It was great to be able to meet with my class one more time and let them know I had a job. I worked very hard to get it - I had business cards printed up, my entire portfolio is online. I thought my effort had paid off and I was very excited.
The first week of June we took a mini vacation and I was able to talk to the music teacher I would be working with on the phone. The first thing we talked about was the class. It's a grade 10 class and it's team taught. Basically we get 60 kids between the two of us. He'll take the woodwinds, and I'll get the brass and percussion, and some days they will be together. He's the department head and really enjoys this form of teaching. I was both relieved and bummed. I really wanted to have my own class that I could do stuff with, but it did take a lot of the pressure off as far as prep for the class. The next thing he told me was about the band trip. Turns out October 4th we are going to Florida on a band trip, and I get to go too! I was super excited. I tried to remain professional on the phone and not sound like a kid, but who am I kidding, I was completely hyped up about it.
The next week I went to the school to see the grade 9 band concert - these would be my kids next year. I met the teacher and saw my classroom. All very exciting. Now I needed to get a summer job. I hadn't worked all year and we were broke.
I found a job teaching ESL to kids on a short exchange from France. I was scheduled to do an 8 day session with them in June and 12 days in July. It was ok money I thought, but the more I got into it, the worse it got. It required a ton of driving with no gas money, but it did give me a bit of experience teaching ESL. The end of June I was offered a job working as a Special Needs counselor with kids at camp working one on one with them. I took the job, even though it would be way more work and with a bunch of teenagers, but I thought it would be ok. I survived.
Just before camp started the Principal called me again. He asked how I felt about teaching English. I told him if he wanted me to stand on my head and teach Calculus I would. I just wanted to teach full time. He told me he was adding a section of English to my timetable - grade 10 applied. Keep in mind I haven't even taken English since High School. I did love English then, I figured why not, it'll be fun!
I was able to get to the high school once before it closed for the summer to pick up resources. They sent me home with a stack. Normally the school is open most of the year but this summer the school was to be closed for asbestos removal. I wasn't going to be able to get in until the last week of August (which starts today actually).
I did prep most weekends - usually a few hours each day. I figured up until the first week of August I probably did 20 hours of prep or so and I still had nothing planned - so far it was all reading the books, making notes etc. The first week of August I had off, and I did prep that week as well. I did about 10 hours in one day alone, about 25 hours all week I would guess. I then took a bit of a break and finished my summer job. So I'm up to about 50 hours this summer of prep, and do you know what I have full planned? 4 days. That's it. It's such a long process as a new teacher.
So now I am starting my last week of summer. Now my blog journal is up to date. On Monday and Tuesday I will do prep. Wednesday I am at a high school in Welland for the New Teacher Induction Program Orientation day. Luckily I met a girl at the board orientation who will also be teaching at my school, so we are going to hook up and try and help each other out. Thursday I am at the school, hopefully doing some photocopying and planning. Friday - Sunday will be prep and hopefully Monday will be relaxing, and then come Tuesday school starts! I can't believe it's that close. I've spent too much time blogging today, off to do more prep.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Interview
So when I started my internship the very first day I was walking through the halls with my new associate teacher/supervisor and she was showing me around. She turned to one side to point something out and in a half a second I was on the floor. I had fallen over, tripped on nothing really. Stupid shoes. It was fully embarrassing, especially because it was my first day. I did the exact same thing 4th period that day. I felt like an idiot.
When I was leaving for my interview I had been at the school for about 3 weeks now, and I was leaving the teachers were all saying "good luck....don't fall down!" and it came to be a bit of a running joke. I am very klutzy and clumsy and I do fall down a lot or bang into things.
I arrived a bit early for my interview and I spoke to one of the teachers there. The head of the math department turned out to be the father of a friend of mine - a girl I went to high school with. He was incredibly encouraging and relaxed me a bit ahead of time. It also helped that I was schmoozing with a department head in the office in front of the admin. I went into the office with the Principal and we made small talk for a few brief moments, and then into the very formal interview. Now in these interviews I make every effort to appear put together and grown up. I had my suit on, my heels and my hair up in a bun. While we were sitting talking, my hair flipped out of my bun and into a ponytail like a little kid. I didn't know whether he saw, whether I should fix it or not, but I just kept going feeling like an idiot.
