I had a weeklong sub job in early April that went really well. This was for a class that I have subbed for before, a 3/4 split grade classroom in the Edmonds school district. So I already had a good rapport with the kids and knew their names. I also asked the principal if he would do a formal observation and write me a letter of recommendation. This was the smartest thing I did, because although it was a lot of work, I now have THE best letter of recommendation now in my file and it is current for this year and it is very complimentary!
April 16th was the annual Washington Educator Career Fair (this was my third year in attendance) and boy was it interesting. The sign of the times was that there was only about HALF of the usual number of school districts present. I took advantage of the opportunity and spoke to almost every school district present, which was 45. From 9am to 3pm I pounded the pavement, threw modesty to the wind, talking myself up and gave out over 40 copies of my resume! Although most everyone is clueless as to their employment needs until the Federal Government passes the budget (May 15th), many districts told me about their anticipated needs. So here's the scoop:
There are very few leads for elementary positions. If I was strictly an elementary teacher I would be discouraged right now. It's not hopeless, but there's more competition in this area. However, there are a few leads, all of them are South of Seattle with the exception of private schools.
I have a few more leads for Science and ELL (since I'm highly qualified in that area, meaning I have a number of credits and I passed the Praxis exam in English Language Learning). This might be my saving grace. This was what many people at the job fair were interested in, compared to my K-8 endorsement.
I am also considering the idea of going out of state. Most of the jobs leads are south of Seattle (Tacoma, Federal Way, etc). I had been considering going to Eastern Washington, but I get the feeling that there are less jobs over there than west of the mountains. Again, nobody knows anything until after May 15th, this was just the impression that I got. So, where would I go? Well, Alaska is hiring, so that's a possibility, but I have more of an interest to go to Indiana than anywhere else out of state simply because I have family there. My sister, brother-in-law and future nephew live in Lafayette (they are expecting next month). So, we will see. I will apply in-state first and will go from there.
I had another job interview for a long term sub position in Shoreline. I didn't get the job and am frankly not surprised. I suspect they already had someone in mind before they started interviews.
I survived Chemistry and am now taking Biology. It is going fine except that it is a lot of work and is time consuming. I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water, with subbing, studying, finding time to work on applications, other commitments and somehow manage to have a social life as well??? However, this is probably good practice to what it will feel like when I have a full time teaching job.
I also have found a junior high science teacher that has agreed to let me teach her class for my formal observations (for the endorsement), which I will do next month. Wish me luck!
I'm bound and determined to do my best to get a full time teaching position for next year and that is what I am focused on. I'm not sure what I'm going to do this summer, other than take the remaining classes I need for science. I have applied to numerous summer school positions, but I don't think I have a good chance of getting anything. I think school districts are more likely to hire experienced contracted teachers for these jobs than a newbie like me.
More will be revealed...
