Tick tock, tick tock.
First off, just have to put this out there: these are freaking delicious. Something about the texture? I could chomp on them all day and be quite happy.
...but more importantly, it's now July. In the county where I reside, public schools resume in early August. I want to teach; I really, really want to teach. I also kind of don't want to move? Not far anyway. I am checking the local job boards on a daily basis. I have applied for several jobs. I am trying different methods with specific jobs based on previous feedback that I gotten or heard of from others who have secured jobs already.
My best shot for a teaching job, or what I think is my best shot, would be as an ESL teacher. The program I participated in this summer (via a grant through my university) is pushing heavily in local districts to get us hired on. Part of the program is that the participants (me + the others) will supply them with feedback on the validity of the courses/training we received. They actively want us all teaching in schools to get them that feedback. And I am not going to turn away any added help that I can get. :P Anyway - HCDE (local department of education) posted their ESL teacher application yesterday. I applied. They have to hire 1 ESL teacher for every 40 ESL students. The number of ESL students varies year-to-year. From talks I've had with current ESL teachers, most weren't even hired on initially until September. The school districts get a grace period on the time they need to have ESL instruction so that they can hire based on numbers. Hiring for ESL teachers is not done by the schools but by the respective boards of education (locally, anyway). ESL teachers can work with one specific school, or they can be traveling teachers and have 2 or 3 or more schools that they are responsible for, based on the number of ESL students there. I know one teacher who has her own classroom - that's it, one. Most tend to share a classroom with other ESL teachers. Some float from school to school. In the summer academy, we had 1 ESL teacher from a neighboring county - she was doing the job without the endorsement because they had no one last year who could do it. She served 37 students in 7 schools. Each student was legally granted 1 hour of ESL instruction per day. She basically drove around like crazy all the time trying to make it happen. :P I hope I don't quite have it that bad. But, yeah - no telling at this point.
Prior to the 2 week academy, and working with the ESL students at their summer camp this year, I was pretty much pursuing this endorsement to make myself a better candidate to be hired to teach. But now that I've gotten through the busy-hell that was June? If I had a choice between a regular class and doing an ESL job? I would be hard pressed to decide. It would come down to the other logistical factors, I think. Like location, specific schools, support in the schools, etc. I would be happy doing either. I just want to teach. :P
I have applied to teach in 3 different districts. HCDE (Hamilton County Department of Education, where I currently live), Bradley County (east of here/more rural), and Cleveland City Schools (in Bradley County, a separate system). Cleveland City especially will apparently have a huge ESL population this year. They put their ESL teacher app up last week, and I applied ASAP. Bradley County has less of an ESL population, but I have applied for a few middle school jobs there. HCDE...there's a lot of competition for jobs in HCDE. They have a jobs board for everything - teachers, food service, admin/clerical, nurses. I currently have applied for 6-10 jobs that are still open. I don't know if I will hear anything from HCDE about any of those jobs. They get 100+ applications for each teaching job. So they cherry-pick 10-15 people to interview, and typically pick someone from that pool. If you know them, you have a greater chance of getting an interview. I've had 3 interviews total, and I've applied for 25-30 positions. I have to distance myself from the applications, in a way. I used to apply and then I'd constantly think about the job, the school, the logistics, the students, and then I'd log in one day and see that the position had been filled. You don't even get an email notification when it's filled; the date the position is filled just pops up on your Applied Jobs list, and that's that. So I'd get my hopes up like crazy, then the disappointment would set in, and I felt like a roller coaster.
I had to change my philosophy on HCDE apps. :P Now I scan the jobs board. If something looks doable, I apply. Then I research the school more thoroughly. And if it's a job I really want rather than just something I think I could do, I contact the school in some hopefully-not-annoying-or-pushy way. I've emailed the principal with a question/comment, or swung by the school to introduce myself and leave a copy of my resume. I might start doing that for every single application I submit. It's July now, after all. And I do so want to be teaching this fall. I think I'll probably give myself another week before I start that though. The ESL job posting in HCDE closes on July 10. If I'm in the running for a job there, then I should be contacted shortly after (if not before). I'll put feelers out on it. The summer camp was run by the ESL program directors, and I worked with them for 2 weeks this summer - contacting them would not be out of place! :P
...but more importantly, it's now July. In the county where I reside, public schools resume in early August. I want to teach; I really, really want to teach. I also kind of don't want to move? Not far anyway. I am checking the local job boards on a daily basis. I have applied for several jobs. I am trying different methods with specific jobs based on previous feedback that I gotten or heard of from others who have secured jobs already.
