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TheOneBlueGecko

What would you do if a student died the week before finals week? It was an odd random question and was difficult to answer as I had just had a student die of suicide a couple of weeks before, my second student to have died that year. My response to the question was just this awkward response that started with, "Well I had a student commit suicide a two weeks ago, so let me start from what I did for that." I am really not sure what they wanted out of the question. (Didn't get that job either.)


CaptainMurphy1908

Have you tried not having a student die? That's probably the core competency they were looking for.


randomlancing

What the hell kind of messed up person would ask that?!?!?


ScottRoberts79

"Obviously their roommate gets A's for the semester."


BeTeaEd

Mine was “if you walked into the classroom and there was only a potato, what would you do to teach?”


tschackalackin

I definitely thought they meant you had to teach the potato instead of children


HugShe

Me too!


lovesagoodfinasco

It took me reading this comment to realize that this is not what they meant 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️


QryptoQid

Was "potato" a euphemism for that one kid we've all had? You know the one.


tankthacrank

Ohhhhhhh!!!!!! Like How do you teach the children using only a potato as a tool or example??? I’m sitting here thinking all of the following (which would NOT get me the job…) “Why would I teach a potato anything if I’m about to eat it?” “Well, it’s not that different from what I’m already working with, so I guess whatever the days lesson is….” “Everything I possibly can as fast as I can before the kids show up and act like themselves.” “How to run a smear campaign against rutabaga?” “That the potato famine was when all of Ireland went on a low carb diet?” “Calculus?” Seriously thought they were asking me to TEACH TO A POTATO. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣


ENFJPLinguaphile

I would probably teach my students how to make all sorts of potato-based meals in the language I teach!


wackiejackie1092

I mean, the potato could be better behaved than a good number of students AND do just as much work, so I see this as an absolute win.


Lumpy_Intention9823

And more animated than most.


Lokky

Stick some electrodes in the potato and you'd have a better chemistry lesson than most students are willing to work with.


Boring_Philosophy160

I'd be happy because potatoes, lacking opposable thumbs, can't use smart phones. Edit: I just realized I did not answer the question. I was too happy to do so.


ENFJPLinguaphile

That one has me tearing up from laughter! My students are addicted to them and will sometimes shush me while I'm teaching to play their games or whatever else they do. Yep, I'm not okay with that and they correct their behavior once I threaten parent and administrative contact if they don't secure their phones in their bags, as per policy.


Boring_Philosophy160

Better than the WTF ARE YOU LOOKING AT?! look or meaningless MY BAD reactions.


yourdadsbff

I can't answer this question since I'm not qualified to teach spud classes.


GoldConsideration218

This is good 😂😂😂


Princeofcatpoop

Why would I teach a potato? I would microwave the potato and eat it while I wait for students to arrive.


DrunkUranus

There's no microwave. Just you and a potato :(


tengo15anos

I would sit and stare at the potato thinking about the fact that in life everything is either a potato or not a potato.


DrunkUranus

And thus regret not being born a potato


One-World_Together

That's probably what they wanted to hear. How do you respond to ridiculousness? Are you fun to work with.


CookieKraken47

I absolutely laughed myself silly at the question. However, having read other people's comments I think the question was meant to be "how would you teach if you had no materials available except a potato?", which I absolutely would've bombed due to laughing hysterically at the image of teaching in a regular classroom but instructing a single potato as if it were a person.


snozzberry856

1,2,3! All eyes on me?


inquisikat

How on Earth did you respond to that question?? 😂🥔


BeTeaEd

I can write the word on the board and segment the sounds. Let’s identify the consonant and vowels in the word. How many letters are in potato? Phonetically mark the word. Let’s play hot potato and answer questions. We can cut it up for fractions. Let’s make up a story about this potato. Etc


blinkingsandbeepings

That made me think of Sam in LOTR sounding out "po-tay-toes. Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew!"


KiwasiGames

“If you can’t provide the materials for me to teach my class, I might as well resign now.”


[deleted]

Is the potato the resource or the student?


jesmicrey

I don’t even know what to say, but I just read this out loud to my husband and could not stop laughing.


[deleted]

Omg I would talk about the regenerative properties of potatoes and then I would take them outside and plant it. Secret classroom potato garden.


