Quiz Teachers Skills Quiz Welcome to the Teachers Skills Quiz This Quiz is an inspiration tool for building skills. The quiz consists of 20 questions with 1 question per page. All questions are categorized into 4 different categories: How to become a Team builder How to become a Leader How to become an Influencer How to foster social awareness The description in the Portfolio part gives detailed information on how to obtain these skills and links to further information in the sourcebook at the end of the Skills portfolio. You will be able to focus on either one or two different skills or you can focus on them all. At the end of the Quiz you will immediately receive your results. Please click NEXT to start the quiz. You are starting to prepare the next student mobility exchange with a new partner school abroad. The partnership was just announced however the application procedure still needs to be developed. You are receiving emails from parents and students that want to secure one of the limited spots. How will you handle the situation? You sit down and try to answer each call and email individually. You explain again and again that the cooperation was just formed. You include links and brochures trying to provide enough information for the parents and students to read for the time being. You schedule a meeting with your colleagues to develop a step-by-step process. Together, you set a date for an information evening with parents. After talking with your colleagues, you send a newsletter to all parents with the date and time of the information evening. You also invite your partner school to the meeting to jointly confirm all steps. You present all information at the information evening. You are overwhelmed by the questions and inform parents and students that you don’t have enough information now and write that information will follow as soon as you know. The emails and calls are challenging and too many for you. You ask a colleague for support. Together you make a step-by-step list and ask your partner school to confirm. You both decide to compile all information in a newsletter and you set a date for the newsletter to be sent to all parents. There are so many different questions that you start listing them all. You then send all the questions to your partner school for them to answer first. You discuss via email until you come up with a joint plan. You check with your colleagues and prepare a newsletter for the parents and students. None At a teachers conference the school director asks all teachers to prepare a joint project week for the end of the school year on the topic of environmental sustainability. The goal is to educate students about the environment and teach them how to live in an environmentally friendly way and include sustainability in everyday life. What are you going to do? I am not familiar with the topic of environmental sustainability although I know it is important. However, I will let other colleagues take the lead and maybe get involved if they ask for my support. I will focus on teaching my subjects and arrange class activities up until the project week starts. Environmental sustainability and how to live eco-friendly is a topic I enjoy. I jump on the opportunity to take on the organization of the project week and tell everyone my ideas. It is great that the topic fits my interests and I am good at organizing and I can ask colleagues for support if I need it. I am personally interested in the topic and see it as a great learning opportunity for the students. Looking at my colleagues, some of them seem to be interested as well. I suggest that everyone interested gets together soon and exchanges ideas. Together we can develop a plan and divide the tasks. As I enjoy organizing events, I volunteer to coordinate the next steps. The topic is very interesting but I am not really comfortable in organizing events myself. I prefer to let colleagues take over the coordination of the project week but ask where I can help and support the team. I have some ideas and contacts that may be helpful and actively contribute to the project week. Eco-friendly living and working is a good topic for students and I can see the benefits but my interests are different and I cannot see my subjects fitting into the project week. However, I greatly enjoy organizing and know colleagues who could be very helpful for this kind of project week. I actively support the idea and propose to help in the event organization. None The school director decides that the school needs to become more socially responsible to improve the school’s image. The head opens the discussion at a staff meeting and everyone has different ideas on what to do and how to start. Smaller groups form and the conversations seem unguided and chaotic although everyone is very engaged / involved. How do you react to the situation? I personally like the idea to develop a social project because it will benefit the school and local community. However, the discussion is getting out of hand and the director is otherwise occupied. I suggest that each group takes 5 minutes to write down their ideas, then combine and jointly decide and vote which will be realized. Because I have a good connection with my colleagues, I propose to take on the organization of the next steps. It seems that everyone already has ideas and I don’t want to interfere with that. I will take a step back and let everyone talk. The director will stop the discussion at some point and move on to the next topic of the meeting. I notice that the discussion is no longer productive and effective. I suggest to the director to stop the discussions for the time being and move on to the next topic so the meeting can continue. Social