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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHandout Westlake Academy Interview-Hiring ProtocolWestlake Academy GREAT Teacher Profile At Westlake Academy the expectation is to move from ‘Good to Great’. This refers to the culture of ‘One School, Together’ and for all teachers to maintain and develop effective classroom instruction. 1. What are the contributing factors to a positive and constructive whole school culture? This will be based on the trusting professional relationships between teachers and administrators across the three IB Programmes. A positive and constructive whole school culture What does this look like at a whole school level? A shared understanding of the values and beliefs, attitudes, expectations and possess an emotional intelligence to develop respectful and professional relationships. A positive school culture is developed by faculty who: • Espouse the Vision, Mission and Values to guide the philosophy of the school • Model the IB Learner Profile and relate the traits in everyday lessons and actions • Expect high quality standards of themselves, peers and students • Develop intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships that care for the well-being of the organization and contribute to its success. Teachers seek opportunities to extend relationships with students through meaningful experiences. Contributes to student life in and out of school by: • Mentoring students in the Grade 6 Exhibition, Personal Project and Extended Essay. • Sponsoring student activities. • Coaching sports. • Chaperoning student events / trips. • Attending student events. • Assisting students in planning events. • Organizing school trips. • Engaging students in conversation. Teachers seek opportunities to extend relationships with parents through meaningful experiences. Effective communication channels are developed by faculty that foster and promote the following attributes: • Courageous with communications to parents to establish trusting partnerships in the education process. • Listen and respect parents as the first educator of their child. • Foster a positive environment where open proactive communication occurs. • Engage parents as key stakeholders in establishing an active learning community. • Create a plan of action and follow through with support. 2. What constitutes highly effective instruction? Great teachers are those that Engage, Motivate and “…inspire students to achieve their highest individual potential…” every day through Effective Instruction. Create a plan of action and follow through with support and guidance after meetings or communication with parents. Effective Instruction Examples of what this looks like in the classroom? Knows and clearly articulates the philosophy of the IB programmes and the subject matter taught. Justify and implement the teaching and learning philosophy of their respective IB programmes in planning, teaching practice, assessment and reporting Connects and engages students in the learning process and provide vitality, enjoyment and motivation to learn relevant and significant bodies of knowledge. Working with students and providing constructive feedback during class time. Students are on task and engaged in learning. Provides opportunities for students to apply thinking skills critically and creatively to recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions. Challenging students with higher level thinking skills with the support of the teacher and resources. Teaches to the needs of the class and not utilize the “one-size fits all” approach. Use differentiation strategies. Supports students who “struggle”, as well as those students who need extension. Utilize all resources, both human and material, to accomplish this. Accommodate students with Special Needs based on IEPs. Obtain help when needed from administration and support teachers. Articulates learning outcomes with a growth mindset prior to lessons being taught and assess according to these outcomes. Teacher states what is to be achieved for the lesson and reviews learning for students to clarify and question.. Plans, implements and reviews lessons that engage students with content, skills and values from the IB Programmes and Texas standards. Creates lessons that bring content to life with real world application. Effectively integrates instructional material, technology and other resources into lessons. Integrated use of planners that aligns learning outcomes, objectives, and TEKS with consistent use of rubrics. Uses formative and summative assessments to monitor student progress and achievement. Adapts instruction according to results. Allow students to make mistakes as part of the learning process. Advances or slows instruction as indicated by summative assessments. Life-long Learning Utilizes best practice research and approaches in pedagogy in order develop various approaches to teaching and learning. Innovate and implement next practices to transform learning for all in order to meet the needs of an ever- changing global society. WESTLAKE ACADEMY NEW HIRE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Name of Applicant: Position: Date: Panel: Introduction Take 2-3 minutes to tell us what you have done to prepare yourself to be an educator in an IB World School Section 1: A positive and constructive whole school culture 1. In what ways would you develop meaningful respectful and professional relationships within the school? Looking For: * Person would give specific examples of how they collaborate and have meaningful interpersonal relationships with teachers and administrators. * Demonstration of admiration for someone and examples given of how respect is gained. Comments 2. How would you contribute to student life? Looking For: * Candidate offers examples of after school activities, mentoring students and being student centered. Evidence should relate to aspects of academic, social and physical development of a child. Comments 3. Who are your stakeholders