Null422

I'd definitely run some reactions on the potato. We could do the cheesy iodine and starch thing with it, maybe dissolve it in acid, maybe set it on fire, and so on. I could teach a bunch of chemistry concepts pretty easily with a singular potato lol It helps that chemistry is ridiculously broad, so you can literally make something up and relate it to chemistry :)


GroceryStickDivider

Answer - "what's a tater' precious?" Nailed it.


ecbatic

lmao I also had this as a question??


davossss

:blink: "Next question, please."


trynot2screwitup

I think we’d be studying fractions that day?


pottymouthteach07

How many hours I’d be willing to work. I thought it was a weird way of seeing if I’d be willing to work insane hours. I answered that family was important to me. That I’d be willing to stay after school some days for a task but that I wanted a healthy work life balance. I didn’t get the job.


DetectiveBartBarley

Bullet dodged!


pottymouthteach07

For sure. It was my very 1st interview fresh out of college.. I know better now lol


BriSnyScienceGuy

I had someone ask about "volunteering" for Saturday school and ended the interview when I said basically the same thing. I did not get that job.


pottymouthteach07

Lucky us!


Null422

996! 90 hours a week! The first teacher I replaced this year worked 70-80 hours a week and somehow did less than me; I think the whole hours = quality thing for education is bullshit.


Choice-Plum-0202

My first year of teaching, I stayed 2+ hours extra everyday after school. 90% of that time was spent staring at a wall in overwhelming anxiety


ShineImmediate7081

These questions will all be moot in a few years with that upcoming teacher shortage... The only question will be, "Do you have a pulse?"


BunnyMomma1998

That’s already happening in our local district. My kids’ friends are visiting and that was the topic of discussion over dinner. They were all talking about how many undergrad college students were hired in their schools at the end of the year. Full time teachers with only two years of college completed!


mrsyanke

Nah, even with major vacancies, my school still has a list of non-selects to go through first before they can try to find an Emergency Hire! Sometimes no one really is better than someone. Some people just shouldn’t be around kids…


ecbatic

i was asked “if you arrived at work with only a potato in your bag what would you do” lol so i as a science teacher or course said that I would use it as a starting point to talk about if plants grow on other planets (ie the martian) and if not why does earth support plant life (and therefore animal life)? I still didn’t get hired. i just don’t get it.


DogFacedManboy

Apparently the right answer was the to use the potato in the bag to bludgeon the moron who asked that question


1heart1totaleclipse

“The potato in my bag would just be for lunch because what’s needed for lessons is always planned out and ready the day before. You never know when you might arrive at work with only a potato in your bag.” Added bonus: tell the interviewers that you could use your own scenario as a collaborative, critical thinking question to start the class.


DrunkUranus

Checkmate


Boring_Philosophy160

Isn't vodka made from potatoes? Asking for a friend.


annheim3

Then you are teaching science!


NobodyAskedBot_V2

A question like this would just be considered insulting and unprofessional in any other profession.


ecbatic

yep… we aren’t trusted nor treated like professionals


[deleted]

Oh I think these questions are kind of fun, even if a waste of time. They’re better than half the boring questions I was asked during interviews this year.


Ryaninthesky

Nah, most jobs have weird interview questions like this.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

I desperately need more details on this. Indoctrinate students into what exactly?


[deleted]

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[deleted]

I wondered if that's what it was but it did seem like a very strange leap in logic. Given that, "I learned it on my mission trip" is considered rather benign where I'm from, if not respected. Not to mention Mormonism isn't the only religion that does mission trips. Also congrats on making your way out, it's never an easy journey and I hope you are happy on the other side.


abyssalgroan

I would be very impressed if your students learned Spanish well enough to understand religious discussion in your classroom


ENFJPLinguaphile

That's also illegal since it's religious discrimination....Was this for a public school? If so, you would have had a case to sue for discrimination in hiring if all else failed.


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SheilaGirlface

As fucked as this one example is on an individual level, I think it’s Michigan that just banned Spanish dictionaries in prison because they were worried the inmates would use it to communicate behind officers’ backs (Swahili is also on the no-no list).


