gathering documents: preparing for an interview [part 2]

Here we are. The waiting game. Seriously, waiting 5 business days for an email is like waiting for Christmas when you are 7: IT TAKES AGES! There I sat after the interview on Sunday night and wondering, "hum, well...the fact of the matter is that I still had an interview even after absolutely messing up the time. Could be worse."

I waited. And waited. The first two days I was checking my email like a whack job, even though the the 14 hour time difference still exists! I love writing about this because it allows me to reflect on all of my craziness a couple of weeks later. I even set an alarm for my "business-y" email so I didn't miss anything.

I didn't.

As promised, I woke up on Friday morning to another email inviting me to a mock lesson interview. Another interview? I shouldn't be surprised, but in my defense this is the first time I have ever had to interview more than once. What can I say? I'm still a young adult. Anyway, I confirmed that I was interested and set up a time. SSBS sent me a worksheet about linking verbs and asked me to create a 40-minute lesson around it. Okay, cool. 

Wait, what are linking verbs? 

Linking verbs are rather simple. They connect the subject to the rest of the sentence. Am, were, was, is, and are all common linking verbs. Action verbs can be also be linking verbs: taste, grow, and smells, for example. 

Not too bad, but how to make a 40-minute lesson around this and make it interesting for a 4th grade audience? Well, enter Google. And my TEFL activities book. And talking. A lot of talking (admittedly mostly to myself to sort things out). I thought about it all of Friday during work and on Saturday morning I wrote my lesson plan and prepared the extra materials. I tried to keep it simpler just because I knew that I was going to teach over Skype. 

On Sunday night I got the time confirmation email and sent them my lesson plan and materials in preparation for my interview on Wednesday night. 

Enter the waiting period again. This time it wasn't as bad. LIES! I've never done a demo lesson before, so of course I was on Google and YouTube looking for ideas on how to handle it. Every company, every school is different, so it was hard to get a read on exactly what I could expect. I asked SSBS if I was going to do the entire lesson via Skype or just part of it. The response was that I would be expected to do all of it. Um, okay. This might be slightly awkward but I will make it work. 

Enter Wednesday night. I have everything ready and I am waiting on Skype. 7pm hits and I am watching for the call. 

Nothing. 

7:05pm.

5 minutes late isn't too bad, but still.

7:10pm. 

Okay, I am a little worried. Is there something I missed? Did I get the time wrong again? I check my email and no dice. I send a quick email letting them know that I am online. 

7:13pm.

I am online and trying to find a phone number. I find one and call it using some random Skype minutes that I got for free. I get a message in Chinese. I do speak Mandarin but I am rusty. The message was fast and I was trying to listen for numbers to see if there was something that I could press to talk to an actual person. It hung up on me. Obviously it was the wrong number. 

7:15pm.

I am sweating and freaking out inside, telling myself to calm down. I was so prepared, how could they do this to me! Freak out over. Regular breathing resumes. 

7:16pm.

A message! Olivia from my first interview pops up on Skype to let me know that something happened with the first teacher that was going to do the mock lesson and that another teacher will be on Skype shortly. 

Whew. 

7:18pm.

I get a call from an ABC (American-born Chinese) man named Scott who teaches in the high school at SSBS. He knows that it is my first demo lesson and tells me to dive in. I do. 

[I'll state for the record that it is terrifying and weird teaching a lesson over Skype in my room to a man pretending to be a class of posh Chinese 4th graders.]

It went well. There were curve balls thrown but I got through. There are several points on which I could drastically improve. Drastic, I tell you. We skip over the activities after I explain them to streamline the process. Overall the lesson took about 25 minutes. 

Done. Well, almost. Scott and I talk a bit after the lesson and I ask a few questions. Again, always have a few questions. 

We hang up with the promise of an email soon.

So, for those of you preparing for a demo lesson (and especially if that demo lesson is via Skype), here are a few pointers:

1. Prepare thoroughly. No matter if your demo lesson is going to be 10 minutes or 40 minutes, make sure that you are on top of it and are prepared.
2. Smile! Even when you get frustrated (which I promise will happen during the lesson), keep a smile on your face and press forward. No one likes a teacher with the grumps.
3. Practice beforehand. I went through my lesson at least a dozen times before the interview. I did it with my family and friends, too. It was nice to get feedback.
4. Relax. Life isn't perfect and guess what? You're lesson won't be perfect either. Try your best and stay calm.

But, all I will say: I am glad that the demo lesson is over. 

Whew.