As part of the interview process, a principal or hiring manager may ask you to conduct a demonstration lesson, more commonly called a demo lesson. A demo lesson is a mock lesson that you teach to another teacher’s class or to a group of administrators. The purpose of a demo lesson is to show how well-prepared you are to teach a lesson, how you present yourself, and how you engage students.
Principals will look for your ability to break a complex topic down into a series of learnable steps, your poise and comfort in front of a group, how well you check for student understanding, and how well you adjust when students do not understand. In addition, they will look at your ability to manage a classroom and your lesson-planning skills. You may be asked to work with a small group or full class of students as teachers and staff members observe the lesson.
Some schools have candidates do their demo lesson on the same day as their interview, while others will schedule the demo lesson after the initial interview is completed. We recommend confirming with the principal or hiring manager about their demo lesson process before going in for your initial interview.