My best shot for a teaching job, or what I think is my best shot, would be as an ESL teacher. The program I participated in this summer (via a grant through my university) is pushing heavily in local districts to get us hired on. Part of the program is that the participants (me + the others) will supply them with feedback on the validity of the courses/training we received. They actively want us all teaching in schools to get them that feedback. And I am not going to turn away any added help that I can get. :P Anyway - HCDE (local department of education) posted their ESL teacher application yesterday. I applied. They have to hire 1 ESL teacher for every 40 ESL students. The number of ESL students varies year-to-year. From talks I've had with current ESL teachers, most weren't even hired on initially until September. The school districts get a grace period on the time they need to have ESL instruction so that they can hire based on numbers. Hiring for ESL teachers is not done by the schools but by the respective boards of education (locally, anyway). ESL teachers can work with one specific school, or they can be traveling teachers and have 2 or 3 or more schools that they are responsible for, based on the number of ESL students there. I know one teacher who has her own classroom - that's it, one. Most tend to share a classroom with other ESL teachers. Some float from school to school. In the summer academy, we had 1 ESL teacher from a neighboring county - she was doing the job without the endorsement because they had no one last year who could do it. She served 37 students in 7 schools. Each student was legally granted 1 hour of ESL instruction per day. She basically drove around like crazy all the time trying to make it happen. :P I hope I don't quite have it that bad. But, yeah - no telling at this point.
Prior to the 2 week academy, and working with the ESL students at their summer camp this year, I was pretty much pursuing this endorsement to make myself a better candidate to be hired to teach. But now that I've gotten through the busy-hell that was June? If I had a choice between a regular class and doing an ESL job? I would be hard pressed to decide. It would come down to the other logistical factors, I think. Like location, specific schools, support in the schools, etc. I would be happy doing either. I just want to teach. :P
I have applied to teach in 3 different districts. HCDE (Hamilton County Department of Education, where I currently live), Bradley County (east of here/more rural), and Cleveland City Schools (in Bradley County, a separate system). Cleveland City especially will apparently have a huge ESL population this year. They put their ESL teacher app up last week, and I applied ASAP. Bradley County has less of an ESL population, but I have applied for a few middle school jobs there. HCDE...there's a lot of competition for jobs in HCDE. They have a jobs board for everything - teachers, food service, admin/clerical, nurses. I currently have applied for 6-10 jobs that are still open. I don't know if I will hear anything from HCDE about any of those jobs. They get 100+ applications for each teaching job. So they cherry-pick 10-15 people to interview, and typically pick someone from that pool. If you know them, you have a greater chance of getting an interview. I've had 3 interviews total, and I've applied for 25-30 positions. I have to distance myself from the applications, in a way. I used to apply and then I'd constantly think about the job, the school, the logistics, the students, and then I'd log in one day and see that the position had been filled. You don't even get an email notification when it's filled; the date the position is filled just pops up on your Applied Jobs list, and that's that. So I'd get my hopes up like crazy, then the disappointment would set in, and I felt like a roller coaster.
I had to change my philosophy on HCDE apps. :P Now I scan the jobs board. If something looks doable, I apply. Then I research the school more thoroughly. And if it's a job I really want rather than just something I think I could do, I contact the school in some hopefully-not-annoying-or-pushy way. I've emailed the principal with a question/comment, or swung by the school to introduce myself and leave a copy of my resume. I might start doing that for every single application I submit. It's July now, after all. And I do so want to be teaching this fall. I think I'll probably give myself another week before I start that though. The ESL job posting in HCDE closes on July 10. If I'm in the running for a job there, then I should be contacted shortly after (if not before). I'll put feelers out on it. The summer camp was run by the ESL program directors, and I worked with them for 2 weeks this summer - contacting them would not be out of place! :P