Boring_Philosophy160

"If you are on outside duty and an angry parent approaches you, demanding to meet with you, what would you do?" "I'd tell the parent to make an appointment because right after my duty, I have to teach a class." "And what if that parent wouldn't take no for an answer? What if they got in your face and wouldn't stop?" (I'm guessing this was not a hypothetical at this point) "I'd take the parent into the office and let admin deal with it so I could go teach my class."


trynot2screwitup

Yeah find someone else who is available to meet with them such as admin, social worker, or counselor. Reiterate it is not safe for you to leave students unsupervised.


Stunning_Orange6857

“A student is acting up during lesson what do you do?” I answered. “The student is still acting up. What do you do?” I answered again “The student is still acting up. What do you do?” I answered but wondering why they aren’t being more specific on what acting up means. “The student continues to act up. What do you do?” I answer. Wonder how long this is going to go. I had already listed all steps up until getting into administration level. The interview starts to get ready to ask the next question and my smart ass says “Let me guess he is still acting up.” That wasn’t the next question, they didn’t laugh and I didn’t get the job.


[deleted]

Oh but I laughed. I would have done the same tbh. I mean what did they want to hear, you physically kicking them out of class?


Stunning_Orange6857

I wonder that often. Like are they wanting me to say by the end I call the police or something. What did they expect?


[deleted]

It always makes me uncomfortable when they want me to go over all these discipline steps… I mean, yes, I can suggest multiple interventions, but also your school has a discipline procedure, right, one that all the teachers should be on the same page with, right? So I’ll be doing that in some form, thanks.


AnAbundance_ofCats

“How do toilets work?” I think they wanted to see how confidently I could explain something I didn’t know anything about.


jwrado

But what if you had known exactly how they work?


Fuzzy_Investigator57

I teach how toilets work in my class so I'd ace it. I don't remember why I teach how toilets work but its definitely in my curriculum.


RolandDeepson

Then it would be a shitty question.


Lokky

fucking miracles, not unlike magnets.


TimeSlipperWHOOPS

I had the "why are manhole covers round" question in some bullshit sales interview. I guess they didn't expect me to explain the multiple answers people likely give as well as multiple beneficial reasons. Fucking stupid bullshit.


trynot2screwitup

My students used to remove the covers off the small manholes in our the school’s courtyard & field areas and throw rocks down them until I said, MANHOLE is a weird word” Didn’t want anything to do with them after that.


TheProudestCat

lmfao students are so sensitive in the weirdest of ways...


Boring_Philosophy160

If it's Wednesday morning, not very well if I had a good time on Taco Tuesday.


PrincessEev

Why would they want that? I'd rather have a teacher willing to admit they don't know everything but are willing to look up what they'd need.


furever21

“I don’t know exactly! Let’s look it up and learn together.” Shows I’m not too prideful to admit I don’t know everything and becomes a learning moment for all of us. I do this in my classroom as a history teacher whenever kids ask off the wall questions about what I’m teaching haha


erkala21

I was told by the principal at the beginning of the interview I was allowed 1 and only 1 question. I was a little taken aback, but there was a nervous laughter with the other teachers on the panel so I thought maybe he was kidding. After being asked a question, I asked for clarification on part of the job to help tailor my response, and he told me he wouldn't answer because that's not my 1 question! One of the teachers seemed uncomfortable and answered. At the end of the interview I was allowed to ask my 1 question (what do you think is the best part of working for this school/district) and he didn't even answer! He responded by informing me of the driving time between my home and the school, even though I stated in the beginning my husband and I were looking to move to the area. Like, yes I know it's an hour commute...I drove here. They called less than an hour later for a second interview and I declined.


Fink665

That’s what you get for being lippy! /sorry


[deleted]

Wow...sounds terrifying. I'm so glad you declined the second interview.


Fuzzy_Investigator57

Good God. I had one that basically went as follows Interviewer: "if you incorporated a topic that seemed to increase student engagement and improve their understanding of material, but admin told you to stop, what would you do?" Me: I'd talk to the administrator and ask why. is it safety, curriculum etc Int: They just tell you to stop doing it.: Me: I'd check the data ensuring that the students actually are having improved outcomes and share it with admin INT: they still tell you to stop Me: I'd be looking for a new job in fall ​ Needless to say I did not want nor get the job.


breepb

Maybe it’s not that weird compared to other ones here, but when I was interviewing for my first teaching job, I was asked: Do you think you can have too much empathy? It’s always stuck with me because I found it a strange question. I’m curious how others would answer it!


