what you’re teaching to what they “already know”), then introduce the new material, then do some practice with the students (correcting any misunderstandings that might pop up), then have them practice on their own a bit. </p>
<p>Also: make sure you have all the materials you need! I brought a poster, and forgot tape, so I had to lay my poster out on the table. (And bring a giant trash bag or something if its raining and you have a poster! Mine did not look professional anymore after it got a bit wet.)</p>
<p>I taught a lesson on fact and opinion. I went through my poster, introducing the material. Then I handed out cards that had “fact” on one side and “opinion” on the other. I gave them statements, asked whether they were fact or opinion, and then had students explain their answers out loud. At the end, they had a short worksheet that they had to fill out on their own. Aside from the whole poster mess, I thought the lesson went really well.</p>
<p>I did mine on primary and secondary resources. I was already nervous and I probably would have relaxed a bit had I not been thrown off by someone coming in late. I know things happen but it was definitely not something I prepared for. Thankfully this is not the only thing they use for the selection process! Oh yes, try to be on time. LOL. I saw people come in 10, 30, and almost 50 minutes late. If you aren’t familiar with the area, try to arrive even earlier than 15 minutes. You never know how traffic is, if parking will be nearby/available, or if you come across some unexpected construction. I told my interviewers that the address was not one that is easily found with a GPS and the exit that was listed was closed since summer. Generally I’m horrible with directions but this was the one place where I was actually very familiar with.</p>
<p>Everyone,</p>
<p>I decided to do a lesson on addition/subtraction word problems for 3rd graders. I figure its a great idea as it can build on the already existing knowledge that the class has on addition/subtraction but with an added twist. I already know how to assess their knowledge through a 6 question word problem worksheet that I will hand out at the end. For those of you who distributed quizzes or worksheets at the end, did you build in time for the class to complete the worksheet or quiz or did you simply just hand it out as a “homework assignment?” </p>
<p>I’m just now trying to figure out how to make the lesson interactive. Maybe I can ask for a volunteer to read the a problem and do it on the “board” I don’t know if it makes sense to write everything out already and just have it on a poster.</p>
<p>The website says that each of the presentation rooms come with a “writing surface” I don’t know if this means a dry erase board or chalk board lol. </p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>We had a dry erase board. While my lesson wasn’t very interactive, it had different elements such as audio, visual, and the ‘lecture.’ Some people had very interactive lessons though they seemed rushed. Another seemed too basic for the grade level. One person that I thought did excellent, did a lecture but it was adapted in a way that made it really interesting and was timed perfectly to have students reply (if they wanted), or he continued on with what was being taught. I would avoid calling anyone up to write on the board since it takes time for them to get out of the chair and hope that they were paying attention to answer your question. They might be too nervous worrying about their own lesson plan to be a ‘good student.’ The homework idea seems fine because if your timing is off and you run over, you can skip that part altogether or quickly say review the assignment etc.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t give a worksheet as a homework assignment, unless you really wanted people to see an awesome worksheet you made and didn’t have time to give out. Otherwise, there’s really no point. They want to see how you do in front of people, and giving out homework isn’t part of that. Plus, once you start teaching, you really shouldn’t be giving out homework on a subject until they’ve had a chance to practice the material in class.</p>
<p>Interaction can be achieved through a variety of manners. Have the “students” answer questions (you can involve them all by having everyone answer at the same time through hand motions or choral responses) or discuss. Let them follow along on a worksheet or pass out manipulatives they can handle. Use the students as examples. Make up a short poem/rap/song about the topic and teach it. Make the practice into a game.</p>
<p>Also, if you call on someone to come up, you can just call someone close to the board if you’re worried about time.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the great feedback. I know exactly what I’m going to do. I’ll let you know how it goes on Friday! I am beyond nervous. :/</p>