The interview finished and I did quite well I thought, for my first Principal interview. I was waiting for him to hand me the key to the school when he said he had about 20 people he was interviewing for this position, and still had 10 or so to see. I was pretty deflated. I walked out of his office and saw another candidate sitting there waiting to go in. She told me good luck, and I said it back. Really, I wanted to kick her. Instead I turned around and talked to the Principal about how great it was to see him again - I wanted to psych her out. Mean, I know, but this is a competitive market! He said I would find out Tuesday when the board postings went up on the internet if I got the job. If my name was beside the posting I did, if not, then I didn't. Pretty harsh way to find out.
So the weekend came and went I and kept looking for a job and sending out resumes. I wasn't overly hopeful about the job, but you never know. Tuesday I got a call on my cell while I was at the school. I could hear it vibrating in my backpack and knew I had a message. Normally I would have checked the message in the teachers office but it was full with people in a meeting. I went to the washroom so I could listen, and could get almost no reception. I had to stand on the toilet, but it was Tuesday, and it was a number I didn't know, so of course I was going to listen. It was the Principal. He said "I'm just calling to tell you........CONGRATULATIONS!!!" He turned into a game show host it was hilarious. I was so excited. The teacher in the Special Ed room sent me home knowing I would be no good to her until I told my husband.
It was fabulous news. Not only did I had a job, but I had a teaching job, a contract, in my field, and before school was even over! It was only one section (full time is 6) but it was a start.
When I was leaving for my interview I had been at the school for about 3 weeks now, and I was leaving the teachers were all saying "good luck....don't fall down!" and it came to be a bit of a running joke. I am very klutzy and clumsy and I do fall down a lot or bang into things.
I arrived a bit early for my interview and I spoke to one of the teachers there. The head of the math department turned out to be the father of a friend of mine - a girl I went to high school with. He was incredibly encouraging and relaxed me a bit ahead of time. It also helped that I was schmoozing with a department head in the office in front of the admin. I went into the office with the Principal and we made small talk for a few brief moments, and then into the very formal interview. Now in these interviews I make every effort to appear put together and grown up. I had my suit on, my heels and my hair up in a bun. While we were sitting talking, my hair flipped out of my bun and into a ponytail like a little kid. I didn't know whether he saw, whether I should fix it or not, but I just kept going feeling like an idiot.
The interview finished and I did quite well I thought, for my first Principal interview. I was waiting for him to hand me the key to the school when he said he had about 20 people he was interviewing for this position, and still had 10 or so to see. I was pretty deflated. I walked out of his office and saw another candidate sitting there waiting to go in. She told me good luck, and I said it back. Really, I wanted to kick her. Instead I turned around and talked to the Principal about how great it was to see him again - I wanted to psych her out. Mean, I know, but this is a competitive market! He said I would find out Tuesday when the board postings went up on the internet if I got the job. If my name was beside the posting I did, if not, then I didn't. Pretty harsh way to find out.
So the weekend came and went I and kept looking for a job and sending out resumes. I wasn't overly hopeful about the job, but you never know. Tuesday I got a call on my cell while I was at the school. I could hear it vibrating in my backpack and knew I had a message. Normally I would have checked the message in the teachers office but it was full with people in a meeting. I went to the washroom so I could listen, and could get almost no reception. I had to stand on the toilet, but it was Tuesday, and it was a number I didn't know, so of course I was going to listen. It was the Principal. He said "I'm just calling to tell you........CONGRATULATIONS!!!" He turned into a game show host it was hilarious. I was so excited. The teacher in the Special Ed room sent me home knowing I would be no good to her until I told my husband.
It was fabulous news. Not only did I had a job, but I had a teaching job, a contract, in my field, and before school was even over! It was only one section (full time is 6) but it was a start.
Internship and AQ
On Monday April 23rd I went to get the mail and low and behold there was a letter from the DSBN. I figured because it got there only 2 business days after my interview I must have really sucked and this was the "you suck" letter. Much to my surprise it was the letter telling me my interview was successful and I was now on the eligible to hire list for Niagara - I could now apply to job postings!
On April 24th I started my Special Education additional qualification course online. April 30th started our internship which is a program that only OISE offers. It's a final placement that you have to find and secure yourself, which can be hard. I was doing mine in Special Ed which I was looking forward to. I hoped between the AQ and the Internship I would have more job opportunities open to me.
