Section Six:

Teacher Candidate Interview Video

Introduction

For this section of my portfolio, Section Six: Teacher Candidate Interview Video, I will

provide you with a link to my personal Weebly teacher website as well as a link to a mock

teacher interview. I first created this website for a course called Technology in the Elementary

Classroom in the Master of Science in Elementary Education at Medaille College. I have gained

so much experience from the creation of this website and have learned of the many benefits it

can have if used properly in the classroom. Once I have been hired as a professional teacher, my

website will be geared for my own personal classroom. As it is right now, my website is for a

potential classroom. The interview video will answer several questions that you may have for me

as a potential teaching candidate for your school or schoolboard. I will answer these questions

and I will showcase my technological skills by recording the interview using a scree cast video.

The video will showcase my past and present achievements. Creating this section of my portfolio

as well as the interview video has really allowed me to practice my planning skills as well as my

technological skills. Below I have provided you with a link to my Weebly website as well as a

link to the screen cast video http://mrcaseybhoward.weebly.com/

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cbXTrQ2UOx

Teacher Candidate Interview Questions and Responses

Developing the Teacher Candidate Interview Video was a great way to gain experience

of hearing myself speak through a potential interview process as well as preparing myself for the

questions that may arise in a future interview. It is extremely important to practice my answers to
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these questions because it allows me to reflect on my own experiences in the classroom; what I

can improve during an interview; as well as professional development. Below I have included

the transcript that I used during my interview video.

Transcript

- Aloha everyone! My name is Casey Bouillere-Howard and this is my Weebly website

that I did for my course Technology in the Elementary Classroom at Medaille College

as part of the Master of Science in Elementary Education program.

- Throughout the website I have provided information and resources for my future

classroom.

- I created the website as a way to communicate with parents and students after the school

day.

- This is a great way to make sure that everyone stays current with what is going on in our

classroom.

- As you browse through my Weebly website you will be able to go through the different

tabs and view the different artifacts that I have created that showcase my skill in

planning, instruction, assessment and curriculum alignment.

- As you can see, the tab after my home page you will notice my portfolio. Within this, you

will find information about my background and experience, artifacts that I have created,

curriculum and standard alignments, as well as the reflection I have done while

completing my Master of Science in Elementary Education at Medaille College.

- I will now bring you to a power point presentation to answer questions that you may have

for me.
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1. Again, my name is Casey Bouillere-Howard, and to answer your question of

Briefly share a little about your background experiences that have led you to

choose a career in education?

First my educational background

- I began my earliest education at cole lmentaire Catholique St. Marguerite Bourgeoys

in Brantford, Ontario.

- I was enrolled in an all French school because my mom is from Lyon, France and wanted

me to continue to speak French and learn the language.

- I grew up speaking both French and English at home because my dad could only speak

English.

- I didnt know it at the time, but being bilingual, I was acquiring something that was going

to be valuable to me for the rest of my life.

- Learning a second language and being bilingual, I gained extremely beneficial language

and career experience early in my childhood and moving forward in life and education,

especially living in an officially bilingual Province like Ontario and Canada, whose

official second language is French.

- Following elementary school, I moved on to Assumption College School, a Catholic

secondary school in Brantford, Ontario. Where I graduated as an Ontario Scholar.

- Looking back on my French education, learning a second language has given me an

invaluable skill and sets me apart from others when applying for a job regardless of what

field its in.

- Next stop, college and university.

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- I have had a unique post-secondary educational career. I have gone to three different

post-secondary schools, 2 on full scholarships and one not, all because of baseball. I

began in Tennessee at Roane State Community College in 2011, played for two years and

transferred to Missouri Baptist University where I played for one year, and finally

finished up with two years at the University of Guelph.

- I played baseball in the states with a dream of becoming a professional baseball players.

It wasnt until I sustained an injury that I began to realize that this dream may no longer

happen.

- After my surgery, I helped work with younger children on their pitching fundamentals.

My head coach was so enthralled by how well I worked with children and how well they

responded to me. He was the first person that suggested I become a teacher and was one

of my biggest supporters.

- I consider my baseball injury a blessing in disguise. Its a blessing because it allowed me

to a greater understanding and appreciation of the importance of education. It gave me

the opportunity to start coaching and share my knowledge of the game with children who

also love the game.

- While coaching, I began to realize that I really loved teaching children what I know. I

loved seeing the look on their faces when what I was trying to teach them finally

clicked, the fantastic ah-ha moment. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a

child have a breakthrough moment with something they have been struggling with for a

while.