initiatives are great motivators for students but I also know that a lot of work and preparation is needed. The discussion is getting chaotic and there is no direction. I ask an experienced colleague to take over guiding the discussion. I propose that everyone interested should meet later this week to elaborate and we can present the outcomes at the next school meeting. I propose to the director that each group delegate a group lead and a note taker, so that the direction of each group conversation is guided. I suggest that after the group discussions, each group lead presents their key outcomes, after which the director can take decisions on the direction of their choosing. None A field trip for my students is coming up and additional fees apply. There are two students who do not have the financial capacity to participate and may need to stay at home. The school has already used up the budget for social support. What would you do? I am aware that it is a tricky situation for everyone and I am afraid that the two students may be excluded from the trip. Therefore, I take both students aside and check the reasons for the missing fees. As this situation is private, I arrange a meeting with the parents and school director to find a solution. The students may be offered to take over small jobs at school to pay for the fees. As the budget for social support is already used for the year, a different solution needs to be found. I bring the topic to the school meeting and ask my colleagues for their ideas. Maybe we can find a suitable solution together. We present an option to the students and their parents if we find one. Parents and students know in advance which field trips are coming up. Students have to ensure for themselves that they can afford the extracurricular activities. Anyone can take on a student job to save enough money. It is an individual responsibility. I want to involve the student community to find a solution. It is a good way to foster social responsibility and support each other. I could suggest to organize a fundraiser event which could cover the missing fees and the rest will be placed in the social account for future events so everyone will benefit – socially and financially. I understand that the situation is difficult for the students. However, as there is no funding possible, I can only suggest to the students to look for student jobs in the local supermarket, shops or similar to earn money for the trip. I know a few places where they can look for jobs and provide the students with the addresses. None A group of students approaches you because they want to organize a sports competition with other schools in the region. They have a lot of ideas and you already notice that they are very involved and creative but also think too big and unrealistic. How do you react? It is nice to see the students come up with their own ideas but their ideas are very unrealistic. I tell them about my impressions and ask them to look for something else and then they can come back to me with some new ideas. I’m happy that my students are so energetic and motivated but I want to find a good way to channel their ideas. I see this as a good learning opportunity for the students and will think about how I can help them. Because they wish to organize a sports competition, I suggest including our Physical Education teachers in the conversation. Together we divide the tasks and discuss a more realistic event. The students have a good idea but their goals are too big. I will lead the discussion and take on the organization so everything will be fine and represent the school in a good way. Their ideas are nice but an adult should take on the responsibility and lead. Sport events are not really my focus but I know that some of my Physical Education colleagues would be happy to help. I ask the students to come together after class and invite my colleagues so we can talk together. We do not want to discourage our students but suggest to first make it an internal school event and afterwards, we can think about expanding and collaborating with other local schools. I tell the students to bring the idea to the next class and allow them to dedicate some time for exchanging ideas. I will create a dialogue and let the students brainstorm ideas and solutions to build on their existing ideas. None You have noticed that some students can understand your subject matter with minimal effort, while some in your class require more extensive explanations that need to be repeated several times. How will you act? You will deal with these students and their parents over and over again with the same questions and problems. You never give up on your students and would try new ways to help them succeed in your subject by talking to them about extra time. You will tell them that they are disrupting class and need to go home and practice more. You will promise yourself to use different learning strategies depending on the students in that class. Because you know that some students are attentive while others are disruptive. Others are not disruptive just because they may be busy texting their friends while sitting in the back of the classroom. Some students excel at role-playing while others prefer to quietly take notes and listen. You will begin by isolating each student's good qualities and identifying their strengths, and then prepare well for the next lesson. With an understanding of each student, you will prepare what you will teach with each student in mind. This preparation will allow you to anticipate the needs of each student and avoid unnecessary frustration. You will ignore these students during the lesson, ask them to stay after the lesson, and then push them to work