Teaching Panel Mock Interviews

Today in class I had another new experience!  My professor set up a panel where four of my peers played the role of administrators and the rest of us were potential teacher candidates looking for jobs.  We broke up into our fieldwork groups and the administrators would come around and ask us each questions.  Prior to breaking up into our groups the administrators sat in front of the classroom and introduced themselves.  They gave a brief introduction of themselves.  This included: their name, schooling, current job and work environment, and the open job position.  When we broke up into groups and the administrators came to our group some of them shook our hands, while others just sat down and got right to the questions.  It was set up as a group interview. One of the questions that I liked the most was one of the more thought provoking questions.  It was, if you could go back to any historic moment in history what would it be and why?  The reason I liked this question is because it was not just about teaching strategies, but at the same time you can tell a lot about a person by their answer.  You can tell what interests them or perhaps an issue that means a lot to them.  I was also somewhat surprised by how challenging some of the questions were.  While I was able to form answers for all of them, it was an eye opener at how much I should prepare before a real interview.  Overall I thought the experience was very beneficial.  I enjoyed being able to see how I would do in an interview without the pressure of actually attempting to get the job.  It was a worthwhile learning experience and I would definitely do it again.