calling all teachers!

[mpls-mexico]

Things still going well?

[Mexitalians]

Is your certification k-6 or 3-8? I feel like certain places are still doing well in this economy so just get yourself out there. Have your prinicpal or vp observe you in addition to your mentor teacher. The principal or vp would be you best in district advocate for a position there. Good luck!

[Rocky'sWife]

I'm a first year teacher as well (English grades 10-12 in an Alternative/Work Study Program at a public H.S.) who was lucky enough to graduate in January 2011 and get hired for the 2011-2012 school year at my former high school. I'm no veteran, but I can tell you that you will learn SO much more through student teaching and your first year as a teacher than you EVER did in any class or lecture hall!

Another bit of advice that has helped me: get involved with other events/activities at your school besides teaching. My students love to see me chaperoning a dance, going on a field trip, etc. This year, I was an essay reader for a $10,000 scholarship my school gives away, have gone to various sporting events, and even participated in the Staff Tug of War and surprise Flash Mob at our annual football pep rally! It's nice to give back to the school and to see the kids enjoy themselves outside of the classroom

[billandbrina]

to be a teacher helps for the waiver? just curious

[theline]

take advantage of PD (prof. development) when you can,, it depends how your district does it and how big or small they are. some they have a site and you can go threough catalog and go to any you want ( like when I taught for Austin ISD it was super easy to pick and choos eand go when i could but in brownsvilel they dont have a great system and so you have to ask around alot and just pay attention during the ones they do provide you and ask to go, you need to to keep up your certification anyhow)... if it is a smaller district they should be working with their Regional Eudcation service center ( in TX they are ESCs) which usually services multiple districts offering certification programs and PDs etc.. so you can look up which one your districgt falls under and go to their website they are great places for help with preparing for certiication tests since you probably will take some now and some during your first actual year if you teach on a probationary certificate. and dont forget there is a learnign curve!!! you will learn and grow every year so start by observing but dont be afriad to stick your neck out and try soemthing innovative that you think will work!

---------- Post added at 10:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:30 PM ----------

for getting a job,, the way i got hired in brownsville during a hiring freeze ( after ayear of not getting hired and having to stay in austin away from hubs) was by individually emailing every singel principal with an individualized email early in the hiring year so jan/feb I did attach my resume but legally they couldnt look for candidates outside the district until intradistrict transfers were looke dat/offered, but i asked if I could come visit their campus when i was in town visiting hubby to check out what they campus was like and see if it would be a good fit, out of 60 schools i got 10 replies from the first round of emails.i ended up going to check out 2 of the schools a couple weeks later and was called and offered a job by easter at one of the them.....
my frist job, which wasin austin, i didn't get hired until mid-july, so don't feel bad if that happens either since it is different since you dont have formal teaching yeras under your belt yet, but i also didnt knwo what to do.. be persistent, be visible, positions do open up at random times when maybe the principals has already trashed the resumes but if you've contacted them 3 different times/way, they might remember you and say crap who can i callto interview, oh wait there was the lady who seemed very professional and eager who sent me a paper resume ( twice mabye....) an email early on.. another one... I mean not harassment but seriosuly my first job i got because it was summer break and someone quit all of a sudden and that person said hey this lady interviewed for this other psoiton and we didnt give it to her but she subbed for me a couple times ( hence they weren't even present lol) you should call them ( ooh I had also observed them which is when i got to know the lady who quit better, so maybe drop off resumes with those you go to obseve as well, they will note your astuteness and the types of questinos you ask while observing and can pass that on)... i found out later she had already trashed my resume, while i had been interviewed it was by staff members, okay gotta stop, ive just spent a lot fo time in my life looking for work in schools ( due to moves). soI hope my experience can give you some ideas... the main thing principals seem to want to see is how you interact with the students, are you sitting in the corner are you going around and asking them questinos about their work etc. things i would have never asked about but that realyl seem to stand out..good luck!

[mpls-mexico]

Ojos....how did your student experience go? I imagine you're done now and hitting the pavement looking for jobs. Much luck with the next step!

[ojosazules]

student teaching was AWESOME, thanks for checking in! i was with 5th graders, and had a really great co-op that was very supportive and helpful throughout my time in her classroom. i'm currently working at a summer camp with kindergarteners which is a HUGE difference from my 5th graders, as you can imagine they are very cute though, just a lot more crying and meltdowns than i experienced with 5th grade haha. teaching jobs in the philadelphia area are very difficult to come by, so i'll be subbing for a good while i have a feeling. i hate having to network, but it's what you have to do to get into a district
how are classes going for you? will you start student teaching this fall? good luck to you!

[theline]

too funny, I jsut went from 5th grade to Kinder, exactly what you said... it's so funyn because I got a lot mroe "oh woa, that must be hard" responses when I taught Special Education and 5th, Kinder I get "ohhhhh that must be so fun"... i swear i've cried mroe over this job than the other two put together... anyhow! it made me smile when i saw this post, good luck to you!

[mpls-mexico]

ojos - glad to hear that your student teaching experience was fantastic. I hope you are able to find a job somewhere. Are charter schools big out there? Sometimes that can be an option outside of trying to get in popular districts (from what I've heard, I clearly have no experience yet). I start student teaching in January and am just finishing up my teaching licensure exams. Got my scores today for the Spanish content one and I passed! whoo-hoo!! I had convinced myself otherwise as there were people in there re-taking the test for the 4th time! yikes. I just need to take my pedagogy test and still finish up some classes. I am taking a technology class right now and have realized how much is changing and how much I don't know! But it's cool cuz there are so many technology options out there to teach our students.

the line - so did you teach kinder last year or over the summer? what grade will you teach next year? My daughter is about to start kinder next year and she exasperates me so I can imagine what her future teachers will feel!