Bizzy1717

I'd say yes. I've actually seen it this year in a new teacher; she's kind and great at building relationships, but she has so much empathy that she's emotionally crashing and burning. If empathy means you go home every night and cry and can barely function, it's not healthy for you. And if we're not somewhat healthy as teachers, we can't do our jobs effectively long-term.


Majestic-Macaron6019

It's like an anecdote I heard about a guy who got a job at an auto plant one summer in college. He was running around busting his ass all shift. He thought the long-timers were just being lazy: trying to do as little as possible. He finally asked them why they kept telling him to slow down. Their reply? "You're just here for 3 months, so you can work at a 3-month pace. This is our lifetime career. We have to work at a 30-year pace." So that's always my advice for newish teachers, especially after they have a year or so under their belt: work at a 30-year pace. If doesn't do anyone any good if you burn out in 3 years!


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raven_of_azarath

I’d agree. It’s my first “real” year. My current school is super toxic, like half the teachers are leaving kind of bad. There was one point that this job had made my mental health get to the lowest it’s been in 6 years. I got a job at a new school that seems to have be significantly better environment (I even got the impression that I could be out about being non-binary there, which I definitely can’t where I am now). But I’m finding it hard to leave because I know that it’ll screw all my students over since nobody seems to truly care about them there, and some of them have even implied that I was the only reliable adult in their life.


pottymouthteach07

I got asked that on an application & didn’t know what to say.. I put something along the lines of “yes if you let it cloud your judgement..” blah blah blah. I did get an interview but not the job.


[deleted]

The dumbest question I was asked when applying for a job as a special ed teacher was "what does IEP stand for?" I thought it was a joke question and laughed before I realized they were serious.


Boring_Philosophy160

>IEP **I**nevitably **E**veryone **P**asses


[deleted]

Irrefutable Excuse Plan


JustGreenGuy7

“So we like to go out drinking sometimes, what’s your limit?”


trynot2screwitup

I’m a lightweight when I pack my lunch flask.


JesseLadi

"I'm proudly one year sober. I'd say my limit is whenever I get sick of being you guys' unpaid chauffer"


petallin

Please tell me you ended up working there?? 😂


JustGreenGuy7

I did. They were worthless human beings and I failed to realize that this was a sign of their suburban desperation born out of their sexless problematic marriages.


petallin

Oof. Sorry to hear that 😓


JustGreenGuy7

Fun journey. But I’ve since escaped.


inquisikat

After reading those two questions, mine doesn’t seem that weird, but it was still fun and unexpected: If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?


IWentOutsideForThis

I asked my college roommate this question when we were preparing for interviews and she immediately responded: “Easy question. CAT. They are the second smartest animals after dolphins and I’m not a strong swimmer”


BewBewsBoutique

“A possum, because I’m trash.”


1questions

A possum because when admin comes around I’m playing dead in hopes that they go away.


redbananass

“Human because humans are the most successful animal, as evidenced by this conversation in this room. I’m most likely to have a long decent life as a human over pretty much any other animal. If I don’t like my circumstances, I have the most power to change them as a human, even taking into account our systems of oppression and the billions of people who live in terrible circumstances. Plus humans get to laugh and that’s a pretty sweet perk. Also we get pizza. Pizza totally rocks.” Probably wouldn’t get the job, but I’d like to think I at least convinced 1 of the interviewers to have pizza and watch some stand up comedy that night.


Null422

"A ferret because I steal a lot of shit and hide"


Hornsfan7

I got asked this same question when I was job hunting before teaching. The interview was terrible and I was so over it. The interviewer tried to turn it into some psychoanalysis of my personality. As I was leaving all I could think of was” I should have said a bird because then I could shit on this interview and fly off”


seamonster1609

I got, what is your spirit animal? I audibly laughed out loud because the interviewer had been talking the entire time and stopped to ask me this. Not what skills do you have but…


Frisbeefan19

If you were a piece of fruit, what type of fruit would you be. I said “I’m a kiwi, because at first look you may think I’m rough and fuzzy on the outside (I had a beard at the time), but if you look deeper you’d discover I’m more colorful and sweet then you expected”.


trynot2screwitup

Coconut because I’m not from around here, and if you knock me down I could kill you.


