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