I had my NQT singing off interview today. I passed, the interview was cut short by me having to go and actually teach a lesson.

Have learned many things this year, mostly things not to do, will apply them next year. Next year will be better, I know what I’m supposed to be doing now!

Keep reading…

Last night I set out to write a world class lesson plan for my interview today. Something different, something useful, something that shows I can make kids remember things.

Hmm… well group work goes down well, they can find me information about parts of operating systems, different types of GUIs. They can do a few past exam questions. We’ll discuss it at the end. Yeah.

Or with some modification I can take my laptop running Linux in, show them that and actually demonstrate the difference between a GUI, CLI and a menu based interface. We can then compare and contrast Windows and Linux, GUIs and command lines. Do a few questions and explain what the examiners are looking for. Even better, bonus points for doing something different.

So I set off at 6:15 - never arriving late to an interview ever again, I was due there at eight. I obviously arrived at 7:15, bang on the target time Google said. Oh well, half an hour of web browsing on my N800 helped to pass the time. And then in I went.

Laptop was connected to projector. Laptop didn’t like the projector. X config file was edited and the projector behaved itself. Then my USB drive didn’t like the school’s computer until a real teacher logged in. Right, objectives are on the board, lesson plan is on the desk. I know what I’m doing, I know who I am… go go go!

And the lesson went well, even with two people doing proper formal observations of me. The kids sat there in complete non-comprehension about GUIs. They couldn’t even tell me what kind of user interface Windows was.

Right… I see a problem here, can I fix it? Can I get the kids to at least recognise a GUI when they see one?

Well yeah, I can. It took an hour and a lot of repetition, and examples. Being able to boot my laptop and show them a real, live CLI was useful.

The lesson ended and I was given to the IT techies for a while with the comment of “he’s technical too, tell him about this place’s computers”. They have site-wide wireless networking with roaming capabilities, staff laptops, a new tape loader that isn’t working properly and people who ring up and moan about their pc not working. They aren’t BOFHs, give IT teachers higher privileges than regular teachers, and generally aren’t afraid to show off their system.

Eventually the school remembered I existed and asked me into another interview. This one was full of people very high up the school foodchain. I’m fairly sure there was a governor there too. We had a talk, I had more tea. They offered me the job, I took the job and signed some contracts.

Yeah, I got it I start in September.

So it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

University want me to talk to the rest of the ICT trainees about interviews and getting a job since I’m supposedly the first person to do so. That’ll be another odd experience on Monday.

There I was, teaching year 12s about system testing and explaining the fineries of how to install stuff in PCs when my pocket vibrates. Being in the middle of my lesson, with a hand inside a PC I let the thing continue buzzing away in my pocket. “Yeah, that bit is the CPU, it goes in there… no, other way up” *bzzzzt* “and this is a graphics card, stick it in one of those slots there…” *bzzzt*

It was voicemail. Voicemail from a school I had applied to. They wanted to interview me. Heh, join the queue as I have an interview tomorrow and Wednesday. I can probably fit you in sometime on Thursday or Friday, right after planning my lessons, writing an assignment that’s due in on Monday and curing 3rd World Hunger.

How things change with a phonecall. The principal said he was very interested in my application and wanted to see me today, as soon as possible. Err… right… today… there’s short notice, and there’s turning up as quickly as possible. Fortunately I don’t teach Monday afternoons so after a quick chat with my mentor, something to eat and a quick go with Google Maps I knew where I was going and set off.

There was only me there. No other people being interviewed, it was strange. Lots of friendly staff who showed me around the school and lead me around more computer rooms than I’ve seen in one building before - every room I went in had at least five. Then the interview, which was also different there was the principal, assistant principal and the head of ICT. We had an “informal” interview which cunningly asked all the same questions as every other interview, but in a much better way. Being able to have a cup of tea in an interview makes a difference.

And then the day got just about as bizarre as it could without breaking the laws of reality. Really, it was one step away from monkeys flying past the windows. I was asked to come back on Tuesday to teach a lesson, which posed a slight clash with another interview. I was then told in no uncertain words “There’s a stack of applications over there that I’ve not even looked at. You’re in a shortlist of one, now what do you say?”. Well duh… “Yes, I have no problem at all coming back tomorrow. What time?”. Possible job by Tuesday vs a long drive to Rotherham for a standard tedious day of being interviewed? Hard choice.

I was given a year 11 revision class on Operating Systems to teach, and a revision guide to look at. More tea was applied and I was shown back to the reception, head all a blur.

So tomorrow then…

Well I went to my second interview and it went better than the last one. They still didn’t pick me though. The feedback given was more useful than the first though, they said in my lesson I should have given them more varied work, and that in the interview I needed to say more about the role of a form tutor. Apparently they’re a source of monitoring and progress, not just the pastoral stuff. Oh, and my skills in Excel weren’t that strong supposedly.

My god, working out what they find important is like trying to guess the lottery numbers! This school is evidently mad about monitoring the kids, and they use Excel quite a lot. Bit rubbish they placed such emphasis on MS Office since Excel’s not that hard to use and would only take me a few minutes to learn.

Anyway, it’s a handy tip for my future lessons and then some background waffle. Not knowing Excel or not knowing the “proper” role of a form tutor aren’t really the reasons I didn’t get the job, are they? The real thing they must have picked out was the way I did the lesson. Still, when your entire lesson brief is “teach spreadsheet manipulation to year 11s” it’s quite vague and hard to plan for.

It would be a big help if the school actually provided some background knowledge about the students.

I’ll get there. There were two others from my course and someone from Bradford. It really unnerves people when you tell them you’ve had an interview before, and there’s this strange air of “good luck, but not too much… if you get my meaning” as people disappear off to be interviewed.

