Most teachers know they have a job from year to year. Some call it tenure, or maybe that's just the way most jobs are unless you really screw up, but it does't work that way for the newest generation of teachers. For the past couple years, I was on a one year contract, which meant that I only had a job for that given year, and really didn't know about the following year. This was the source of a considerable amount of stress. Include the factor that I was not full-time but only part time for most of that time and you can understand how happy Erin and I were when we found out that I would be full-time for the upcoming school year. And at least 60% of my contract was now provisional, which means that I will have a job for the next three years.
The following is a condensed timeline of my journey to be a FT teacher.
September 2008:
Enrolled in the Concordia University Masters in Teacher Night Program; continued to work FT as a store manager at Ross Dress for Less
February 2010:
Quit my job at Ross in order to complete my Student Teaching and complete my degree
June 2010:
Graduate from Concordia with a Masters in Teaching to teach Middle School and High School Language Arts and Social Studies
August 2010:
Teaching jobs prospects are quite limited as an on-going result of economic slowdown; Got a part time job at Fred Meyer cashiering and bagging groceries
September 2010:
After not getting any interviews for actual teaching jobs for the fall, I scrambled to keep myself busy. I got a job tutoring kindergartners in an after school program, (this program did not last long, but I really enjoyed working with the little ones in the short time) and started volunteering once a week in a Portland Public Middle School classroom through Mosaic, our church. Signed up to substitute for Evergreen School District where I subbed a total of 2 days.
February 2011:
Began working as an AVID tutor at Hudson's Bay High School and Jason Lee Middle School for Vancouver Public Schools (VPS) twice a week along with volunteering at the middle school in Portland and working at Fred Meyer.
April 2011:
Finally got signed up to substitute for VPS, the district Erin worked for, and where I was AVID tutoring and had some contacts with. I was optimistic I would get some sub jobs. Literally the next day after being signed up to be a sub, Erin goes on bed-rest and I become her long-term substitute teacher for the rest of the school year. I tell Fred Meyer I need weekdays off so I can take care of my bed ridden wife and continue to work on the weekends cashiering.
October 2011:
After getting two teaching interviews during the summer and being prepared to just sub all year, I am offered my current position at Fort Vancouver High School in the Success Academy. I started a month into the school year, and hit the ground running with little training or direction. The position is .60, but due to luck I ended up with a CWP class first semester, and was .80.
February 2012:
Second semester starts and I take over another CWP class and end up FT for the second half of the year. The schedule was perfect; I'd get to school around 10:00am teach from 12-5pm, and loved everything about it. Upon ending my first year I felt really good about where I was. I knew there was at least one opening in the Social Studies department and things looked good for me to come back FT.
September 2012:
School starts again, and due to things outside my control, the SS position is filled and nothing is really available besides my .60 Success Academy gig. I really enjoy the job, but it gets a bit stale, as it does not include the day to day lesson planning of most teaching jobs. And of course I want to be FT, both for the larger paycheck and to advance in my new career.
December 2012:
I cover a maternity leave at Erin's school in the morning prior to driving to my school for the afternoon. It brings in some extra money and gives me some more exposure. I began to secretly daydream about teaching in the same building as Erin (they have an amazing team).
June 2013:
As the year ends I feel more optimistic than at the start of the year. I know there is an opening at Erin's school and I attempt to network and place hints that I would be a perfect fit. Unfortunately, because of my one year status I cannot interview for any openings throughout the district and have to rely on my reputation. As summer begins I am hopeful, but also realistic. I am pretty sure I will be back for the .60 Success Academy job, with maybe a chance to pick up a class or two in the fall.
July 2013:
I am offered the .60 Success Academy job as I had figured. I am admittedly disappointed as I really don't want to spend another year only .60 and my dreams of working in Erin's building are dashed. The .60 does change from a one year to a provisional contract giving me at least 3 years of employment, but I still hope to be FT.
August 2013:
I teach two weeks of summer school during which I find out my former teaching partner is moving to FT, another teacher friend is leaving the school and another coworker gets a promotion. Suddenly, I feel I am the only one not making progress. My associate principal does not seem optimistic for adding to my work load. There are a couple other opportunities that I know may come up, but nothing real promising or what I really want to do. What once looked like a promising year now is starting to look very disappointing.
However, my principal e-mailed out my name to fellow principals letting them know my situation and what I could teach. In just a few days, after a phone interview and quick in person I am offered a 2 period block teaching intensive reading/SS at McLoughlin Middle School, (Go Pioneers!) which is the feeder school to FVHS (Go Trappers!) where I work.
The new class will be quite a challenge as I will have 7th graders who read at a 2nd or 3rd grade level. I have a lot to learn about how to teach these students, but it sounds like McLoughlin (Mac) has a strong team and lots of support. I will have to really foster strong relationships with the students so they know I am on their side and want whats best for them. I find I am already putting pressure on myself not to let the students down. Learning how to read and being successful in school is something that these students need in order to succeed for the rest of their lives not just in my class. After teaching at Mac in the morning, I'll head over to Fort and continue my Success Academy role which I feel pretty good about going into my third year.