and how do you maintain effective communication with them? Looking For: * Identification of stakeholders, which are: students, parents, faculty and community. * The applicant should demonstrate a proactive stance with communication on e-mail, phone calls and face to face conferences. * Follow up communication should be a priority thru action plans are student centered. Section 2: Effective Instruction 4. Describe what you believe is an optimal IB Learning environment? (looks like, sounds like, etc) What is the educator doing? What are the learners doing? Looking For: * Candidates’ vision is in line with the Westlake Academy vision that fosters the IB learner profile attributes. * The candidate gives examples of how he or she models these attributes in the classroom and at all professional levels. * The educator is engaging students in a facilitated structured inquiry mode of instruction. Comments 5. Tell me about the approaches or techniques that work best for you in your teaching? Looking For: * Variety of approaches that incorporates differentiation techniques that will allow students to reach their full potential. Comments 6. Respond to the quote by Alvin Tofler, “The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those that cannot read or write, but those that cannot, learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Looking For: * The growth mindset is evident. Candidates show that they have kept up with progressive approaches and are continually growing as an educator thru varied methods. Some examples might include something the applicant read, information gained at a workshop, and an indication of on-going professional development. A perferred candidate would recommend “peer-coaching” within the growth mindset. Comments 7. How do you facilitate inquiry in the classroom? What do you understand about inquiry methods of learning? Looking For: * Candidate should mention themselves as a facilitator of knowledge and not a knowledge giver. They should mention that children are involved with the learning by a higher level questioning approach. Comments 8. How can individualization actually be practiced in the classroom? How would you put individualization into practice. How do you individualize so that children reach their highest individual potential. Looking For: * The applicant should display an awareness of the need to start with assessment data, needs and/or interests of students then they develop plans and activities to follow for instruction. Their should be clear evidence that you begin with the student first then the strategy follows. Comments 9. What do you see as the relationship between assessment and design (planning)? Looking For: * The teacher plans not with their end in mind but the students needs and interests. The candidate should answer with the response that they complement each other. Comments 10. If you were to change from a lesson planner to a lesson designer what would that look like? Looking For: * A teacher would demonstrate an understanding that children determine the plans for you. The candidate is not designing lesson plans for themselves but rather planning with the child in mind. The teacher would be student centered vs teacher centered. Planning is influenced by student needs and responses which creates the environment of students planning rather than teachers planning in isolation. Comments Do you have any questions for the panel? Steps for Employment Applicants at Westlake Academy 1. All applicants will be directed to the Region 11 AppliTrack website to fill out an application. No paper applications should be handed out or accepted at the school. 2. All Instructional applicants including aides and subs who meet the established selection criteria will be directed to the Gallup website for a teacher assessment. 3. Human Resources will send a copy of the score and application to campus leadership for review. 4. Administration will review applications and schedule their own interviews in Outlook. Although not attending, HR should be copied/invited to each scheduled interview so that HR can track candidate progression. 5. Initially, applicant will meet with Administration (Administration will scan and send notes to HR). 6. Applicants who succeed to the next phase will meet with the campus administration and interview panel. (Administration will scan and send notes to HR). 7. Principal will check references on qualified and/or recommended candidates and scan and send notes to HR. 8. Applicants who succeed to the next phase will meet with the Executive Principal. 9. Recommendation to hire will be made by Westlake Academy and HR will disposition the applicant according to feedback from the Administration. 10. HR will run a background and fingerprint check on selected candidates and either provide an offer letter based on our current Hiring Schedule or a letter of rejection. 11. After acceptance, each new hire will meet with the Human Resource Department prior to their first work day to review benefits and school policies. Town of Westlake/Westlake Academy Applicant Reference Check Form Date: __________________ Applicant: _________________________________ Reference Checked By: ____________________________________________________ Name of Reference: Company: Title: Phone: What was your relationship with the applicant? Did you directly supervise her/him? What was the applicant’s title? Dates of employment? Salary? What were the applicant’s major job duties? How well did the applicant relate to others on the job? How would you evaluate the applicant’s work quality and quantity (productivity)? What were some of the applicant’s strengths? In what areas did the applicant need improvement? How would you evaluate the applicant’s work habits such as attendance, punctuality, dependability, and observance of work rules? What was the applicant’s reason for leaving? Would you rehire the applicant (or is the applicant eligible for rehire)? Is there anything I haven’t asked about the applicant that I should be aware of?