While I worked on my AQ and Internship I continued to apply for jobs. Several came up in the DSBN that I could do, but I didn't hear anything. Right before the long weekend in May there was a job posting for a music position at a school in Niagara Falls. It was only 1 section, but it was contract, which was a foot in the door, so I thought I would try. As I looked through the website to find the Principal's name imagine my surprise when up pops a picture of my old vice principal from when I was in high school. He was now the Principal at the school where the music posting was. I emailed him my resume and he emailed me back almost immediately - even though it was the Friday evening of the long weekend. We corresponded back and forth a few times, and as luck would have it, he offered me an interview for the following Thursday. I was super excited just to have a chance. I talked to a lot of the teachers at the school I was currently at and they said often the Principal just offers you the job on the spot. I was very excited!
On April 24th I started my Special Education additional qualification course online. April 30th started our internship which is a program that only OISE offers. It's a final placement that you have to find and secure yourself, which can be hard. I was doing mine in Special Ed which I was looking forward to. I hoped between the AQ and the Internship I would have more job opportunities open to me.
While I worked on my AQ and Internship I continued to apply for jobs. Several came up in the DSBN that I could do, but I didn't hear anything. Right before the long weekend in May there was a job posting for a music position at a school in Niagara Falls. It was only 1 section, but it was contract, which was a foot in the door, so I thought I would try. As I looked through the website to find the Principal's name imagine my surprise when up pops a picture of my old vice principal from when I was in high school. He was now the Principal at the school where the music posting was. I emailed him my resume and he emailed me back almost immediately - even though it was the Friday evening of the long weekend. We corresponded back and forth a few times, and as luck would have it, he offered me an interview for the following Thursday. I was super excited just to have a chance. I talked to a lot of the teachers at the school I was currently at and they said often the Principal just offers you the job on the spot. I was very excited!
Final Days
So when we went back to school I only had 3 weeks left of classes. It didn't seem like much. This chunk of time was filled with tons of assignments though, and I found myself doing big projects very often. In my TES class we had a large assignment due before practicum that was the creation of a field trip. I really enjoyed the project and it was worth 30% so it was a great surprise to get 100% on it. The next big assignment though was a much bigger deal. I felt it was almost bigger than all the lesson plans and silly group projects I had done in all my courses that year. Our portfolio was worth 40% of our mark and this could help us get a job. This was the binder you take with you to your interview to hopefully showcase some of your best work. I worked for days on this - most of the time formatting and fixing the way things were laid out or looked. I was thrilled to get 100% on this assignment as it gave me the little confidence boost I needed.
Back before the beginning of second practicum I started to look at job openings. I applied to 7 different boards through the Apply to Teach website. Lots of the boards wanted supplementary information as well, one of those was the Niagara Board. The DSBN (District School Board of Niagara) wanted your entire application in by March 1st. It was a bit of a scramble, but I did get it in on time - barely. I then tried not to think about all the applications I had floating around out there that I had heard nothing about. March Break came and I headed up to visit my parents with my husband for the week. We had a nice relaxing trip and while we were there I got an email from the board saying they had prescreened my application and wanted me to come in for an interview on April 19th. This was to be my last TES class and I was pretty bummed about missing it, but this was obviously more important.
April 18th we drove out to see where the board office was, and practiced all the interview questions I had been able to get my hands on. I felt reasonably ready, but you never really know how it's going to go. Thursday, the 19th I got there and saw a handful of other people waiting. Every time someone went in for an interview it seemed a new candidate walked in the door to check in for theirs. I finally got to go. I was in a small office with two women and my portfolio. They went back and forth and asked me some standard questions. I answered them all and at one point I thought I was dead in the water. I answered the question in such a way that made them kind of laugh, but I wasn't sure whether it was a "oh I've been there" laugh or a "oh I can't believe she just said that laugh". I screwed up one other question as well but overall I felt ok. At the end I offered them my updated resume and reference letter. While one woman went to get a sticky note for it, the other looked at my portfolio. As far as I understood, no one looked at portfolios in board level interviews. This made me feel good.
I walked out of the board office feeling good, but as I drove, I remembered more and more things that I didn't say, or that I said wrong. The closer I got to home the worse I felt. All day I felt sick. They told me it would be 2 weeks before I would hear anything - I didn't think I could handle that.
