How to nail your interview lesson in 4 steps

That time has come: you have received the invitation and are now wandering on the Internet for the best interview lesson plan. You spend your nights with TES, Teachers Pay Teachers and coffee, but the more you download, the less confident you are. Let me stop you here (even if you are an NQT):

You are a qualified teacher. 

“I am a qualified teacher!” Say it aloud or write it down as it should become your mantra. 

What that means: You have observed numerous lessons and understood what kind of teacher you want to become. 

You have planned several lessons; some went well, others only a little. You know what could work and what doesn’t. More importantly, you know what it feels like to step into the arena. 

It is normal to doubt: you don’t know the students, their levels, or their enthusiasm for the subject. 

That said, it should be clear and well structured, giving a chance to the less and most able to achieve. But the lesson plan isn’t a big deal; you are a big deal. It is not the content that will impress your audience and the jury but the delivery. 

Here is how to nail your interview lesson and wow the head and the governors.  

Secret 1: Bring theatre into your classroom

A great actor doesn’t need props. He’ll make you see the invisible piano he is playing on and the invisible castle he is looking at. With his words and emotions, he will create a mental image you will be able to hook on.

There is traditional theatre, where the audience is passive from the safe distance of their chairs, and there is interactive theatre, where the audience may interact with the actors and participate in unraveling the play script—an immersive experience.
Picture yourself as a student, 6 lessons a day where you have to sit on a wooden chair. What would take your breath away?

Now picture yourself as a headteacher, observing interviewees doing their lessons, one after another. What would make him fall off his chair?

Interactive theatre is the direction you ought to take. 

As an actor, you cannot rely on the play script (in your case, the lesson plan and resources) but on his ability to make the content come alive and on his ability to improvise. 

Teach extravagantly and, at the end of the show, you will see the word encore in everyone’s eyes.

Secret 2: Entertain your class

Having fun is not about playing games but about being playful, and here is how to do it:

Use your body (jump, walk around, stomp, tiptoes).

Do use your facial expressions.

Do play with your voice. 

Do play with your words and their imagination. 

Try to use a combination of all the above to vivify your lesson. You may replace the word jump with a real leap as you speak. 

When suggesting discretion, walk silently like a cartoon character.

When asking a student to try again, not to give up, use the word surrender and kneel on the floor. 

When you hear an answer you were expecting, clench your fist and throw an unexpectedly loud and enthusiastic Yes!

One of my signature moves is the table slap. It often accompanies a Let’s go! and a Yes! This table slap’s main effects are waking the students up, getting their attention, and hurting my wrist. 

You probably heard that you have to fake it until you gain confidence. I don’t know about faking it, but planning it could help. When working on your lesson plan, look at it as your play script and note down your intended puns and jokes. Remember that as a teacher, you are the director and the actor, so feel free to make any changes.

Your lesson should be a play, and you should be the most ourstanding actor of all time. 

Secret 3: Engage the students

You are the show’s star, but with interactive theatre, the audience is at the center of the narrative and shapes the play. 5 to 10 minutes of independent work are enough. The rest of the time should be a ping-pong game of spoken and written interaction. Of course, you will ask simple and factual questions to break the ice and to warm them up, but you should evolve towards greater-depth questions. These are the ones that will have them interact qualitatively with each other and with you (thus allowing you to differentiate by outcome). During the process, impress the jury by showing how you subtly lead the students toward understanding and explaining concepts.

Engage the students in a verbal ping-pong match

Secret 4: Be ready to improvise

Remember, this is an interactive theatre. You have your play script, but the interaction with the audience will take you to divergent paths. 

The show must go on. Unless something serious happens, don’t turn your mock lesson into a behaviour management challenges. If you captivate the audience, there will be little space for mischief. That said, make a point that you have noticed when a student takes it too far. You can do it discreetly to keep the focus on you. But if you feel confident enough, you can also respectfully roast the disruptive child. They will often appreciate having the class’ attention and not being told of it. However, keep in mind that they might answer back, in which case you should be able to laugh at yourself. 

Be funny. A student asked to go to the toilets. Remind them to wash their hands when they are done. 

You accidentally sputtered? Remind the first row to come with an umbrella for the next class. 

Did someone repeat something that has already been said? Tell them that your grandmother does the same. 

Make them laugh regardless of age; they will love you for that. 

Soon enough, you will have your repertoire of improvised jokes ready to be shot on the right occasion. 

During my 2018 interview lesson on metaphors, I pointed at a student after asking a question. Just pointing or saying “you” didn’t feel right, so I decided that all the boys would be called Astyan and the girls Hayal (like the two characters of my PowerPoint). 

Your lesson will not be perfect. Everything goes differently than planned, and this is where you will make a difference. IT problem? Can’t the slides be displayed? Be the slides; like an actor, you need nothing but yourself.

Towards the end of that 2018 lesson, I was content with my performance and catastrophe! My phone rang; I had forgotten to turn it into flight mode. Improvisation rules, I picked it up, pressed the red button, and took it to my ear:

“Hello, Mum? I told you not to call me now; I am teaching. Yes, and they are all looking at me. No, I can’t say it now. Why? Because It is embarrassing. Ok, I love you. 

Feel Free to make any change to your lesson. As a teacher, you are the director and the actor, it is your show. 

To conclude, remember the 4 secrets for a successful interview lesson: Turn your classroom into a theatre, entertain, engage, and improvise.

Every teacher can plan a lesson and make power-points. But you don’t want to be a teacher, you want to be the teacher, and this comes with the magic touch. Become an entertainer, be prepared to improvise, and the lesson interview will be your grand entrance to the teaching world.