The name is Cox...Mr. Cox

So I've been waking up late...REALLY LATE, for the past week. My schedule has been a bit off for the past few days and I've been waking up in the wee hours of the afternoon. I've been working really late nights this week so I don't feel too bad. Being the popular person I am, I usually have A txt, or A missed call on my phone. I checked my phone and noticed 2 txts and a missed call...and one out of place voicemail. I checked the missed call and thought it was a call from the school I was supposed to sub at today. I decided sleep was better than money, so I called in and canceled the job for the day. I thought maybe they were calling me to see where I was or maybe yell at me a little.

I checked the voicemail and to my surprise it was a school, but the school where I used to teach music, did half of my student teaching, organized my theater club, made Garbage Monster and video yearbook movies, and always dreamed of getting a job with. The principal was calling and simply said to give her a call. I called back not thinking much of it because I had planned to help with their play day the following day and help with their end of the school year preparations the day after that. She was busy when I called so I just left my name with the secretary.

An hour later I get a call from the principal and she proceeds to say that all of the teaching decisions are still being figured out, but that she wanted to offer me a...FOURTH GRADE JOB! I knew the job had opened up, but I wasn't expecting a call from this district because I had already talked to the principal about how badly I wanted to move to Salt Lake and that I wasn't sure I wanted a job in Logan. Despite all of my plans of moving to SLC and the fact that my mother works and my sister-in-law teaches at the school (they don't like to put family at the same school) she still offered me the job.

I was kind of taken back, but after a few brief seconds of looking into the future of my life I decided that I would accept the job. After the phone call I just sat there and then I let out a scream. Not a scared scream, but a scream of relief. It's a great school, a great faculty, a great principal, and a great city. I may be able to move to SLC next year, but for now, I'll stay in Logan and teach my class of 4th graders at Ellis Elementary. It seems like everything kind of worked itself out to provide this job for me and I definitely feel blessed.

I guess I'm almost a grown-up. Next thing on my to-do list of being an adult...move out of my parents basement.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!

So the past couple of weeks have been disappointing. After my grand adventure into the valley of salty lakes, I haven't heard a lot from my potential employers. To date, I have sent out over 25 e-mails and applied for over 50 jobs, including positions over in the Alpine School District. This district was enclosed in a glass case in my life that had written on the front "break open and apply only in case of an emergency." Well, with the state of the economy, I felt desperate times call for desperate measures.

Out of all of the schools I have been in contact with, only one school in the Granite District called back to set up an interview. I went in confident, with my head held high, and then I saw a friend coming out of the school as I was going in. This friend just so happened to be teaching at the school and in the very same grade I was offered a job in last year. We had a few minutes to converse and after those few minutes, all confidence I had going into the interview dissipated.

We both talked about wanting to move to Salt Lake and proceeded to talk about the many interviews we have had in the area. Correction, she proceeded to talk about the many interviews she HAD had and the many more she had lined up. This just so happened to be my first interview outside of Cache Valley. I was devastated at the news and felt like maybe my resume wasn't strong enough, which meant that the possibility of getting a job was very slim. I walked into the interview and I crashed...HARD! Needless to say, I got an e-mail (that's right, an E-MAIL!) telling me they interviewed a large number of people and weren't able to offer me a job. So goes that perfect record of interviewing and successfully obtaining a job.


I feel like I'm still standing at this fork in the road and I want to go down the path least trodden, but Gandalf the Grey is there yelling at me with all his might saying, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!" Why? Why can't I pass? Well, I'll continue to send out e-mails, and I'm sure I'll continue to receive replies which look like this.

***Actual email, Names have been changed for fun***

Dear (Saint Gregorio),

Thank you for taking the time to interview with me at (Hades Playground). I wish that I had more positions to offer. I had so many great people to choose from and you were definitely among them. Keep watching the postings as more positions will be coming open. Good luck in your future years of teaching and making a difference in the lives of children.

Sincerely,

(Lucifer)

Better Luck next time I suppose.

Here's a video which describes my thoughts about finding a teaching job. ENJOY!

Application...DENIED

So I recently got a letter from the district that I had just applied for. They thanked me for my interest and then proceeded to tell me that all of their openings had been filled, BUT that my file will be held on record in case there are any more openings. As awful as this sounds, I was actually quite relieved to hear the news. I now have nothing holding me back from getting a job in Salt Lake...except for actually being OFFERED A JOB. It's been weeks since I went to the job fair and I haven't heard a single thing from any of the districts I had applied for. I felt a little scared at the thought of not being offered a job so I took action into my own hands.

I took a day off of work and decided to make my way to Salt Lake on a job finding adventure. After passing through the seven layers of the candy cane forest, through the sea of twirly, swirly gumdrops, and then driving through Sardine Canyon, I made my way to several school districts. As I walked into the first district, I soon discovered I had no game plan. I walked in with my teaching portfolio under my arm and a hand full of resumes and proceeded to ask for the Human Resource Department. After visiting with each district I came away with renewed sense that...well....THIS ECONOMY SUCKS!!!

