Tell me about a time when someone gave you feedback and how you handled that.

Your professional development as a teacher depends on how well you receive and use feedback. A competent teacher is someone who is able to take in and pay attention to ideas from those around him in order to enhance both the effectiveness of his instruction and the rate at which students assimilate new information.

Think of an instance when you received feedback that was difficult to accept but eventually improved your performance at work. Tell about how you took it (hopefully with an open mind!) and how you changed it.

Example:

One of the instructors on my team at my previous school told me that kids there had been discussing how confused they felt following a recent math lecture. They were griping that I was moving too quickly. Receiving this critique was difficult since I had assumed that this class was content with my teaching approach and was learning a lot. I had to pay attention to it, though, I knew. In order to construct a color-coded card system throughout all of my classes—not just the one that complained—I did so.

Red, yellow, and green cards were given to each student, and I developed the practice of pausing every few minutes to ask for cards. Students would hold up red, yellow, or green cards depending on whether I needed to slow down or accelerate. I would make the necessary adjustments, and as I learned the ideal pace for each class, I gradually saw an increase in the number of yellow cards. Also, this allowed me to identify students who were consistently receiving red cards so that I could provide them with extra support or attention outside of class.