Today I was just informed that I was selected for a in-class interview, so I get to skip the phone interview, and I thought to return the favor to future Teach for America inquirers and post my own letter.
You should also know the questions they ask, which are:
* Why do you seek to join Teach For America?
* What would you hope to accomplish as a corps member?
* How would you determine your success as a corps member?
Here's my letter
To The Teach for America Selection Committee:
As a first generation immigrant to the United States and as the first college graduate in my family, I can attest to the importance of an education. I want to join Teach for America because I want to make a difference in the lives of the many children of our nation. With a diverse background, a passion for personal realization and a commitment to overcome the injustices in this world, I know I could succeed as a corps member.
Having been born and raised in Romania, and being 50 percent Roma (also known as Gypsies, an underprivileged segment of the population in Romania, who are strongly discriminated against), I learned early on in life that we are not born with equal opportunities, nor do we have equal access to resources. In spite of my scarce beginnings and due to encouraging, hard-working parents, I have been able to overcome many obstacles and pursue higher education in the United States. Improving the quality of teachers in this country is the most important ingredient in creating better students. As opposed to countries such as Romania, America has superior resources for creating an effective learning environment. For example the use of technology, quality textbooks and other materials provide instructors with the tools necessary to thrive. Teach for America is committed to producing quality teachers, a commitment which I would be privileged to help materialize.
As a corps member, I envision myself becoming not just a good teacher for my students, but also a source of direction, inspiration, and stability in a world that hasn’t been too responsive to their needs. Moving a person to action is probably one of the most difficult things to accomplish; moving 30 kids to action is even more difficult. However, as their instructor, I will take the time to get to know them individually, their weaknesses and strengths. I will praise them for their accomplishments and also help them turn their weaknesses into strengths by being patient and supportive. Outside of class I will continue working with the students’ families and seek ways to help them connect the classroom materials with the outside world. I know that it takes hard work, perseverance and mutual respect to succeed in this world, and I intend to emphasize these and other positive characteristics in the classroom.
The measure of my success in the classroom will be both an improved academic performance, as well as a development of personal character. True success will especially be measured in the years to come and in the choices my students will be making. I would hope that as a result of our interaction, my students would choose to be honest and hard-working individuals, who are committed to success.
I look forward to hearing back from you, and to further discussing how I can contribute to the Teach for America team and make a difference in the lives of children.
I decided to also include some details of the in-person interview, as some people have asked me about it. And although I wasn't selected as a Corps Member, this may still be helpful.
So here's my response to one such inquiry:
So I ended up skipping the phone interview, as you saw on my blog, but the in-person interview was in San Francisco, there were about 6 or 7 of us candidates.
They briefed us a bit on the format of the interview, we filled out some forms, and then each person taught the lesson in front of everyone else. You have a time limit, so try to stay within that. Also be nice and friendly with everyone else, don't view them as competition. You should also spend some time into finding the right thing you wanna teach, some were very unprepared and didn't come across as very impressive.
And even my lesson, I think it was too simplistic, I was teaching an elementary class a method to
remember how long words are spelled.
If you prepare a Science lesson it may be smarter, as I think that's an area they are in greater need,
that's just my guess though.
Following the lesson given to everyone, there is a one-on-one interview where they ask you why you wanna do this, and what would make you a good teacher. It's been a while so I may have left some important details out, but that's the gest of it.
Hope it helped you some, if you have further questions, let me know.