just as hard to complete the assignments. None You as a teacher made a mistake by getting the date wrong in a discussion with students about some facts. One student sarcastically remarked on this and the whole class started laughing. How are you going to behave? You usually don't like telling jokes to your own students, so you will discipline or suppress them, but later you will evaluate your own skills as a successful humorous teacher based on your past experiences telling a joke or funny story in the classroom. You know that students respond positively to humor in the classroom at all if it is positive, relevant to the subject matter, and successfully delivered, so you will tell students a good laugh story that relates to the situation, laugh with students, and continue the discussion. You have tried to use humor in the classroom but were unsuccessful, so this time you will discipline or subdue the students and try to continue the lesson. I will try to laugh with the students for a moment and then continue the discussion as if nothing happened. Since humor does not come naturally to you, you always research some jokes in advance and in this situation, you will tell the students a good joke about other teachers' mistakes, but it has nothing to do with your own topic and this situation. None You are in a classroom of diverse and unique individuals; each is both triumph and struggle over and over again. Some students are such personalities that even a small failure seems like the end of the world to them and they begin to openly demonstrate their unwillingness to learn. What will you do? You remind the whole class that you are all here to learn. You explain that every student has the right to learn from mistakes and to know that mistakes don't define us - what we learn from them does. You get angry and say that they must follow your class and that their displeasure is only of personal interest to them and they have no right to voice it in front of the whole class. You ask for advice from others who are knowledgeable in the field. You listen carefully to their points of view and learn how to handle the situation. You invite the student to meet with you in person and negotiate the problem with them. You’re happy if the student promises good behavior in your class. You invite the student to meet with you in person and find out what their weaknesses and gaps are in the area they want to develop. You advise them to list all the weaknesses and gaps and think about how they can fix them. You explain that people who know their gaps and admit to them will want to fix them. None You have a very good relationship with your students, but you made them a promise without thinking well about the possibility. Your students are waiting for you to keep your promise, but it is hardly possible because of the school rules. How will you act? You will try to find a solution with the school administration, but if the answer is no, you will explain to your students that sometimes it is not possible for good wishes to come true, and you will make another well-considered promise. You explain to your students that there is nothing wrong with thinking outside the box, but sometimes you must follow the processes and go "by the book". You apologize to your students and explain to them that making mistakes doesn't equate to being untrustworthy. In fact, making mistakes and recognizing them makes us more trustworthy. You try to do another activity and hope your students will forget your promise. Even if you have nothing to do with making the rules, you must follow them. You apologize to your students and think better next time before making a promise. None You are working in class on a sunny day, and the students are lazy to do anything. But you need to organize a team effort to brainstorm ideas for the final student conference. How do you influence the students to do what you ask them to do? You tell them what the penalties are for the teacher and for the students if they do not form a student group to organize an event. You explain to the students what additional grades there are if they work in groups to organize an event. You tell students how important the conference is to the school and their future. You will enthusiastically tell students about the importance of the conference to their lives now - how organizing and participating can change them, giving them examples from their own past and other students' pasts. You will talk to students and find out what they are interested in right now and what they are passionate about. Spend time creating opportunities for them to explore their passions and interests. In doing so, show them how the designated event could help them reach their interests None Student has applied to Erasmus+ school project and wishes to join school visit to other country. Student fills the criteria of the school visit and presents a good application. When the application is presented in staff meeting some teachers say, that the student can not follow rules and has behaved disrespectfully (using rude words) towards them. As you are going to be the supervising teacher you are in a position to decide whether the student can join the visit or not. What will you do? School rules must be followed and as teachers have the responsibility in class, their orders must be followed. Student can’t join the visit and the decision is told to student Students and teachers can have chemistry issues, you have not had any with the student. Student fills the criteria and is accepted to join the visit. You invite the student and the teachers to meeting and negotiate the issue with them. If student apologizes, they can go. You ask for some specifics from your teacher