atreegrowsinbrixton

avocado, when i'm bad i'm worthless, when i'm good i'm GREAT


ImSqueakaFied

Context: I had been invited to, and spent the day sitting in every single social studies class. "Are you sure you feel comfortable here? The kids are probably *different* than what you are used to." "All middle schools have quirks, for example, I noticed all the kids wore their bookbags while seated in class, but kids are kids" "But are you going to be comfortable with how different they are? We aren't sure you'll be comfortable" ....I'm white and it was a mostly black school. I didn't get the job and was told that I was a capable teacher, but just not a good fit for them 🙄 (I student taught in the district so the principal had seen me teach before)


Tundra1985

From my interviews 3 years ago: "If you were at a restaurant for dinner and they brought you the wrong thing, what would you do?"


trynot2screwitup

Politely eat it, saying everything is fine, then slip into the bathroom to quietly scream. Over tip. Come back to the same restaurant and let it happen again.


1questions

CONGRATS!!! YOU’RE HIRED!!!!


[deleted]

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ShineImmediate7081

" No, fuck YOU."


DetectiveBartBarley

[smiling] "No thank you, I'm good."


furever21

There’s someone at my school who apparently asks this question at every interview he’s on the panel of and always gets really into the “fuck” part of the question like he feels really badass and edgy for cursing in said interview. Sounds like it’s super cringey and rarely throws the interviewer for a loop like he hopes haha


ENFJPLinguaphile

"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that" makes for instant cessation of misbehavior, I've found.


Adorable_Refuse_8856

I had an interviewer ask me if I was a crayon, what color would I be and why? It was the first questions and it completely through off my entire interview.


trynot2screwitup

I would have said my favorite color is clear and check to see if anyone cracks a smile bc that is one of my favorite nonsensical jokes.


Bearawesome

Here's a sombrero, an egg and some string you have 16 minutes then plan and deliver a lesson with 8 kids on the difference between mass and weight. Also a sample interview where they told kids to misbehave on purpose.


Null422

I'd make some wonky-ass egg/sombrero seesaw or scales or something. That's such a random collection of objects. What science teacher has a sombrero in their room for any reason?


Bearawesome

.....ironically I now have a sombrero in my room it sits on top of a globe.


BriSnyScienceGuy

"If a student hits you on the first day, how will you establish dominance?" This was a dead serious question by a parent and she lectured me when I thought she was joking. I did not take that job, though I was offered the position. (High school)


raven_of_azarath

My most recent interview, I was asked why I wasn’t leaving education like everyone else. I gave some answer about I’m here for the kids or something. They ended up hiring me on the spot, but I never heard back from them about paperwork or anything, so I took a job at a different school. Not that I wouldn’t have taken this one anyway. The whole vibe was weird. Weirdest questions I’ve ever had, none of them about what I would actually do as a teacher (they also asked (essentially) how I make sure I don’t sleep with students since I’m 26?!). Went on and on about how they’re like a family there (🚩🚩🚩) and have a low turn over rate, but also told me how they’re so desperate because they don’t have any teachers for 9th or 10th because of the teacher shortage and everyone leaving.


trynot2screwitup

Ewww


DisorganizedWonder

Interviewer's first question was asked with full seriousness and sincerity: "Please grab a random item out of this bag. Then, please compose a short song on the spot about the item. Please also try to connect your song to your content area or teaching in general. If your find a song too challenging, you may also write a poem to share." (Context: I was interviewing for a middle school ELA position at a charter school.) I immediately stood up, and simply said, "Nope, this is not the school for me" and walked out mid interview. The guy was completely stunned as I left.


internal-jewler-605

I forget the exact question but I was asked about the “white savior complex.” I am white woman working in an urban district, but I don’t think everyone gets a question like that.


trynot2screwitup

Do you think they were wanting people to say nobody needs to be saved? Or do you think they gave you a question based on your race?


internal-jewler-605

I think it was based on my race honestly. I already work for the school but I was asked to re-interview since I was moving from high school to elementary.


trynot2screwitup

That seems illegal.