- Baseball has given everything to me. Playing baseball in university while going to class

full time provided me with skills that I will have for the rest of my life. Balancing both
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my education and my commitments to baseball was full of fun academic challenges that I

had never experienced before. Because of this I learned great time management and

organizational skills, as well as invaluable teamwork and leadership skills. Like my coach

always preached, Baseball is 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental. Skill alone will

only get you so far, having a good work ethic and a strong mind will set you up to be

successful.

My Professional Background

- I have a vast array of diverse work experiences varying from a canoe/kayak instructor

and river guide to serving and bartending. Working as a canoe/kayak instructor and river

guide, I personally experienced how great leadership/guidance and solid teaching skills

can greatly aid in the molding and evolution of children.

- In my third year at the University of Guelph, I started tutoring in French.

- To this day I still tutor French to a couple of children.

- Throughout my school, work and life experiences, I have learned so much about myself

and about how much knowledge, guidance and patience (especially patience), are

essential tools for teaching children the educational and life skills they will need to

succeed.

2. As it pertains to your second question, What have I learned in your teacher

training program that will make you an excellent classroom teacher?

- Throughout my time at Medaille College, I have learned several successful skills in their

Master of Science in Elementary Education program.

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- I have learned the importance:

o Short and long-term planning, such as lesson plans and unit plans.

o Instruction - I learned how to instruct lessons, as Medaille College gives many

opportunities to conduct mock lessons that we planned to get sense of what its

like to be in front of students as well as learning how to build a rapport with

students and engage students with examples from their everyday lives.

o Pre-and post-assessments

o Learner accommodations

o Culturally responsive teaching

o Classroom management

o Professional collaboration

o Professional development.

o And the different technologies I can utilize in the classroom

- Along with this, I have also learned:

o Educational theory

o Educational best practices

o Educational pedagogy

o And how to be able to incorporate these into my lessons and classroom.

3. For the third question, I will be showing you an example of one of the lesson plans I

taught.

- The lesson I have elected to show you today is my Grade 5 Science Engineering Design

lesson.

- In that lesson, I incorporated Science and English Language Arts Curriculum Standards
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- In this lesson, I incorporated technology by showing the students a video of engineering

fails

- This lesson worked out very well as it was engaging for the students, it was hands on and

the students learned about Engineering Design by building a tower made of only straws

and tape that had to hold a cup of water for at least 30 seconds.

- Students were engaged and motivated to participate because the lesson was hands on and

they were allowed to explore and experiment with different types of structures using the

materials they were given and they could bounce ideas off of each other in order to build

their structure.

4. To answer the fourth question, my knowledge of current trends in education will

inform me as an educator in your district or schoolboard because:

- I believe that education is constantly changing field and it is extremely important for

teachers to stay current.

- Because todays society is becoming more and more digital. It is important to incorporate

technology into our classrooms and into our lesson in order to be educate our students

about being safe digital citizens as well as preparing them for our digital world.

- Some of the technology we can use in the classroom are:

o SMART Boards

o Educational apps

o And IPads just to name a few.

- Incorporating Daily physical activity and active brain breaks is a great way to keep our

students active and their minds fresh with a short break.

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- I have also noticed Nutritional breaks and healthy snack programs by allowing the

students to eat smaller meals throughout the day to keep them energized and well

nourished.

- Culturally Responsive teaching

5. Ultimately, why should you hire me?

- First off, I am able to easily and efficiently incorporate technology into my lessons and

into my classroom, to keep students engaged and motivated.

- I have the ability and experience to plan, instruct the unique learning styles in the

classroom.

- I have a strong work ethic.

- I have great rapport with students, parents and peers.

- And Finally, I am a caring, motivated, hard-working, team-leader, bilingual speaking,

male, elementary teacher. And I believe we need more male role models in our

elementary classrooms today.

Conclusion

Using screen cast to record the teacher candidate interview video was a fun and

invigorating way to finish my MSED portfolio project. The teacher candidate interview video

highlights areas of teacher candidate abilities for planning, instructing, technology, best teaching

practices, curriculum standards, and professional collaboration. Section Six of the MSED

portfolio project has also allowed me practice my answers to questions that I may face during an

interview for a role as a professional teacher. The questions, along with the screen cast video
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allowed me to showcase my Weebly teacher website which will serve as a fantastic educational

tool for my future classroom.

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