colleagues. You then explain to student that you have heard that they have not followed rules at school and that they have behaved in disrespecting manner in class towards some of your colleagues. You also explain why disobedience that can endanger everybody’s safety when on school trip is even more harmful than it is at school on a normal day. You then say that this is why they can’t join this time, but that if student wishes to apply again and shows better behaviour, they will be chosen. You ask for some specifics from your teacher colleagues. You then explain to student that you have heard that they have not followed rules at school and that they have behaved in disrespecting manner in class towards some of your colleagues. You then hear what the student has to say about the situation. You also explain why disobedience, that can endanger everybody’s safety when on school trip, is even more harmful than it is at school on a normal day. You then ask the student what they think would be a fair way to sort the matter while at the same time telling that this project has other visits planned and that if student wishes to apply again and shows better behaviour, they will be chosen. None Teacher visits student at workplace. Teacher, student and workplace instructor have a meeting about student’s learning. Workplace instructor says that student shows no interest and not enough initiative to learn the work properly. Workplace instructor tells how well previous students have shown initiative. You explain how important it is to show interest and be proactive at work, and you ask the student to pay attention to these matters and get to know their working mates. When student goes out, you take the opportunity to workplace instructor that student is shy and comes from family culture where strict discipline and obedience are highly valued. You ask the workplace instructor to be more encouraging. own words about their work, eg. typical working day, what kind of tasks are easy, what tasks are difficult and what makes the work interesting Thank the workplace instructor for their observations and ask the student to tell with his/her own words about their work, turn to assessment criteria and discuss how initiative and interest could be shown in tasks mentioned in the criteria. Encourage workplace instructor to apply the criteria to their specific work. Ask student to explain the work process to distinguish the critical part that stopped student working independently (show initiative). None You chat with students and they spontaneously start complaining about your colleague because they find the colleague difficult to talk to. You feel that your innocent chatting is turning into gossiping. What will you do? Tell the students that it is not appropriate to complain about other teachers to you, and they should talk to the teacher in question. Thank the students and say that you will talk to your colleague. Go to your colleague and explain that the students need more help with the task at hand and a friendly approach. Take the students to the teachers and ask if they have 5 minutes time to talk through the difficulty. Then shortly explain what the difficulty was to your understanding. Leave the initiative to your colleague and leave. Go to your superior and tell the complaints from the students and ask them to sort out the issue with the teacher in question. Ask the students for more details and try to understand the whole situation. Help the students to see how the situation looks from the teachers’ perspective. Discuss how they think they can approach the teacher again and get the help they need. Talk the plan through with the students and encourage them to act. Agree that you’ll have a short follow-up discussion on the next lesson with the students None You instruct students to create groups of 4 and work on a team assignment together. One of the group consists of three active and extrovert students and one quiet and introvert students. After a while, three extroverts come to talk to you and complain that the fourth, introvert group member does not contribute to the assignment. How will you reconcile the issue? You talk to the group in question and order introvert student to take more active role in the assignment. You encourage more extrovert persons to find better ways to take introvert person in a group. You talk to whole class and present reasoning and methods why it is important to observe and work together with each other. You explain the complaining students differences of personal orientation and encourage them to think how tasks could be divided taking into account each group members’ strengths and working ways. You talk to the group together and give them a sub-task to think first themselves, and then come back to the group and talk how each person thinks would be the best way contribute to the group assignment from his/her point of view – considering working ways, participation and communication. Then you try to puzzle suitable roles for each member in a group. None You are teaching a group of students just fresh out of primary education. In the group there is one boy, who dresses a little feminine way and wears some makeup. Others have not really accepted him in the group well and there is a situation, when couple of other students to bully feminine boy in the classroom, stating that he is a freak and should not study in this group. What will you do? You tell the feminine boy just to ignore their claims and concentrate in his studies. You stop all activities in the classroom and strongly tell the bullies that they act in an ignorant way, and they should think what they say to other people. You invite the college equality officer to have a lecture about