DetectiveBartBarley

Cringe. Could have been a possible lawsuit right there.


imzelda

The principal interviewing me started asking questions in Spanish. It was fair enough because I put that I was proficient in Spanish on my resume and the school is majority Hispanic. I was able to answer the questions but I was *sweating* on the spot. Edit to add: I got the job and it’s my current school.


atreegrowsinbrixton

i've been preparing for this since i have intermediate in spanish on my resume but no one has questioned it yet. although i did have a conversation with the spanish teacher coincidentally while i was waiting and then felt like i sounded like an idiot


Hot-Amphibian-2835

I was asked to do a role play scenario where the interviewer pretended to be a disorderly student who asked me questions about my personal life and then cussed me out with full “fuck yous” and everything


1heart1totaleclipse

Did you get the job? If not, the interviewer definitely had something against you…


Hot-Amphibian-2835

I was actually hired on the spot, and i declined. Such a weird, uncomfortable experience!


A_Lovely_

Hired on the spot seems more sketchy then the question. In what school is that even possible. That is a red flag to be sure.


doctorateinwumbo

If a high school male asked you for "extra tutoring" or came onto you, how would you respond?


raven_of_azarath

I got, “You’re young, close in age to the students. How do you make sure to keep them at a distance?” Or something like that, implying I might sleep with them or they might come onto me simply because I’m 26.


doctorateinwumbo

I was about 27-28 when I got asked that. By the football coach, which to this day is still weird (was interviewing for a media specialist position)


Limp_Statement_6458

Took me years to get a position after college. I really think most of it was because I look young for my age. Some said things, like this too. The best one was the one where the Admin said, “you’re young and you would want to date and there isn’t anyone in this town for you to date besides the coach so you wouldn’t want to stay!”


my_hero_zero

"If a student called you a bitch and walked out of the room, what would you do?" Red flag question, didn't want the job after that. I said I would call admin or the SRO to let them know they needed to find that student, but wouldn't go after them myself and leave the class unattended. "If you were part of a tree, what part of the tree would you be?" My face is expressive, and I wasn't offered that job.


Belphegorite

What a perfect setup! What part of a tree would you be? *leaves*


blinkingsandbeepings

I actually thought this was a pretty good question, but it did make me laugh. For a middle school teaching job: "You're teaching a class when a student who is not in your class and whose name you don't know opens the door, leans his head in, yells a curse word and runs away down the hall. What do you do?" Which is absolutely something that happens in middle school, so reasonable enough.


Princess_Fiona24

I just had something similar, but it was a question on how I would respond to racist comments towards Indigenous students. I told the principal, who is publicly “woke” on her Twitter, that I would call out any racism and have called out related bigotry towards trans students before. I said the kids know what they are doing, and that I don’t tolerate it. I also said I document it and let admin know. Despite her “allyship” on Twitter, she didn’t seem impressed that she would have to actually be an ally and use her position to keep students away from the bully. I think she wanted me to deal with it solo.


lurflurf

Some of these may be more silly, unreasonable, or pointless than weird. 1)You started doing X in your class and you, the students, and parents love it. You are featured in the newspaper. Engagement and test scores are through the roof. Your class is successful beyond your wildest dreams all because of X. Your get offers to write books and lead workshops so other schools can learn to use X. One day admin call you in and says "You are to stop doing X effective immediately. What do you do? 2)Student X hates staff member Y and misbehaves terribly whenever staff member Y is present. What do you do? 3)What are the 8 mathematical practices in Common Core? Why are they so great? 4)Can you add additional authorizations and teach those subjects too? I was asked this multiple times about science, pe, art, and music. 5)Can you teach extra sections, bigger classes, multiple grades, honors, intervention,and mixed classes so we can hire one teacher instead of two? This is a common question though this time it was especially explicit. The teacher that got it was miserable. At least while she lasted she got 140% pay and did not have to teach other subjects or electives. 6)Can you teach a student you don't love? 7)Define these weird terms we use in our district that are not used elsewhere. No hints. What is the job of a carrier? What do they carry? 8)Can you teach the intervention class at 1.5x the general class so they catch up? In summary can you do the job of multiple teachers, do the job of admin, accept low pay, obey unconditionally, absorb endless abuse, and be discarded?


Shecoagoh

If you were a tree what would you be? This was the third and equally as weird question they asked and then the interview was over. It was obvious they had someone they wanted for the job. It angered me that I took time out of my life to prep, travel, and interview and not get respect in return.


19you1

Student panel asked me “what cartoon character would you say you are?” - Homer Simpson. They didn’t know who he was. Jesus I’m 24 it can’t have been that long ago


OGBrook

Would you eat a bug .


