TopTenInterviewQuestionsforESLTeachers
ESLteachershavetobemasterpedagogues,authoritiesonsecondlanguageacquisition,andexpertsatrelationshipbuilding.That’satallorder,andwhilecertainlyschoolscancoach their teachers toward this ideal, youwant tomake sure you’re hiring teacherswithastrongbase.BelowarethetopteninterviewquestionstoaskwhenhiringanESLteacher.
1. HowdoestheCommonCoreguideyourworkwithELLs?
2. IfIweretowalkintoyourESLclassroom,howwoulditlookdifferentfromyour
non-ESLcolleague’sclassroom?
3. WhathasbeenyourgreatsuccessinworkingwithELLs?
4. Whatwould you do if a colleague said they did notwant you to pick up theirstudentforESLinstruction?
5. A colleague comes to you and says that they believe an ELL student needs a
referral.Howdoyourespond?
6. WhatisyourpreferredESLdeliverymodelandwhy?
7. WhatsupportsneedtobeinplaceforyoutobeasuccessfulESLteacher?
8. HowdoestheNYSESLATinfluenceyourinstruction?
9. WhatdoyouthinkwillbethebiggestchallengeasanESLteacherhereandwhatcouldyoudotoaddressthatchallenge?
10. WhydidyouwanttobecomeanESLteacher?
TopTenInterviewQuestionsandAnswerforESLTeachers
Whileyouwillwanttokeepinmindyourschool’sphilosophy,mission,programmodelandELLdemographicswhenevaluatinganapplicant’sresponsestothesequestions,I’veoutlinedsomepotentialelementsofmodelresponsesandredflagsbelow.1.HowdoestheCommonCoreguideyourworkwithELLs?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-MyESLinstructioniscontentbasedandalignedwiththeCommonCore.-IscaffoldinstructiontomeetboththelanguageneedsofmyELLsaswellastheCommonCorelearningstandardsattachedtothecontent.-IlookattheBilingualCommonCoreEnglishasaNewLanguageStandardsandalignmyinstructiontothem.
-TheCommonCoreisnotELLfriendly.-IlookmoreattheESLstandardsthantheCommonCore.-IammoreofalanguageexpertthanaCommonCoreexpert.-TheCommonCoreistoocomplicatedforELLsbecausetheirgradeleveldoesn’talwaysequaltheirlanguagelevel.
2.IfIweretowalkintoyourESLclassroom,howwoulditlookdifferentfromyournon-ESLcolleague’sclassroom?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-Studentswouldbeworkingondifferentproducts.-Therewouldbemorevisualaids/graphicorganizers/realia/music/chanting.-Astheteacher,Iwouldbedoingmoreexplicitmodeling/slowingspeech/repeating/rephrasing.-Theunitwouldbepaceddifferently.-Therewouldbeagreaterfocusondevelopingorallanguage,aswellasreadingandwriting.-Theremightbesomenativelanguageused.
-Myclassroomwouldnotlookverydifferent.-ThecontentwouldlookverydifferentbecauseESLinstructionisveryseparatefromwhatotherclassroomteachersteach.
3.WhathasbeenyourgreatsuccessinworkingwithELLs?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-Makingdifficultcontentaccessiblethroughscaffoldinganddifferentiation-Buildingrelationshipswithstudentsandfamilies-HelpingstudentsreachthelearninggoalsI/theschoolsetandthattheysetforthemselves-Creatingaculturallyresponsivelearningenvironment
-HavingstudentsmoveuplevelsontheNYSESLAT
4.WhatwouldyoudoifacolleaguesaidtheydidnotwantyoutopickuptheirstudentforESLinstruction?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-Iwouldscheduleatimetohaveaconversationwiththemaboutit.-Iwouldfigureoutwhytheydidn’twanttheESLservicesfortheirstudentandthenoffersomesolutions(moredatasharing,differentscheduling,etc.).
-Iwoulddefertotheclassroomteacher.-Iwouldimmediatelycontactasupervisor.-Iwouldimmediatelycontacttheparent.
5.AcolleaguecomestoyouandsaysthattheybelieveanELLstudentneedsareferral.Howdoyourespond?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-Iwouldexaminetheclassroomsupportsinplace.-Iwouldlookatthestudent’spastschoolingexperiences.-Iwouldexaminethetier1,2,and3supports.-Iwouldlookattheculturallyresponsivepracticesinplace.-Iwouldtrytodeterminethestudent’sperformanceintheirnativelanguage.
-It’saverynuancedissueandwoulddependonthestudent.
6.WhatisyourpreferredESLdeliverymodelandwhy?*PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
*Note:Thisquestionisnotsomuchaboutwhichmodeltheychoosebutthereasonswhytheylikeit.Ilike______________because…-itsupportsstudentachievement.-itallowsformorecollaboration.-itsupportssocialemotionallearning.
-Unabletoexpressapreference-Unabletoprovidereasons
7.WhatsupportsneedtobeinplaceforyoutobeasuccessfulESLteacher?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-Co-planningtime-Beingpartofgradeplanning/departmentmeetings-Adedicatedworkspacewithwallsforvisualaids,anchorchartsandstudentwork(ifdoingpulloutgroups)-Coaching-Communicationinplacewithotherteams(teachersandoperations)
-Nothing-Textbooksandworkbooks
8.HowdoestheNYSESLATinfluenceyourinstruction?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-IembedsomeNYSESLATspecificskills(becauseitlookssodifferentfromotherexams)ineverydayinstruction-IfamiliarizemyselfwiththedatafromtheNYSESLATreportasawaytodeterminetrendsandproficiencylevelswithinandacrossstudents(RLATinATS)-IfamiliarizemyselfwiththeNYSESLATandoccasionallyconductactivitiesthatlooksimilartoexposestudents.
-ImatcheverythingIdototheNYSESLAT.-Idon’tpayanyattentionatalltotheNYSESLAT.
9.What do you thinkwill be the biggest challenge as an ESL teacher here andwhatcouldyoudotoaddressthatchallenge?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-Schedulingwillbechallenging,butIcanlookatthemasterschedule/groupstudentsbyproficiencyinsteadofgrade/groupstudentsbyskillinsteadofgrade,etc.-Makingsurestudentshavesupportsthroughouttheentireday,evenwhenI’mnotphysicallyintheroom,willbechallenging,butIcanhelpembedstrategiesthroughoutunits/meetwithclassroomteachers/sharebestESLpractices/conductsPD,etc.
-Workingwithotherteachers-Anychallengelistedwithpracticallynosolutiongiven
10.WhydidyouwanttobecomeanESLteacher?PotentialElementsofModelResponses PotentialRedFlags
-Personalconnection-Passionforlanguage-Passionfordifferentcultures-Passionforbeinganadvocate-Tohelpthe‘gapwithinthegap’
-Bydefault-Notsure