differences and equality You ask the bully’s why they think as they do, and how they would feel in a different context if their looks or being would be criticized publicly. You talk in a group about how to behave in a group and why respecting other people is beneficial, instead of disrespecting. You discuss as a group about differences of people (eg. cultural, ethnicity, language, looks, different sexual orientations…) and why it is important to have equal opportunities for all in school and in working environment. None Your workplace is establishing a new team and have chosen to move you away from your existing team, meaning you will have new responsibilities and different colleagues to work with, how do you react? I silently accept the decision and do exactly what is required. I do not engage much with the old or new team. I tell my bosses why I want to stay in the old team. Reluctantly I start working with the new team, as I get to know the team and new tasks my involvement grows, and I start getting more involved with the team, participate in discussions and see different opportunities. Working with different people and tasks will give me new insights and challenges, it is exciting. I start planning my move to the new team making sure to let the old team know what I was working on and scheduling a meeting with the new team to figure out who I will be working with and what we all bring to the team. I refuse to move to a new team and argue that whoever is taking over for me can go to the new team. None Your class is going to plan a fair to raise money for a charity. How do you approach this? I already made a plan, so I will delegate to the students who needs to do what. Each completed task will result in a new task for the students. Once everything on my list is done, we will be ready for the fair. I prepare a questionnaire where students can indicate what areas they would like to work with and what role they would like to have in the team. Based on the answers to the questionnaire I make groups for the different areas of responsibility and assign the group leader(s)/coordinators. From here each group need to present a plan for how they will reach their goals and follow it to complete everything before the fair. I am mostly a coordinator/consultant, and the final evaluation will be after the fair. I do a presentation of the goal and ressources available. After this the class will do a brainstorming session on ideas for the fair and choose what areas they want to work with. Based on their choices the groups are made. I make sure to empathize that the class is one team with a shared goal even though they are different teams, as such every day we do a short meeting, where group progress can be shared, or a group can request assistance from one of the other groups. I create the groups in advance trying to avoid conflict. We do a class brainstorming session and I assign different areas to each group. I make sure to assign less important tasks to the students who usually do not put in much effort, so the class will not be negatively affected if they only do the bare minimum. I present the goal and what kind of resources we have available. After that I split the students into different groups, so the groups are mixed. Then they do a brainstorm and choose a few ideas they want to work on for the fair itself. They must present why they want to work on any specific idea and if approved make a plan for how they will accomplish it for the fair. None You are involved in a heated discussion with some colleagues what do you do? I listen to their arguments and wait for my “turn” to make my points. I interrupt my colleagues to refute their points. I get angry at my colleague interrupting me all the time and leave the discussion. I get upset and verbally attack my colleague. I ask my colleague whether we can take a small break and return to the discussion after we have had some coffee. None The staff has just been informed that it has been decided that your school will be closed, and students and staff moved to a new school. Teachers have been asked to inform the students, how do you approach this task? There is so much I don’t know, so I wait with telling my students until I have all the information. I conduct my lesson, near the end of the lesson I tell the class the news, so they will not hear it from school rumors. I set aside a significant portion of the lesson to tell the students and listen to their questions and concerns. Hopefully I will be able to get answers to all of it in the future. I sit down with my colleagues and try to plan though much it unknown. When I tell the students, I try to frame it in a positive way, though a lot is still uncertain. I show them the plan we made, so they can see roughly what to expect. After that we talk about the different opportunities and uncertainties. The teachers make a group that creates a pamphlet as well as a news post for the parents with all the information. This way we can make sure that students and parents have the same information, and the news post on the school website can be updated over time as new information become available. Using the pamphlet I talk to the students during class None You are going to have a class start a project, you don’t know the students, how do you create the groups? I randomly create the groups based on the class roster. I let the students choose who they want to work with. I ask me colleagues for advice on who should not be in the same group but other than that make the groups at random. I sit down with a few of my colleagues and have them help me make the groups. I randomly choose a number of group leaders and let them choose who they want in their groups. None Time's up