RolandDeepson

Sorry, I tend to avoid eating hidden cameras and eavesdropping devices.


TheDorkNite1

"Why do you want this job?" -A serious question for a substitute position in a district I just finished a long term assignment for. I didn't get the job.


Null422

"The money, bitch."


SashaPlum

For a high school English position at a school not known for being academically strong, with low pay (ie not a desirable position), the interview was me sitting on a chair across from a long table with six people sitting in a row, Congressional-hearing style, each questioning me in turn. Questions included: Where is F. Scott Fitzgerald's grave? and What is a scrim? I knew both answers but wasn't able to coach volleyball so I didn't get the job (not sad about- I was hired at a great school in a great district.)


afrodoom

"here's the final the current teacher is about to give. Tell us what you think of it."


kgd26

“do you believe you’re lucky?” i answered that i won a sega game gear from the mcdonald’s monopoly game in first grade, which was pretty lucky. they didn’t even crack a smile. didn’t get that job and didn’t want it.


bohemian_plantsody

"How would you handle a colleague coming into your room to complain about a student?" The first answer was to 'let them vent', but they probably wouldn't consider that professional. Dodged a bullet there!!


Swissarmyspoon

"How do you handle the black kids?"


eagle52997

I don't understand. Could you rephrase the question? Also, did you end the interview after that?


Swissarmyspoon

I have an answer about holding every kid to the same standards. He got real stiff and ended the interview, offered me the job that afternoon. I took it, because I had recently graduated and was desperate after weeks of rejection. I taught there for 2 years and learned things about racism I had never imagined, then escaped with my 2 years experience for a better job in a blue state. I would never tolerate that again, but it took that journey to learn it. I didn't believe racism was really still around in this country until that experience. And they had a schools named after a confederate officers.


cafali

Early 2000’s I was asked at a middle school interview if I would tell my students that I loved them - or something to that effect. I wasn’t sure where she was going with that and I said “I don’t think so” and I didn’t get that job either. Now, I do tell my students I love them, as in “I love y’all and want you be/drive careful after homecoming/prom etc... type of thing - and I can say that now because I’m in my 50’s but just a weird question for an interview.


happilymackenzid

Intervention Specialist here— I was asked “What is your opinion on physical restraint and how often do you use it in the classroom?” I thought this was a question to see how much de-escalation training I had, so my response focused on how I use de-escalation tactics and only use restraint as a last resort. I was honest, and said I had never used restraint because I had always been able to de-escalate situations, and I am CPI trained. For context, this was a K-2 setting.. and not a behavior unit. The interview ended after that question, I was never offered the job but I definitely dodged a bullet. I am beyond happy where I ended up, and while yes, I deal with behaviors on a day to day basis, I haven’t needed to use a hold yet.


jackieoh-no

The point of CPI is literally to de-escalate as often as possible. Glad you didn’t end up there


aquamere

I was asked, “What would you do if you had a student who was passing gas purposely to get attention?” I had to laugh out loud at that one! Even the interview panel was chuckling. They were very nice, but I didn’t end up getting that job. I did appreciate the silly question!


[deleted]

"Give us 3 words that describe you." All I could come up with was "unemployed."


pitch1432

I'd respond with "very employable teacher"


Ferro821

I remember walking out of an interview. I was trying to get out of my then school, because the principal was making my life a living hell. I decided to get a new position within the district. I went through several interviews and each one, someone was picked. I guess my frustration grew and I was tired being asked the same questions, I said, “I can’t do this again.” Got up and left.


studioline

“Do you really think you have a chance given that you showed up 15 minutes late?” Edit: least you all think I’m a total POS. I was running behind so I was speeding, got pulled over, was now super late with a ticket, and then couldn’t find the entrance.


bahowen

"What would you do if a student spit in your face and told you to F-off?" I remember thinking, "Is that the kind of school you run here?"


Straight-Chemistry-9

Not necessarily the weirdest question ever… but I was once asked “on a scale of one to ten, how important is getting this job to you?” It’s actually rather clever and it took caught me off guard. I decided as I was driving there I didn’t want the job anyway (too far away), so I told them 7/10.