Most of the districts were focusing on in-house hiring for the next week or so and then they would open their left over positions to the public. Some districts told me that they would open them up to the public when they figured out how many openings they had. Other districts said they would open them up to the public IF they had any openings. That word is very sketchy in the world of job hunting.

I left each district with a lot of good information that I wouldn't have otherwise known unless I had talked directly to the HR representative. I was also able to feel out each district to some degree and realized that some of the school districts I was interested in were quite rude, unfriendly, and a little arrogant. (Ex: I asked a secretary from a certain district out. The conversation went like this.) On the other hand, the districts I had very little interest in seemed to be friendly, jovial, and inviting.

After all was said and done, I think the trip was a success. I'm very glad I decided to do it. I even ended up getting an interview with a school for next week out of it. After such a long day I was able to enjoy a wonderful blind date with a lovely girl (take that aforementioned secretary) and watch my beloved Utah Jazz fall to the Lakers in game 4 of the Western Conference SemiFinals. (tear)

Thanks be to Conrad for keeping me company on my travels. He was the SamWise Gamgee to my Frodo. And after I got turned down on the date, he was the mascot to my douche bag from the video. Cheers!

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..."

It's been over a week now since i had my first REAL interview with a school district. I interviewed with Logan City School District...again. I had interviewed there last year and was offered a job teaching 5th grade at my old alma mater. I would be teaching right next to my old 5th grade teacher that I had when I went to school there. It was honestly a dream job and I should've taken it, but as you can tell from the "should've" in this sentence, I actually ended up passing on it. Instead I chose to continue in my thrilling career of chemical and sanitary engineering. In other words, continue being a janitor at the local high school. I've been substitute teaching during the day and cleaning during the night for the last year. I don't regret declining the job offer. This year has been a blast and I've been able to accomplish a lot of things (like paying off all of my debt).

Well, LCSD decided to give me another shot at the whole interview process. I realize what a privilege it was to be given a second chance to interview with them. They are a highly sought after district that receive hundreds of teaching applications every year and only end up interviewing about 20 or so candidates. I'm sure after I declined the job last year, it probably didn't sit too well with a lot of the administrators. In fact, I was told that I had "shot myself in the foot" by not accepting the job and that the odds of getting a job with them in the future was highly unlikely.

I walked into the interview a little more nervous than the previous year because I knew I was walking on egg shells, not to mention the fact that all 6 principals from all of the district's elementary schools were interviewing me at the same time in a cramped room. Each principal asked me a question and I answered the best I could. The questions were very reminiscent of the Dwight/Andy interview on The Office. How are you supposed to answer a question like this..."If we were to take a picture or your classroom at the end of the year, what would we see in that picture?" I'm pretty sure I bombed that question, but I gave it a valiant effort and felt satisfied with the interview as a whole.

I walked out of the building with my head held high, knowing I gave it my best shot. The only thing I was unsure of was if I would accept a job if they offered me one again. If I rejected their offer again, that would all but sever any ties I would have with the district in the future. Deny them once, well, i think George W. put it best. Anyway, I've been dealing with an internal struggle as to which path I shall take in life. In essence, do I take the road less traveled?

Road Trip!

So i recently took a trip to Boston and Philadelphia. I've always been a big fan of American history. I once considered teaching high school history instead of elementary education. I love going on these little history trips so that I am able to relate the material I am teaching to these little tots with a little more understanding. I eventually want my class to be able to go on trips to Washingotn D.C., or Philadelphia. Quite a task, considering I live in Utah and to take such a trip would have an astronomical price tag attached to it. I've seen how field trips can enhance a class, or simply be chaos in a big yellow bus. Preparation is definitely key when planning a field trip.

During my visit to Boston and Philly I saw a number of groups walking on The Freedom Trail, walking through a museum, or visiting the Liberty Bell. Here are the lessons I learned from watching:

1. Smaller groups = better attention.
Some of these groups just unloaded bus load after bus load of students. There were 4 classifications of students within each of these large school groups. The Bright and Sprite Group- these students were usually found at the front of the line and hanging on to every word the teacher had to say. Their numbers were few. There were the Stragglers- these are they who are at the end of the line of students and don't listen at all, but normally don't cause any problems. The next group are the Coma patients- these students are continually coming in and out of the discussions. They tend to float around the middle of the group. They pick and choose what material they want to listen about. Most of the time they decide not to listen. The last group I call the PDA's- these students consider a school field trip a free date. They are usually found in dark corners or behind trees trying to steal any amount of time away from the group so they can snog away.

2. Plan in advance:
It seemed as if some of these teachers just received a memo that morning saying "Congratulations! Your class has been chosen to go on a field trip that will be leaving in the next 30 minutes." The bus pulls up, they fill in and then back out, and then they let their students "look around" for most of the field trip. They have no agenda, other than to try to keep them quiet and in control the whole time.

