To Have My Ph.D. For One Night

Sometimes its great to pretend.  I got to be a doctor for a couple of hours and it was a lot of fun.  I was giving the task of designing a person who runs a school and is looking to hire new teachers.  My school was based on social/cooperative and inquiry based learning.  I then had to create questions to ask the teacher-candidates in a mock job interview.  At the end of the interviews we got to hire who we thought was the best fit for our school.

Good Evening everyone.  My name is Dr. Corrigan and I am the principle of Imagination Elementary School.  I have been in the world of education for almost 35 years.  In the years leading up to becoming a teacher and principal I obtained a bachelor degree in Psychology and then received a masters in Elementary education from Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh.   I then went on to teach in a 1st grade classroom for 15 years, I then returned to school.  I received my Ph.D. in special education leadership from Capella University. Upon receiving my Ph.D. I opened up the very school I work in now.

Imagination Elementary School is base on three principal ideals.  These ideals are exploration, imagination, and teamwork.  Teachers at my school must be able to use methods of exploration learning and group work.


The Questions I created to test the possible teachers knowledge on inquiry and cooperative learning were:

1. (Ice-Breaker) What is your favorite book to read to your class? Why?
2. During a cooperative lesson Mrs. May notices that in one group only one student is doing the work.  How can Mrs. May restore the group to a positive and productive working group?
3. During a cooperative lesson Mrs. May notices that in one group all three students are working individually and not as one whole unit.  How can Mrs. May encourage the group to work in a positive and productive manner? 
4. Within our school we feel the need to allow students to explore their world and come to their own conclusion.  What are some methods a teacher can use the allow this within the classroom?
5. Students have many questions about the information that is given to them in class. How can a teacher encourage a student to expand their knowledge through exploration.
6. Mr. Smith's classroom is set up in 4 rows of 5.  He is realizing that this set up is not working for the cooperative work the class is doing.  How can Mr. Smith make his classroom more cooperative work friendly?
7. Mrs. Sunshine wants to allow students more areas in the classroom to do their own exploration.  What can Mrs. Sunshine do in her classroom to allow the students to work independently (on their own)?