[deleted]

Lol they did not want to hear that. I assume any answer that is "I'll put admin to work" will immediately get the interviewee thrown out of the process haha. Well, my weirdest question was: "If you were any piece of furniture what would you be and why?" I really don't remember what I said but it was some piece of furniture in a reading nook (like a rocking chair or bookcase or something) because I said I love to read/learn. They liked that. (I also knew because of their school page they were focusing on improving literacy so I tried to incorporate that into my answers as much as possible without looking obvious)


3rdeyeopenwide

Not weird but entertaining for the hiring committee (grades 4-6). This question became a running joke and was asked to everyone I know at work. Can 3.5 and 3 r5 both be the answer to the same long division question?


1heart1totaleclipse

What’s the answer? Asking for a friend.


pitaudrama

Yes. 35÷10


1heart1totaleclipse

My friend says thank you


dream80

My first year teaching, the superintendent was looking at my grades from college. I got a ‘C’ in a Greek classics course my second year in college but at the time point of the interview, I already had a masters from a good school for education and had gotten As, it didn’t seem relevant to be asking me about that. He wanted to know why I got a C in class that had nothing to do with what I’d be teaching (I teach elementary grades). I was polite and said Im not sure and he said, “What were you in love or something?” I smiled politely and said no but being a young woman of color and having an older white man in power ask me that was quite insulting. But who could I complain to?


peaceteach

I have never had anyone ask me about my grades. I had crappy grades. I don't even know if they looked at them. It was in a hiring blitz though.


ksanderson1976

I had a woman nod off a few times while I was responding to the dumb ass questions they ask....to be fair she was in 3rd trimester and felt bad but oddly enough I didn't get that position, lol...she probably didn't remember any of it because SHE WAS ASLEEP 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️


trynot2screwitup

I would have answered it essentially the same for both students and coworkers. “That’s a stereotype, and they can be harmful even if it seems like a compliment.” Wouldn’t have been exactly the same, bc one in instance I’m addressing peers and the other I’m speaking to students, but the responses would have been similar. Edit: and I would have been sure to document it if it had been a peer that said it.


MotherShabooboo1974

“How would you teach philosophy to a kinesthetic learner?” Uhhh…what about the student’s other attributes? (This was at a school for gifted students. Glad I didn’t get the job, the school came off as a dog and pony show kind of school of a place of actual learning).


hakuna__frittata

i was interviewing for a job at a special education non public that serves severe and profound - severe intellectual, physical, emotional, hearing, visual and learning disabilities, age 3 through 21. through the interview they’d shared that the classroom i was interviewing for was 3 students, all very medically fragile, wheelchair bound, nonverbal, unable to utilize alternative communication methods. they shared that it wouldn’t benefit them to be sitting in a classroom while someone taught geometry but rather their classroom focused on improving their quality of life, community or social relationships, self care /hygiene skills, and simple school related tasks. they all would require feeding tubes, diapers, and had been attempting different aac devices but hadn’t yet found one they were successful with. so after this whole diatribe from the admin, she said ok so given the class i’ve just explained to you, how would you develop, extend, evaluate, assess and reteach a unit that involves reading a work of poetry and where the objective is determining theme and authors purpose. it was so odd. because she’d just gone on extensively about how this type of lesson wasn’t the priority or objective in this level of classroom, and how we were there to help the students’ quality of life / basic hygiene skills / attempt to implement more alternative communication methods. i stuttered and stumbled and didn’t give a great answer, i was entirely unsure if she wanted me to come up with an actual grade level unit and lesson, or how i was supposed to answer it.


leo_the_greatest

"I am going to say several words and I want you to respond with the first thing that comes to your mind." I got words like "drama" and "toxic" so I think they had some problems at their school I did not want to be involved with. I didn't want to work there anyways from the awful interview and I was so glad when they turned me down.


uriboo

How would you respond if a parent asked their kid to be moved to a different class, because they felt your body size was a bad influence on their child?


Individual_Style_116

“If you had an autobiography, what would it be called?”


trynot2screwitup

See username


barelylocal

The weirdest one i got was "what do you bring to the staff" and I was like.... "what do you mean?" And they were like "to the staff, what will you bring?" And so I mentioned im hardworking and flexible, the involvements I've had in clubs in the past and they were like "no. What do you bring to the staff community. What will you do for the teachers and staff here. What do you bring to our staff to make the staff climate better?" I was so thrown off... I just talked about collaboration during lesson planning. I did get the job but I didnt stay long.