3. A field trip should be a privilege, not a right:
There seems to be this thought that exists in the world of education that is summed up by one phrase "No Child Left Behind." Really!?!? NO CHILD? We have reached a point in society where we feel BAD if we leave anyone out, or if we have to criticize or reprove. The lessons I've learned in life that have the greatest impression on me are when I was told I couldn't do something because of my behavior, or when I was mocked or told that the way I was doing something was wrong. Sure it stung for a while, but I learned from it and then I moved on.
I was recently thinking about this because I had just been cleaning up after a dance festival at my job. I walked into the auditorium just as they were handing out awards. There were no bronze or silver awards. The only awards they were given were Gold, Gold plus, and PLATINUM!!! That's right, THEY'RE ALL WINNERS!!! YAY! But what happens when they get cut from high school team, or a job they will eventually interview for? What a bombshell it will be when they find out that not everyone can end up a winner. Reality check. There are winners and losers in life, and there should be in school as well. If you don't earn a field trip, you shouldn't go.

I could probably go on and on about my philosophy of how some children should be left behind, but this post is long enough and I think my point is somewhat made. In the meanwhile, enjoy this clip from Billy Madison. I feel so bad for bus drivers sometimes.

The battle begins

Last Thursday, the 11th, there was a grand gathering of administrators and hopeful-teachers. This gathering is known as the northern Utah Teacher job fair. I went to one last year in Salt Lake City and I was so excited to get my feet wet in the hustle and bustle of finding a job. I don't take these things too seriously because I've always been a good interviewee (my record is 5-0). I was probably the only person not dressed up in a suit (although my brown cardigan was quite dapper i must say!) In fact, these little get togethers remind me of the big L.A.R.P. (Live Action Role Playing) matches I see out in front of the high school when I drive up to work. They get all dressed up, all worked up, and then they start to battle on the field of the Logan High School campus with foam and duct taped swords and shields. This scene has always brought a smile to my face. (I'm not afraid to admit that I wouldn't mind joining in one day.)

I've never been worried about finding a job as an elementary teacher. That is until the proverbial crap hit the fan with the economy. The school district turn out this year was worse than last. What once was one of the most secure jobs on the planet is now a no-holds-bar cage match in the job field. The figurative foam shields and swords were in abundance for this conference. The resumes were thick with experience, the stories were rich in content, the pant-suits were pressed, and the B.S. was thick.

I've always thought interviewing candidates for a job would be a tough gig. Let's face it, everyone embellishes their life and work experience at least a little in every job interview. I tried really hard to be as truthful as possible, but then I realized one of the most significant thoughts of my life. This isn't a job an interview for my next job, this is an interview for my CAREER. AGHHHHH!!! I'm a grown up now (kind of), I should start caring about a 401K, benefits, and a salary lane. I need to take this whole CAREER FAIR thing more seriously. After having this brilliant thought, I went into each interview with the biggest smile and the best stories about my teaching credentials. I never lied, I just enhanced my answers a smidgen. Perhaps someone cast a spell of temporary cheesiness on me. I still feel I can hold my head high though.

All in all, the job fair was a success. The interviews for the schools I'm interested in went very well. I'm still crossing my fingers for the Salt Lake City District. I think that may have been my best interview EVER!

5...5 dollar...5 dollar footloooonnng

I think that Subway commercial is SO annoying! It's been playing for well over a year now and it's driving me CRAZY! Although, I will give them credit for making me crave a delicious, cheap sub after hearing it. After pondering the countless number of dateless weekends I spent sitting in front of the t.v. while growing up, I think back to things that stuck out to me. Firstly, thank goodness for ABC's T.G.I.F. lineup. Where would I be without the Tanner or the Winslow families? Secondly, Commercials with catchy (and irritating) jingles and the theme songs to some of my favorite T.G.I.F. sitcoms are what I recall instantly.
I'm always thinking of ways to improve my future classroom and to make it interesting, fun, and educational. I've decided that music is going to be a huge part of what makes my class, MY CLASS. I taught music to grades K-5 for a year and a half back in 2005 and 2006. That teaching experience is what got me interested in teaching elementary in the first place. I had so much fun teaching those months. As I've been looking at old video of some the kids' performances and activities, I've come to realize that the music enhanced everything we did together.
Most of the great teachers I've come to know through observation or research have used music in a lot of ways to enhance their classroom environment. Whether it's chanting the states of The United States of America, or just singing a little song to transition from one activity to another, music plays a huge part in their classrooms. I've been thinking of different ways to incorporate music into my classroom and have come to appreciate the little, annoying jingles heard everyday on television or on the radio. "Five dollar footlong" is now ingrained on my brain. Now to turn it's memorable powers into my own creation. Maybe something like "Four...Forty-four...Forty-four presideeenntttsss." It' s a work in progress I suppose.