Summer School

Summer schools started this week at Crestview Elementary School. Instead of doing an end-of-the-year program, Crestview does a jump start program 2 weeks before the school year. This works really for students like mine and the incoming Kindergarten students. They get a glimpse or refresh on the routines of the school. It also gives them a chance to get into the academics before the full school day is piled onto them. It's a nice ease in for them (and right now, for me!).

Technically, yesterday was the first day of summer school, however, my one student was sick and could not come. So, I sat in with the Kindergarten teacher who was in charge of the incoming students with no preschool experience. This turned out to be a great experience for me. I was freaking out the night before. I just wondered if I was truly ready and how things would go. She made it look so easy. She gave me some great ideas and showed that these next two weeks are a relaxed time to get to know some of the students. I kept thinking throughout the morning watching her, "Oh, this is easy. I can do this." She was perfect for me and didn't even know it.

Today, my student showed up. They have a really delightful personality. Definitely pushed all the boundaries they could (and probably will continue to do so the rest of the week), but did what was asked when I showed I meant business. There was very little actual teaching done today as I have quite a few goals and objectives to meet so every activity centered around assessment so I could get a feel for what I was up against. I am very thankful to have this time with them. Going into the year, I have 7 student IEPs I'm responsible for (2 of which are due in September) so getting some assessments out of the way gives me a chance to meet the other students' needs when they come in. This student will all be set up and ready to go, which gives them and me an advantage. The morning went relatively quickly and we got most of the work done. I was able to plan some actual instructional activities for tomorrow based on what we covered today. Getting through today really helped me feel better about how these next 2 weeks are going to go.

I have to admit, teaching this morning was such a fulfilling experience. I have always wanted to be a teacher and my road to getting there has been a little difficult. It felt so wonderful to do my thing without someone watching over my shoulder and constantly second-guessing myself. I was fully accountable and loving it so much. It is so great to finally do things completely my way. I write my lessons the way I want, I'm organized (sort of) the way I want...it's my show and I can't express how much happiness that brings me right now. I cannot wait for this year. I am still so excited.

Preparing for the Unknown

I'm a planner. More specifically, I'm a scheduler. I love to make schedules and calendars. I can't leave the house without my phone. Not because of my texting (which I'm also a big fan of) or the off-chance that someone might call me. No, my phone has my calendar on it and I hate to be without it. So the one thing that has been driving me crazy since I accepted this position is the fact that I want to make my schedule and can't until probably the day before school starts. I knew this would probably happen, my mentor teacher for student teaching warned me that she usually does her schedule the 1st week of school. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely thinking about it and how to arrange it, but nothing will come to fruition until probably that week of school. The Lord is teaching me patience, I'm sure.

The more I thought about being unable to schedule due to unknown factors got me thinking about all the other things I am unsure about. As a new teacher, I am finding there are many things that I am not going to know until August (the planner in me is hyperventilating). I don't know about my space that I will be working in. OK, I have a general idea, but the last time I saw that room, it was filled with 3 different teachers' stuff and arranged in a manner for these teachers to work with their independent students. I also don't know what stuff I have to put in that space. Do I have tables? Desks? Both? What kind of supplies are already in the room? Am I going to have to take a 2nd mortgage out on my house to pay for manipulatives? I know how many students I have, but what are the types of disabilities, learners, and personalities am I working with on a day-to-day basis? Do I have non-verbal communicators? If so, how are they communicating now? Do my kindergarteners need a nap? Is it OK to have a snack with my 4th graders? Speaking of snacks, what are my students allergic to? ...The planner in me is now balled up in the corner of my mind refusing to come out until she has some answers.

It is just amazing to me the different questions that begin to crop up when I start thinking about the year ahead of me. It can be a little overwhelming when it really gets going in my head and I start coming up with worst-case scenarios (like what if I catch Mono the first day of school and have to live out the rest of the school year an exhausted mess?). Here's the comforting thought: people have done this before. Every semester teachers graduate, find jobs, and go do their thing. Even the not-so-successful teachers set up their rooms and teach kids every single day. Every day, brand new teachers survive in the unknown. Even veteran teachers deal with the unknown each year and come out on top. They have just done it more times than me so they are a little more used to it. I know I'll be fine. I've survived this far, haven't I?

I'm now going to try to coax my planner out from the corner with the promise of doing some lesson brain-storming.

The Art of Interviewing

Interviewing isn't natural and there is definitely a knack to doing one. I'm not here to offer any sage advice on how to do a successful interview because I don't know. I thought a lot about how to be in an interview before going to my first. I was prepared with possible answers to questions they may ask me and when it comes to intervention, I know my stuff. But doing a school interview is difficult. The friends in my life right now are almost all business/IT workers and were kindly giving their advice on what to do. My father-in-law has a saying, "educators are in the people business". Keeping this in mind, you cannot apply regular business techniques to an educator's interview on the public school level. You have to be professional because education is a serious business, however, you have to show the school your personality. A school needs to know what kind of person you are and how you will fit into its dynamic.

Keeping this in mind, I decided to be sincere. I thought this would work best for me. I'm serious about education and my children with disabilities. I'm passionate about it. But the personal me; the me you hang out with is a real goofball. I sing and dance randomly, I have a love for Jim Henson and his muppets, I tell really bad jokes and will usually laugh at them, I get excited about the small things, I take it personally if my tomato plants decide to die, and zombies scare the bujeezus out of me (no really...they do). With that mix of crazy, is it really smart to let it all show through? Well, to a degree, yes. At least that's what I decided. I'm going to make new friends and work with these people and the personal me is a part of the professional me (not that zombies are going to play very heavily into my curriculum). Being sincere will show who I am professionally and give you a glimpse of the person that will be roaming the hallways.

Now another element that goes into an educator's interview is who is going to be there and what you are going to be doing. Districts can vary greatly between each other and so can their interview process. I generally had three different types: A group interview, a one-on-one interview and a "teach" interview.

The largest group interview that I did was with 5 other professionals, however, I have heard of teachers who had a panel of 10 that will fire questions at you like it's the Fast Money round on Family Feud. Everyone would ask at least one question and I had resolved to answer each to the best of my ability and be as honest as I could be. Also in these interviews, they would ask a question and after I began to answer, they would begin to write furiously. This can be intimidating as no one is actually looking at you so it can be hard to know where to look.

The one-on-one interviews tended to be more like talking with the person over a cup of coffee. These were by far the most relaxing situations for me. If you just let me talk about what I care about, I think I will do so much better than coming up with contrived answers to questions.

The last type of interview I did was called a "teach" interview. This is an up-and-coming method of interviewing which is popular with school districts that have found teachers who are great in interviews but may not be very good in the actual classroom. In my teach interview, they gave me 2 state standards and had me write a lesson plan (including how to modify that lesson for 2 students with moderate to severe disabilities) and then teach that lesson to 4 preschoolers. I have also heard of having to teach to teachers acting like preschoolers. I was thankful to have the students. I was confident with type of scenario as well. If there is one thing I am confident in, it is my ability to work with students. The most difficult part of this situation was the fact that I didn't have any information about the students including the abilities that they had. It went as well as I hoped it would. Of course it could have gone better...it always can. Given the circumstances, however, I was pleased.

With everything that happened, however, it worked for me. I had 3 job offers and am still getting calls for interviews. I like to think my passion and sincerity for what I wanted to do came shining through. I'm just thankful that I'm done with that process for now.