Job Discussion Forums

[lonneke]

Hi all!
Ok I am posting, yet again.

Anyway, I have a question about the AEON interviews. I am going to one in the next few weeks and I am stressing about this 5 minute lesson. Maybe I shouldn't be, but that's a moot point to be discussed later.
So what do they want? Orignality? Or someone who can speak clearly and comprehensibly? I am wondering because I don't know if I should knock myself out creating a totally new, orignal lesson plan, or it's better to go in with something maybe a little more mundane, that they may have seen before, but totally do it clearly and with perfect English. While I know that in theory, it should be done with both components, but that is theory and this is real life. So, for instance, when I go if someone else does a identical (or close to it) lesson as I, who gets picked? The one who did a better job "teaching?" Or the one who perhaps wasn't horrible, but could have done better, but had a totally kick butt lesson?

Also, for those who have attended an AEON meeting, how many people were there, as an estimate? I am wondering so I can at least feel like I know something and that something is familiar when I go. I understand that there are diffrent variables in place dictating how many people go, but is it like 100? 50? 30? 10? You (hopefully, through all this late night babble,) get my point.

So I went on the AEON website and they say they have separate apartments. Is there a way (if anyone knows) to get a roomate? I figure if I get picked and go I'd be in a new place, with little capacity in the language, all alone. Also, if they only have separate apartments, do they put you aside other AEON teachers as your neighbors? That at least would be better having someone else there feeling the same culture shock and possible alienation as you do.

Also, is anyone else going to the Denver AEON interviews? I am wondering because it might be cool to kinda get to know someone a little before. Just to have someone to laugh with.

Anyway, if you are reading this very sentence, thanks for reading my marathon post, you are a real trooper!

Any comments, suggestions, insight, experiences or just ramble will be greatly appreciated!

[Gordon]

I don't have any expereince with AEON interviews, but I think you're getting a little freaked out about the lesson and interview. Relax. I've hired people before, conducted classes on job interviews and I work in Japan so I have an idea what they are looking for:

Clear speech, not too fast. It is easy to talk fast when you are nervous. They will think about whether or not J-students will understand you.

Professionally dressed (shirt and tie, good dress shoes). Your appearance may be as important if not more, than how well you teach.

Confidence

Not a complicated lesson, you will teach low level students. Ask them what level your lesson should be geared for, if they haven't told you already. Go with something you are comfortable teaching.


More people can add to this list, I don't want to give away all the good tips.

[fizayded]

Like Gordon said, try not to be too worried about it. I took the Aeon interview (didn't get it). I just tried interviewing with GEOS and it went much better, then give you EXACTLY what they are looking for. I think they are looking for what many lesson plans would be

-fun and relevant
-student centered not teacher lecturing entire time
-be enthusiastic and confident
-have some good props/visuals
-and practice it before you do it! With a family member or friend will show you any potential weaknesses in your lesson plan or teaching style

My interview session there were only 4 of us. Maybe look up some teacher references online or from a library? Those are full of good ideas and pointers.

[Glenski]

This will help a little.

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=4544&highlight=aeon+interview

[Joannda]

Hey,
I agree completely with the other posters. Don't freak out about this, it's really not as bad as you think! Try to relax... The good thing is that they will start off with an orientation type session, so it allows you a bit of time to settle down, get your heart rate down and kinda peak over to see who else is there with you!

When I had my interview, there were about 10 of us, but they don't come here very often, so that may have been quite a lot... I've heard numbers between 2-10 so that's probably what you can expect.
The link Glenski posted is really helpful, those messages helped me prepare for my interview!

Like others have said, make your lesson relevant but fun. Try and get the students involved as much as possible, don't stand there talking down on them the whole 5-7 minutes. Try to bring in worksheets or similar, so they can work together in pairs or something. And give them positive feedback as you go!
Smile! That's really important! The students need to feel comfortable with you, if you don't appear friendly, they're going to be too scared to talk. (In real life that is, in your interview obviously the 'students' are the other people being interviewed). If you get hired, a big part of your job will be "lobby talk" as they call it, basically just having informal chats with students between classes, so it will be important that you are approachable and at least appear friendly and willing to talk.

It won't be possible to get a roommate when you live in an AEON appartment. They are single occupancy, and it is all outlined in your contract that there are to be no other people (and no pets) living in the apartment with you. Not sure about the whole neighbours thing. Depending on the city, you're bound to be fairly close to other foreigners though, and I'm sure that at the very least you'll meet up after work etc. In any case, you're likely to be the only new foreign teacher there as I think it's fairly unlikely to take on a lot of new people all at once...

Hope that helps you, good luck!

[mareesespieces]

Hi! I just had my interview with AEON last week and was worried about the lesson plan too. There were only 3 other people in my group interview and fortunately they all participated when I gave my lesson. I think you should keep your lesson plan simple. What they're really looking for is for you to get your students talking and to be encouraging. You can still be creative and original while keeping it simple. I'd also recommend practicing in front of at least one person. 5 minutes can go by really quickly or drag on. I went through my material too quickly and started to stall slightly just before the timer went off.

I had my individual interview the next day (since I flew in from out of town) and had to give an impromptu lesson based on one of their worksheets. They give you 10 minutes to identify the point of the lesson and figure out how to teach it. Then you give a 10 minute lesson to your interviewers (I had 2 of them). Afterwards they gave me feedback on how I did. They really stressed that your students should do most of the talking and to smile.

I ended up getting an offer from both NOVA and AEON and decided to accept AEON's offer because they told me when and where I was going.