New Job Jitters

I. Am. Exhausted.

This was the longest week of work EVER. And I am not even getting paid for it! I really wanted to go to all the staff trainings though, and work in my classroom whenever I got the chance. It was nice because I got to know some of the other ladies at work, but it was just plain-ol' tiring!

The maintenance guys were painting the classrooms this week, and they didn't finish until today, which means that we only had today to get our rooms in order. And I was lucky because they finished my room first and everyone helped me move my furniture. The room, however, was a horrible mess, and it took me all day to get it straightened out. I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, but the room is looking decent and is pretty clean now for the most part. I'll finish the rest before school on Monday. (Well, what has to be done anyway. I hope!)

I'm a little nervous. RLCFCC is very different from Head Start...in a good way, but it's a big adjustment for me. The teaching style is pretty different. And, from the very first day of class, there will be practicum students working in the classroom with us for their lab assignment. Yikes! I'm not a bad teacher, but I don't know if I'm good enough to be teaching teachers! This is only my second year, after all. That's what has me worried the most I think...knowing that someone will be there analyzing everything I'm doing. It's stressing me out. And I really want to do well so I get the job.

So this weekend will be spent trying to prepare for Monday. I'm praying it's not a complete and total disaster. But, in the words of my mother, "It can't be any worse than the first week at Head Start!" And I hope she's right!

The Waiting Game

"How much of human life is lost in waiting?"

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a very good question, Mr. Emerson. It seems like a lot of my life is spent waiting for something. Waiting for Jason to come home, waiting to find out where we're moving next, waiting for a doctor's appointment. Right now, it's all about waiting for an interview.

I have applied at 10 different school districts this summer, for multiple positions. And so far I have gotten zero interviews. It's frustrating. And the school districts don't even notify you when you are no longer being considered. Which means you have to call them. Here's how a typical phone call goes:

Me: Hello, I applied for the ____ grade position and I was wondering if you had selected candidates for interviews yet?
Secretary: Oh, no, not yet. We have had so many applicants. It will take us a while to go through all of them. We aren't really sure how we're going to do this. So you can just keep checking back.
Me: Ok, thanks.

After 3-5 similar phone calls over a month's time....

Me: Hello, I applied for the ____ grade position and I was wondering if you had selected candidates for interviews yet?
Secretary: Oh, we filled that position yesterday.
Me: Thank you. Click.

[Note: Yes, multiple school districts have told me that they are unsure how interviews will work. Have they never hired anyone before? Do they not have a set procedure for such things??And why does no one send out rejection letters?! I WANT A REJECTION LETTER!!!]

Anywho, all this waiting for jobs that I don't even get interviews for is getting old. But I really want to work in a "real" school. So I'll keep trying. In fact, I just applied for a job on Friday...

In the morning, I called the school (where the superintendent works because the towns around here are so small that the district office is often just in the school) to make sure someone will be there for me to hand my resume to. After the secretary assures me she'll be there until 3:30, I get everything together and jump in my car to drive out to the school. I was pleased that I found the place easily (you wouldn't believe where some of these schools are hidden) but as I drove through the parking lot I was unsure about where to go. This is the problem with these small districts...there isn't just a central district office where you go in the main door to the counter. Instead, you have to try to find the office of a school which is closed for the summer. Luckily, this school had a big sign on the office, which was in a small building adjacent to the school itself.

I approached the building, carrying my resume, debating what door to go to (there were four choices). I walked up to one with a sign that read "Office". Good choice, huh? But when I pulled on the handle, the door appeared to be locked. Ok. Walk to the next door and repeat the procedure. Locked. Go to the back of the building. The doors have signs saying to use the front door. I head back to the first door, and try it yet again. No luck. I thought about leaving, but I remembered that the secretary promised she would be there, and I knocked loudly on the door.

After a second, I can see a woman coming towards the door, mouthing that it was unlocked and I just needed to press down on the button with my thumb while I opened it. (Well, duh, what did she think I had been doing all this time??) She opened the door for me, and explained all that again. (Maybe I just have incredibly weak thumbs? But I am telling you, that door was not budging and I did understand how to operate it!)

Anyway, I handed her my resume and she recognized me from the phone call to the office earlier. She promised to get my application to the superintendent on Monday and then asked me to be patient because it would take him a while to sort through all the resumes. Great!

And then I headed home. This is how these things go for me. (Although I can usually open the door myself.) I really hope she didn't think I was a total ding-dong. "Uh, Mr. Superintendent, we can't hire this one. She couldn't even figure out how to open the door! She just needed to push that button..."

Or maybe that will make me stand out. You never know! And if I get an interview, I'll make a joke about it. If I can open it successfully by myself that is...

So, here I am, waiting to hear something.

I'm Going Back!

I have been officially accepted to graduate school! I'll be starting my Master of Arts in Education to become certified as a reading specialist this fall. This will mean that in addition to teaching in the general ed classroom, I will be able to teach reading classes, as well as providing technical assistance to other teachers.

Everyone knows what a book nerd I am, so the idea of working with books and reading all the time is very exciting to me! I do still want to teach in a regular classroom for several years too, but teaching children to read is such a key part of early childhood education that I think this degree will definitely be useful immediately.

Oh, and another good thing about it is that I shouldn't have to pay for much of it at all! Since Jason's in the Army, I am eligible for a spouse tuition assistance program. All you have to do is set up an account online and talk to a career counselor, then they send the money to the school. Good deal, huh?

So, yippee!

As for the job hunt, I...........am..........still...........waiting. There are some possibilities out there, but these school districts are in NO rush to make any decisions! So, I continue to wait and call occasionally (without being a bother, of course!). Hopefully I'll get "The Call" soon!

I'd really like to start planning for next year, since I have way too much free time on my hands these days, but that's hard to do when you don't know where you're going to end up or what age of children you'll be teaching! Oh well. I guess I'll try to enjoy this time while I have it.

Right now it's time to enjoy folding some laundry. Let the fun begin!