For those of you who have done online video interviews, do they mind if you use notes that are typed up to help stay on track ? I get nervous and lose my train of thought, so I'd like to have some questions and answers typed from previous experiences.
Most of the interviews I have had with DoDDS were the same 7 questions (e.g. Why DoDDS?, Tell me about a successful lesson you did with planning, differentiation, assessment, Tell me about a time you had a challenging situation and how you dealt with it, Tell me etc).
I did have one SPED interview where they asked me about my experiences with an age/disability group specific to their school and how I would deal with certain situations.
1. Tell us about your background 2. Standards (Something about how you use standards) 3. Typical day in your class 4. How you use formatives and summatives 5. Your experience with PLCs 6. How you use technology 7. Why [your subject area]? 8. Something about how you use accommodations 9. Describe your experience with Common Core 10. Describe Continuous School Improvement 11. Whole Language approach 12. Something about team planning 13. How do you use data 14. What does a lesson plan look like
Telephone interviews aren't too bad. At least you only have one thing to worry about/focus on (as opposed to how do I look, what do I do with my hands, am I making enough eye contact, too much eye contact, etc.). It also lets you make and refer to notes which I would advise that you do.
They will likely be used to the process and will know what they are looking for. Do your best to focus on what they are asking. Answer the questions in a way that demonstrates your knowledge, experience and competency. Whenever possible try to project some level of flexibility and openness. DoDEA principals want great teachers, but they are also looking for people that can embrace change and will not be killing them with a thousand emails/complaints about every little thing once they are on the job. Many candidates with the right certs are very similar and "good fit" is sometimes the most important quality between them.
Also, expect a question about why DoDEA. Background with military, army brat, serving the mission, etc is better than want to travel, for the money, want an adventure, etc.
Current buzzwords for us include collaboration, using data to drive instruction, meaningful uses of technology, etc.
Hope this was helpful. Maybe someone else will post with more. Good luck to everyone!
"12SH of elementary education course work is required. Courses such as Methods of reading, math, science and language arts in Grade 4-6 is required."
I emailed HR for clarification, but they basically repeated everything already stated. My bachelor's degree covers Pre-kindergarten through 5th grade and my state certifications are Pre-K-6th grade, so I was a little confused why I wasn't qualified for those grade levels. Anyways! I did look into it more and I see that DoDEA does require grades 4-6 teacher to have course work in methods of teaching reading, math, language arts, and science.
So, I will need to take all 4 methods courses before I can become qualified? I'm currently working on obtaining my master's degree, so if anyone has experience taking these courses affordably, I'd love to know more!
teachandtravelThanks Icanread and haha. I totally understand the process may be a lot slower this year and that's totally fine (so much going on with the schools here as well). That's pretty good to here that PK and K could be useful.
IcanreadI was having trouble logging into DEERS to update my information so it could have been a system-wide problem. Apparently the servers are overloaded with everyone working from home so maybe that was contributing to the problem!
teachandtravelMy ultimate goal is to teach in the Pacific region, but I am very close to Ft. Bragg and wondered if it would be beneficial to add it to my application.
But, anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks between referral and interview request would not be that unusual. If you are seeing people posting about getting an interview for the exact same location and position as your referral, then maybe that should diminish your hopes/expectations a bit, but otherwise, hang in there and hope for the best (while preparing for the worst).
Some might suggest emailing t...See MoreWhen I was applying for Dodea, I received one referral in September and wasn't called for an interview until December. You don't know what could be going on behind the scenes that could delay interviewing. In addition, all the school closures worldwide are definitely going to be causing some delays in hiring.
Some might suggest emailing the principal since you have already received a referral, though nobody really knows if that is effective or not.
IcanreadSome people LOVE it and have been there many, many years. I would suggest doing some research online about PCSing/living in Korea. Check the weather, pollution, culture, anything else that is important to you.
Why is DoDEA hiring for all positions in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? It is an undesirable location? Why? Do they have a high turnover among staff? Or are they opening new schools?
hahaJust trying to make some sense of the promotion of choosing Cuba in EAS (which is basically all the USA Job ads amount to). Always a dangerous and/or fruitless pastime with the gov't, but I'm assuming there must be some reason for it, short of opening new schools (which doesn't seem like it is on the cards in the near future).