Such a strange experience.

Hey hey! Who wants a lesson in how to make a really crap first impression?

Step 1 - get lost going to the interview
Step 2 - arrive 15 minutes late

I knew where I was going, the only drawback being it was dark when I tested the route, and daylight when I actually had to do it for real, so that wrong turning I took without noticing really threw me.

… as did the level crossing that I got stuck at for ten minutes waiting for the train.

The interview actually went alright after that. The lesson I taught was the most contrived and artificial thing ever. The kids could have been rubber dummies for all the impact they made. It was like teaching a group of zombies, they were so… silent and compliant. I have never, ever had a group of kids where I can just say “log in and load Word” and immediately see 25 hands grab mice and do exactly what I wanted. I had my usual second line of “sometime today would be nice, get that webmail turned off Right Now!” all queued up and ready.

I didn’t get it though. They didn’t provide a very meaningful reason why either. Supposedly I didn’t stick out enough to leave a lasting impression or something. I don’t know, I think it just boiled down to “you’re fine and all, but just not quite what we’re after”.

Against me were two qualified teachers and another trainee. Fortunately they gave it to the other trainee. The other two teachers didn’t really deserve the post - they have jobs and only wanted this to make their journeys to work easier, it wasn’t promotion and head teachers don’t like people moving sideways.

Another interview on Monday… this one looks a bit more “interesting”. For a start the school has a 40% pass rate for the exams, and I have to teach a 60 minute lesson which is excellent. 20 minutes is just stupid, 60 is much better.

Stay tuned

This is proving to be very odd…

Last week I sent off several job application forms to various schools that sounded half interesting.

I have an interview on Tuesday, and have just been rung up - about five minutes ago, by another school wanting to interview me a week on Monday.

Not only is it quite odd being called on a Sunday evening, but it was the assistant head teacher, and not some random office minion. The mind boggles…

Let’s see how it goes

Now, the really weird part of applying for a teaching job is that they ask you, there an then on the day whether you want the job or not. You can’t go home and give it a few days, they just flat out ask “Do you want this job?”.

Well it’s nice to know that if anything I have the ability to write an interesting looking application letter

I’ve received some forms and things from Huddersfield Uni. I had to fill out a health form to say I wasn’t ill or insane and then post it back to them.

Once that’s done they should hopefully send me a letter confirming I have a place on their course.

Fun

The shop is very boring and quiet. I painted white lines on the stairs this week. Watching the paint dry was the most excitement I had all week.

I went to my interview. It wasn’t that bad. We were given a shedload of paperwork to fill in to keep us busy while they performed group interviews and personal ones.

The group one consisted of standing in front of a small group of other potential candidates and explaining what you thought the qualities were that a good teacher had. The personal interview was quite in-depth, with the person who would be my tutor examining and questioning random things from my application.

He said I’d be well suited to being a teacher, but the decision isn’t entirely his to make so I now have to wait for official confirmation.

Prior to the interview I went to my dad’s school to see what it was like. It was pretty much how I remember school being, only newer technology and more interesting things to teach them. I was also shown around the various server rooms by the main IT technician, which was fun

Huddersfield Uni want to interview me for the teacher training course they’re running next year. The interview will last all morning and consist of a private interview, a group one and some written tasks. I bet it won’t be as interesting as the interview for Newlands, it doesn’t seem to be a requirement that trainee teachers can jump into cold water. I’ll have to wake my brain up from where ever it’s been hiding for the past three years. Need to get some clothes too.

Went for an interview at Cotswold on Thursday. It seemed a rather short interview, being more of a twenty minute chat than anything involved. They said they’d give me a call early this week to let me know the outcome.

After doing some equipment checks this morning, I came to my small green shed and found a voicemail. It was one of the people who’d interviewed me asking to phone back. This is one of those silly situations where the outcome could be good, could be not so good. Part of me wanted to phone, the other part didn’t, which is stupid since I have to phone to find out the result!

I went off to make some beds to calm my brain down enough to hold a phone conversation with a potential employer. It’s silly, I can take a bunch of people I don’t know off for a day’s walk. I can do a job interview without any great problems. Leave me waiting three days to hear the outcome of said interview and I start to try and work out a contingency plan should they not want to employ me.

Then I had to wait for my phone to sieve the Orange phone signal out of the air. Phoned the store, asked for the person and… got the job. See, how silly was all that fretting and worrying! Perhaps I should listen to my own advice that I tell other people.

I begin on the 3rd of October. I stop working here on the 2nd of October. I then begin working here again “sometime in March”. So work is arranged now until this time next year. Wonder what I’ll be doing then.

If the weather isn’t cack, I’m supposed to be going to Scotland next Monday to do Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis with Paul. If the weather is alright, but it starts to go bad in Glen Coe we’re going to do the Aonach Eagach Ridge or something else in Glen Coe. If we arrive in Fort William and it starts to look nasty we’ll do some low-level climbing. If we get to the CIC hut and in the morning it begins to go bad, we’ll go down the tourist track and do something low level. If we discover it raining here before we even set off, we won’t go. If we get to the top and it’s clear enough, we’re going down the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. If it’s manky we’re going down Gully 3, and if it’s really really really manky we’re going down the tourist path.

Oh, and if it starts off OK, but half way up the route the weather closes in, we’ll go “aww shit” and either persevere until fear prevents onward travel, or we’ll find some way off. Some way not involving a team of men from Fort William or the big yellow helicopter.

Barring cars falling apart, aliens abducting us, or something else we’ve not thought of, we’ve got enough plans to do something And then I’m going to see about visiting Angus.