The Job Hunt

I knew we were going to be moving to New York as early as April, so I updated my resume on teachers-teachers.com and monster.com. I applied to any teaching jobs in any of the NY boroughs. Additionally, I sent unsolicited emails to all the private schools I could find through internet searches. I got a little feedback while I was still in Charlotte, including several telephone "screening" interviews. I even conducted a Skype interview with one of the private schools. That school was so elite that their teachers graduated from schools like Vassar, Harvard, Yale, Duke, Dartmouth, etc. I never heard back from them, even though I sent several emails. My principal even called them after my interview so she could put in a good word for me, but no one had the courtesy to return her call.

My approach to interviewing was to be myself and let the words fly. Since I felt that the poor quality of my responses probably kept me from getting the private school job, I bought a book called Ace Your Teacher Interview:149 Fantastic Answers to Tough Interview Questions. I spent my evenings studying this book, thinking through the questions and carefully crafting intelligent answers. By the time I had my next phone interview, I had gotten through the first 85 questions in the book. I had my notebook of intelligent responses handy, with color-coded mini Post-It notes flagging the pages with the questions that I would most likely be asked. I was prepared!! Not! This guy asked some really off the wall questions, not one of which was I prepared for! I finished out the school year at MID while continuing to pack and take things to Goodwill each day. There wasn't much time for reading the book or answering the questions. Besides, I don't know how much it actually helped, other than getting me to deeply reflect on my teaching, my philosophy, and how I do lesson planning.

I hit the ground running after moving here. Besides looking for jobs in my usual places, I decided to look at the New York Times. I found that the newspaper uses Indeed.com, so I promptly updated my resume on that site, and applied to many jobs listed there. I don't know if my luck in finding a job had to do with the timing of my arrival or the change in job sites. Schools in New York were either ending the week I arrived, or the week after. Regardless, I received many calls and emails each day, often conducting two, 30-minute telephone interviews a day. I received an interesting email inquiry. The New American Academy had received my resume and wanted me to come in for a face-to-face interview. This same school had contacted me while I was still in Charlotte, asking me to come in the next day for an interview. I thanked them, but said that I was still under contract and was not in New York yet. They said they would try to find another time, but I didn't really expect to hear from them again. Wow! I thought I had lost out on an opportunity, but here was my chance! They requested an all day interview, asking me to arrive at 7:30am, ready to begin promptly at 7:45am. The day was to begin with individual and group exercises, a demo lesson, a panel interview, and time for observation in the classrooms. They also gave me homework! I was to begin thinking about how I would plan a 6-week engineering unit for 2nd grade as preparation for the group exercise. I was also to read the doctoral dissertation of the school's founder in order to understand the school's philosophy. Additionally, I was to plan a 45 minute kindergarten lesson, that I would teach to one of the kindergarten classes while being observed. I had only allowed myself to bring 1 small packing box of my teaching things during the move, since there's no storage in our apartment, so I had to use what was on hand. I had a copy of the book Stellaluna, so started to base my lesson on comparing and contrasting bats and birds. I sought help from my wonderful principal, Mrs. Keane. She gave great suggestions and even proofread the entire lesson.

I spent 2 days preparing for the interview. I bought a printer, poster board, and markers from Staples. I rehearsed my lesson, alone in my empty apartment, in order to see how long it was going to take. I crafted some intelligent questions to ask at the end of the interview, and carefully read the dissertation and the school's website. I was ready, although nervous! At 9:30 the night before the interview, I received an email saying that "the other candidate" had an emergency situation and had to cancel, so it would just be me. This would greatly change the "group planning" part of the interview, so they moved back the start time to 9:30am. I still hadn't taken the subway by myself at this point, so Richard suggested taking a cab. According to Google Maps, it would take 20 minutes to get there by cab. I hailed my first taxi outside of my apartment 40 minutes before I needed to be there because my motto is "better too early than too late." By 9:28, I was getting anxious and called the school to let them know that I was in transit but had no way of knowing how close I was to the school. I ended up being almost 10 minutes late, but there was so much going on that I don't think it was a big deal. The 5th graders were graduating on this day, and there were a lot of parents in front of the school buying helium balloons in school colors. I wandered inside, wearing Richard's padded briefcase, which was filled with all the materials for my demo lesson. I'm sure I stood out, because a woman (who I later learned is the principal) asked if I was here for the interview and led me to another woman who introduced herself and led me down the hall. The school shares the building with another school, so the two school leaders coordinate times for use of common areas such as the cafeteria, gym, and playground. The building seems nice. The classrooms are HUGE, with big windows, their own bathrooms and water fountains, and even an upstairs area. I learned that there are about 60 students per classroom (all the same grade level) and 5 teachers. They all share the same room, with different areas carved out for whole group instruction, small group instruction, and independent work. This was Tuesday, and the students would be getting out of school on Friday, so I expected it to be loud, but instead it was very calm and quiet. I mentioned this to the teacher who was my tour guide and she told me that the staff had spent a LOT of time getting students to the point of remaining quiet in the building. I guess they'd have to be, because in the open classroom there would be other teachers working on lessons AND because they share the building with another school. The kindergartners were at recess when I arrived so I was able to set up my lesson materials and relax for about 15 minutes. I would be observed by 2 kindergarten teachers, who had clipboards and observation checklists handy. The students came in from recess tired and thirsty. I loved that there is a water fountain in the room! The downside, that I also noticed, is lack of air conditioning! To be realistic, I know it's not hot for very much of the school year. In fact, just last week it was in the upper 70's and lower 80's, so one week of heat at the end of the year is bearable. I introduced myself to the students, then started my lesson by asking the students if they knew what animal was on the book cover. Most of them knew, and some had a lot of background knowledge about bats. One little girl stood up facing her classmates, cleared her throat, and told the others about echolocation! I think the lesson went well. I finished in 35 minutes, so I used the extension activity that I had planned, and sent students to their tables to color a bat mini book while I went around assembling it for them. After I had assembled books for half of the students, one of the teachers asked if we could debrief in another room while another teacher finished assembling the books. She asked how I thought the lesson went and what I would have done differently. I said that I would have chosen a shorter book, but explained that I had added some movement activities to make up for the students having to listen for so long. She told me she thought I had done a great job, and said that she would share her findings with the other teacher. I was then taken to what seemed like a lounge/meeting room that was full of boxes. I was handed a student writing sample and running record and was asked to comment about it and to make suggestions for helping the student move forward. This was a little tricky. I felt like I could comment about issues the student was having, but suggesting next steps for teaching was difficult with such a small sample. Next was lunch with the staff. They ordered a pizza for me and the other teachers brought their lunch in order to meet me and ask me questions. Also during this time, I had the opportunity to share my ideas for the 6-week engineering lesson. They seemed to love my ideas. Everyone was very nice and I think I will fit in well. The principal told me that they would make a decision in the next 2 days, because training would begin the following Monday. I let Mrs. Keane know that if they liked me, she would probably receive a call, asking about my qualifications and experience. She agreed to let me know if she heard from them. The next day, I received an email from the principal at The New American Academy, asking me to call right away. She made me an offer! I will be teaching kindergarten beginning in the Fall! My 5 weeks of training includes 1 week at Harvard University! This is going to be such a fabulous experience for professional growth.