This is the sum of your life

I just got a job offer from the principal of a school I had applied to!

Considering how quickly I got the job (just two weeks of actual job hunting), I thought I’d share some of the things I did in hopes of helping some of you still seeking positions. One of the most important things in preparing for interviews and making an impression on your employers is your portfolio. If you’ve taken any education methods course, you’ll have heard of it, and maybe even compiled one before graduating. The teaching portfolio is essentially your teaching existence, labelled and bounded in a pretty leather binder. How you set up your portfolio helps set the tone you aim to create during the interview.

Most people are far more sensible than I am and would start their portfolio process with the content. The first thing I did was drive to Staples and ogle at the pretty folios and binder attachés. I could make a lame argument that I’m just applying the Backward Design theory, but honestly, I just wanted to go shopping. I chose a moderately priced leather padfolio with some extra folders and a built-in handle, so it looked more like a slim attaché case. That meant I didn’t need to bring a messenger bag or the like; I could just tow it along as it was.  I didn’t want a normal 3-ring view binder since it looked unprofessional, and even though I may be fussing about trivial matters, I feel that there are just so many variables present in an interview session that you never know what you’re being judged by. It doesn’t hurt to address aesthetics, and as the saying goes, “it’s all in the details.”

Anyway, now that I had my portfolio case, I had to get to the hard part and decide what to put in. Ultimately, my table of contents was as follows:

• CV/Résumé
• Educational Philosophy
• Praxis II Scores
• University Transcripts
• Copies of Recommendation Letters
• Copies of the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards and the Common Core Standards
• 3 Lesson Plans
• Student Sample Overview with Samples
• Professional Development Proofs
• Classroom Observation Reports
• Abstracts of pertinent research in education

The first five items are copies to give to the interviewer, so I made sure to have 3 sets of each. It’s best to have them all at the beginning so you can just hand them out right away, instead of flipping about your portfolio and coming off as disorganised. The length of one’s résumé is debatable, but if you already scored an interview, I’d suggest including a longer one. You’ll give the interviewer more information about you, and some of the details can be used as good conversation points. For example, in my extended résumé, which ran three pages, I listed my study abroad, my workshops on ELLs and students with disabilities. Since I don’t have a Sp.Ed. certification, I think mentioning those workshops gave me an edge. If you’re in uni, see if your campus has an Office catering to students with disabilities. They often host presentations and workshops that you can attend, and some of the information can be useful in an elementary or secondary classroom setting, considering the push for integrated classrooms and differentiated learning.

I also included copies of educational standards, to show that I was familiar with them. These standards are what schools are assessed on, so depending on your state, brush on on whether they’re adopting the Common Core Standards or have their own.

As for lesson plans I used a modified UBD lesson template to write my plans, and I chose lessons that showed how I incorporate technology, design student-centred activities, and levelled strategies for students. For student work, I chose samples that were in different stages of a lesson, from Do Now activities that accessed prior knowledge to final drafts of a research project. Having an arc is better than choosing unrelated samples, since it allows you to better walk your interviewers through your lessons.

Lastly, I included observation reports written by my cooperating teacher and my university supervisor, which give interviewers another impression on how I run a classroom. Since I had some some work on linguistic applications in urban education, the abstracts were just another potential conversation piece.

Interviewing can be a cold, chilling process

There’s no doubt that times are hard, especially for teachers. If you’re an educator and have not been keeping up with current affairs, best to mosey on to any paper’s site and browse through their education section. With all the debates regarding data, merit-pay, and contracts, the field of education has become far more complicated than simply having a desire to be in a classroom and “make a difference.” New Jersey is broke and cannot sustain the current pension system in place. For better or worse,  a good number of veteran teachers have decided to retire before the new laws diminish their monthly returns. That means for new teachers, there are now more openings than there have been in recent years.

As a recent graduate, I was anxious having to compete with more experienced teachers, and even with all the shiny details I used to puff my CV, I couldn’t help but feel woefully inadequate. I also don’t interview well, becoming shaky and more soft-spoken than I normally am. But needs must, and I’ve stepped up my job hunt with greater zeal. While regularly scouring the local papers (the Sunday Classifieds are the best), recently I also paid a subscription to NJHire. The site allows free members to see excerpts of new education job postings, (many of which may not show up in the papers until it’s too late), while premium members can see the whole post and apply directly through the site. Since my current methods haven’t successful, I thought the investment was worth it. So, ruining my credit score even more, I charged the fee on my card and began browsing. I liked the fact that I could apply the moment a new posting was up, because some schools only interview or accept the first few applicants, ignoring the rest once a suitable hire is found.

Since I’m a horrible driver, and my old, fat Camry isn’t so good for long distances, I was thankful that more than a few openings were nearby. Since I haven’t heard back from Bayonne, I applied to every Language Arts position within an hour’s drive from my home. For new teachers who send applications en masse, keep track of school numbers, and always give your mobile as your primary contact number. The first advice is to save you some embarrassment; if the person is nice, he’ll say what district he’s from, but others just go right on and you have to play along like you know. The second advice is to take the opportunity right when it offers itself. Some like giving home numbers because they can reply to the voicemail on their own terms; however, answering right away allows you an extra chance to impress the person on the line (provided you can quickly compose yourself).

Of course, the bad side of giving your mobile is being called at any time, and my luck often had me answering calls at the worst times. One was when I was in the parking garage, and I walked right into a spider web. I had another impromptu phone interview while celebrating my sister’s birthday in a Chinese buffet. The last was when I was outside with loud traffic whizzing by. Spitting and sputtering, muffled chewing and plate clanking, or cars racing and honking, none sound professional, attractive, or even pleasant. If you have more cajones than I do, you can ask to call back at a more appropriate time, but overall, I suggest being able to respond on the spot, as it highlights your flexibility and quick-thinking.

Anyway, I was surprised that one of those disastrous calls actually led to a call-back. I’m hopeful about this one, but my previous interviews have not been fruitful, and it’s best not to put all one’s egg into one basket. I’m revising cover letters to make them somewhat personal to each school, and I’m anticipating interview questions, like the favourite book one. I think I should reread Frankenstein so I have something actually useful to say about it.