How do you feel about working with students, that can sometimes be difficult due to their circumstance?

How to Answer
Answer Example
Community Answers

You can answer this question using an example of a time when you were assigned an extraordinarily difficult classroom or specific student.

"Last year I had a student come in part way through the year. In addition to being diagnosed with autism, the student was also highly OCD. I spent a lot of my spare time doing research and reading case studies so that I could best be equipped if this student had an outburst in the classroom. I do appreciate the challenge this situation brought to me because it pushed me to further understand the needs of this unique student."

Anonymous Answer

"This school year, I had a student in my preschool self-contained class that gave both the lead classroom teacher and me a difficult time. This student would exhibit violent tendencies and was fixated on violence such as zombies and shooting. It became difficult to hold circle time or work on lessons with the students because we were constantly having to calm him down or stop him from harming himself or another student. It became frustrating dealing with this situation, but as the school year progressed, I learned about his home life and how difficult he had it at home. I learned that many times at home, instead of communicating, he was yelled at or argued with when he became difficult. On top of this and his communication issues, he had no outlet for his anger or how to communicate what he was feeling. I realized this and spent one on one moments with him, forming a relationship and helping him ease his frustration."

Rachelle's Feedback

More kids could use teachers like you who look past behavior and into the root cause. This is a good story! You could expand this response to include how you adjusted your approach to drawing out more of his good behavior in the classroom setting.

Next Question

How to Answer: How do you feel about working with students, that can sometimes be difficult due to their circumstance?

Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Special Education Teacher job interview.

17. How do you feel about working with students, that can sometimes be difficult due to their circumstance?

How to Answer

You can answer this question using an example of a time when you were assigned an extraordinarily difficult classroom or specific student.

Answer Example

"Last year I had a student come in part way through the year. In addition to being diagnosed with autism, the student was also highly OCD. I spent a lot of my spare time doing research and reading case studies so that I could best be equipped if this student had an outburst in the classroom. I do appreciate the challenge this situation brought to me because it pushed me to further understand the needs of this unique student."

Anonymous Interview Answers with Professional Feedback

Anonymous Answer

"This school year, I had a student in my preschool self-contained class that gave both the lead classroom teacher and me a difficult time. This student would exhibit violent tendencies and was fixated on violence such as zombies and shooting. It became difficult to hold circle time or work on lessons with the students because we were constantly having to calm him down or stop him from harming himself or another student. It became frustrating dealing with this situation, but as the school year progressed, I learned about his home life and how difficult he had it at home. I learned that many times at home, instead of communicating, he was yelled at or argued with when he became difficult. On top of this and his communication issues, he had no outlet for his anger or how to communicate what he was feeling. I realized this and spent one on one moments with him, forming a relationship and helping him ease his frustration."

Rachelle's Feedback

More kids could use teachers like you who look past behavior and into the root cause. This is a good story! You could expand this response to include how you adjusted your approach to drawing out more of his good behavior in the classroom setting.

Next Question