Friday was my last day of school before our week off and final internship. I talked to my TES prof who made me feel a bit better, but I was still pretty depressed. Oh well, on to internship.
Back before the beginning of second practicum I started to look at job openings. I applied to 7 different boards through the Apply to Teach website. Lots of the boards wanted supplementary information as well, one of those was the Niagara Board. The DSBN (District School Board of Niagara) wanted your entire application in by March 1st. It was a bit of a scramble, but I did get it in on time - barely. I then tried not to think about all the applications I had floating around out there that I had heard nothing about. March Break came and I headed up to visit my parents with my husband for the week. We had a nice relaxing trip and while we were there I got an email from the board saying they had prescreened my application and wanted me to come in for an interview on April 19th. This was to be my last TES class and I was pretty bummed about missing it, but this was obviously more important.
April 18th we drove out to see where the board office was, and practiced all the interview questions I had been able to get my hands on. I felt reasonably ready, but you never really know how it's going to go. Thursday, the 19th I got there and saw a handful of other people waiting. Every time someone went in for an interview it seemed a new candidate walked in the door to check in for theirs. I finally got to go. I was in a small office with two women and my portfolio. They went back and forth and asked me some standard questions. I answered them all and at one point I thought I was dead in the water. I answered the question in such a way that made them kind of laugh, but I wasn't sure whether it was a "oh I've been there" laugh or a "oh I can't believe she just said that laugh". I screwed up one other question as well but overall I felt ok. At the end I offered them my updated resume and reference letter. While one woman went to get a sticky note for it, the other looked at my portfolio. As far as I understood, no one looked at portfolios in board level interviews. This made me feel good.
I walked out of the board office feeling good, but as I drove, I remembered more and more things that I didn't say, or that I said wrong. The closer I got to home the worse I felt. All day I felt sick. They told me it would be 2 weeks before I would hear anything - I didn't think I could handle that.
Friday was my last day of school before our week off and final internship. I talked to my TES prof who made me feel a bit better, but I was still pretty depressed. Oh well, on to internship.
Second Practicum
Second practicum was much more challenging than the first one for me. History was not my strong subject and required a lot more prep for me. I would spend a few hours each night doing prep. I rarely did marking at home, and I usually did an hour or so of prep at school every day. The classes I taught were both grade 10 applied classes. Applied kids get a bad rep I think in a lot of ways. Behaviourally there are more problems sure, but it's not because the kids are bad usually, it's because they are bored, or they think they can't do the work. In my limited experience I have found most kids are in applied level classes because they are lazy, don't care, or have been told they need to take applied because they can't do academic classes. It's very rarely because they aren't smart or aren't capable. I think all student teachers should teach applied or essential level classes at some point. Teaching academic kids can be a lot easier. They usually want to be there, and are like sponges, they soak up whatever you give them. Applied is more of a challenge to the teacher.
I was petrified going into my second practicum but I really enjoyed it. I had a good AT who was willing to let me try things. The kids would often ask him if they could go to the washroom or for a pencil or stuff like that and he would always say "go ask your teacher" and go back to his book he was pretending to read. He left me alone with the class from time to time which although he wasn't really supposed to do, I appreciated. It's really hard to develop a relationship with the kids if someone is watching all the time. It's weird and artificial. I tried to take his advice and incorporate it. I talked to some student teachers who really did feel they knew enough already and didn't need advice. I do believe I am/will be a good teacher, but I also acknowledge I have a lot to learn. I hope I never get to feel I am too good to take advice.
Second practicum was completed successfully and it was back to school for 3 more weeks.
I was petrified going into my second practicum but I really enjoyed it. I had a good AT who was willing to let me try things. The kids would often ask him if they could go to the washroom or for a pencil or stuff like that and he would always say "go ask your teacher" and go back to his book he was pretending to read. He left me alone with the class from time to time which although he wasn't really supposed to do, I appreciated. It's really hard to develop a relationship with the kids if someone is watching all the time. It's weird and artificial. I tried to take his advice and incorporate it. I talked to some student teachers who really did feel they knew enough already and didn't need advice. I do believe I am/will be a good teacher, but I also acknowledge I have a lot to learn. I hope I never get to feel I am too good to take advice.
Second practicum was completed successfully and it was back to school for 3 more weeks.
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