Teaching for Kaplan

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Gurl21

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For those of you who have taught at Kaplan, what kinds of things did people present for their audition? I have a few ideas in mind, but one of the things we will be evaluated on is how well we use the chalkboard... a lot of "how-to" presentations don't involve too much boardwork.. any ideas?
 
I did mine on name-learning tricks. Another guy at my audition talked about gamma rays. There was a girl who talked about taking care of your pet gerbil (and she rambled on, and on, and on, and on . . .).

Honestly, it doesn't matter a lick what you teach as long as you are engaging. You can teach them how to make the perfect PB&J sandwich, or how you dip an Oreo, or how to study in bed without hurting your back, and they would be fine with it.

As far as the boardwork, I don't think they look at that too much. Just giving a basic outline should be enough, like this: 1. Remove Oreo from bag. 2. Unscrew Oreo. 3. Dip. Etc. Or you could draw a picture of an Oreo being dunked and your smiling face. Just make sure your handwriting is legible, and don't talk too much to the board.

Basically, I think they're looking at your potential as a teacher more than your message. Make eye contact, smile, speak to different people in the room and move around (but don't pace), and just teach it. Don't go on too long either, as the gerbil girl did. At the Kaplan center where I worked, most people made it past the initial auditions and into training. The ones who got classes were those who either had seniority (i.e., worked there the longest) or who proved themselves to be solid teachers in the actual training sessions.

Good luck!
 
Just to echo what typo already said it doesn't have to be some great intellectual revelation. I did mine on how to build snow shelters...and got the job. Just make it something halfway interesting. typo was right about the outline too- you'll definitely score points on how much order you have to your presentation. Maybe one thing I did that worked to my advantage is that I personally introduced and made friends with the other candidates before we got going so I could feel comfortable calling on them for questions during my presentation. About being judged on how you erase the board... don't worry too much about it. Just don't use your fingers, and make vertical swipes. best of luck to ya!!
 
quick question, so what exactly goes on? I was told to come try-out, but what does that mean exactly?
 
Typo said:
The ones who got classes were those who either had seniority (i.e., worked there the longest) or who proved themselves to be solid teachers in the actual training sessions.!

Or if they lived near the branch manager and hogged all of the classes for themselves...oh, sorry typo, I didn't realize I was quoting you.
 
I got hired by explaining how a hot air balloon works. It's not the content of your subject matter but how you present it. Unless you try to to give a presentation on how to get away with cheating on the DAT or how to tell if your hooker is a transvestite you probably would be okay.
 
JavadiCavity said:
Or if they lived near the branch manager and hogged all of the classes for themselves...oh, sorry typo, I didn't realize I was quoting you.
Yep, being friends with the branch manager and her husband is a definite plus as well. Schmoozing with the branch manager's husband just before the audition couldn't hurt as well . . . but I wouldn't do that, now would I? 😛
 
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