Submitted the online application with essay and was automatically bumped to the final round. The final all day interview involved a 5 minute lesson with 1 minute of prep time (they literally time you to the second and will not allow you to go over). From there, we had a series of group activities to model how we work in a group. Finally, the day ended with a one on one interview that lasted anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. On the day that I interviewed, four of the ten applicants did not finish their lesson within the time frame. None of these applicants were admitted (even the applicant with a really engaging science lesson). One applicant had a lesson in which he lectured for the entire 5 minutes, he was also not admitted. The other 5 applicants (myself included) had lessons that were under time and involved some element of teacher modeling, grouping practice, and final assessment/closing. This is the basic structure of a lesson that you will be teaching should you be admitted. For this reason, make sure you create a lesson that is under time, practice it multiple times, and include instruction, practice, and assessment. For anyone that is wondering, I taught my group how to ask someone their name in Spanish and how to respond when someone asks your name. I included specific points on pronunciation and inflection.

The interview process lasted about an hour and a half. I provided a demo lesson plan, then reflected on a case study, and finally went over my resume and why I wanted to join Teach for America