So there you have it, my long slog to become a FT teacher. Three years could've been much worse. In many ways things worked out pretty good. Not always on the time schedule I wanted, but it seemed we were always provided just enough to get by. Next year I know I'll have the .60 position, but am not sure about the rest. It'd be nice to be in one building someday, but at this point I am just thankful to have a FT job doing what I love.
Previous Posts about Jeff's Job Search Part I and Part II
Update: Just this week on Tuesday September 17, my principle asked me if I would be interested in a US History section. So of course I said YES! So two days later I started teaching the class. I am pretty excited, what History teacher doesn't want to teach US History? So now I will be 1.2 or 20% more than FT for at least first semester and probably the year. That is double what I was last year at .6, although I think I might have more than double the workload (last year was pretty low key). The only down side is that I will have to rush from school to school and possible settle for a granola bar for lunch on occasion. Twice a month, on early release days, I will have 8 minutes to get from the end of one class to the start of the next; I may have quite a few tardies. I am pumped but have lot's of work to do. Excuse me while I brush up on Reconstruction and Indian Removal.
The following is a condensed timeline of my journey to be a FT teacher.
September 2008:
Enrolled in the Concordia University Masters in Teacher Night Program; continued to work FT as a store manager at Ross Dress for Less
February 2010:
Quit my job at Ross in order to complete my Student Teaching and complete my degree
June 2010:
Graduate from Concordia with a Masters in Teaching to teach Middle School and High School Language Arts and Social Studies
August 2010:
Teaching jobs prospects are quite limited as an on-going result of economic slowdown; Got a part time job at Fred Meyer cashiering and bagging groceries
September 2010:
After not getting any interviews for actual teaching jobs for the fall, I scrambled to keep myself busy. I got a job tutoring kindergartners in an after school program, (this program did not last long, but I really enjoyed working with the little ones in the short time) and started volunteering once a week in a Portland Public Middle School classroom through Mosaic, our church. Signed up to substitute for Evergreen School District where I subbed a total of 2 days.
February 2011:
Began working as an AVID tutor at Hudson's Bay High School and Jason Lee Middle School for Vancouver Public Schools (VPS) twice a week along with volunteering at the middle school in Portland and working at Fred Meyer.
April 2011:
Finally got signed up to substitute for VPS, the district Erin worked for, and where I was AVID tutoring and had some contacts with. I was optimistic I would get some sub jobs. Literally the next day after being signed up to be a sub, Erin goes on bed-rest and I become her long-term substitute teacher for the rest of the school year. I tell Fred Meyer I need weekdays off so I can take care of my bed ridden wife and continue to work on the weekends cashiering.
October 2011:
After getting two teaching interviews during the summer and being prepared to just sub all year, I am offered my current position at Fort Vancouver High School in the Success Academy. I started a month into the school year, and hit the ground running with little training or direction. The position is .60, but due to luck I ended up with a CWP class first semester, and was .80.
February 2012:
Second semester starts and I take over another CWP class and end up FT for the second half of the year. The schedule was perfect; I'd get to school around 10:00am teach from 12-5pm, and loved everything about it. Upon ending my first year I felt really good about where I was. I knew there was at least one opening in the Social Studies department and things looked good for me to come back FT.
September 2012:
School starts again, and due to things outside my control, the SS position is filled and nothing is really available besides my .60 Success Academy gig. I really enjoy the job, but it gets a bit stale, as it does not include the day to day lesson planning of most teaching jobs. And of course I want to be FT, both for the larger paycheck and to advance in my new career.
December 2012:
I cover a maternity leave at Erin's school in the morning prior to driving to my school for the afternoon. It brings in some extra money and gives me some more exposure. I began to secretly daydream about teaching in the same building as Erin (they have an amazing team).
June 2013:
As the year ends I feel more optimistic than at the start of the year. I know there is an opening at Erin's school and I attempt to network and place hints that I would be a perfect fit. Unfortunately, because of my one year status I cannot interview for any openings throughout the district and have to rely on my reputation. As summer begins I am hopeful, but also realistic. I am pretty sure I will be back for the .60 Success Academy job, with maybe a chance to pick up a class or two in the fall.
July 2013:
I am offered the .60 Success Academy job as I had figured. I am admittedly disappointed as I really don't want to spend another year only .60 and my dreams of working in Erin's building are dashed. The .60 does change from a one year to a provisional contract giving me at least 3 years of employment, but I still hope to be FT.
August 2013:
I teach two weeks of summer school during which I find out my former teaching partner is moving to FT, another teacher friend is leaving the school and another coworker gets a promotion. Suddenly, I feel I am the only one not making progress. My associate principal does not seem optimistic for adding to my work load. There are a couple other opportunities that I know may come up, but nothing real promising or what I really want to do. What once looked like a promising year now is starting to look very disappointing.
However, my principal e-mailed out my name to fellow principals letting them know my situation and what I could teach. In just a few days, after a phone interview and quick in person I am offered a 2 period block teaching intensive reading/SS at McLoughlin Middle School, (Go Pioneers!) which is the feeder school to FVHS (Go Trappers!) where I work.
The new class will be quite a challenge as I will have 7th graders who read at a 2nd or 3rd grade level. I have a lot to learn about how to teach these students, but it sounds like McLoughlin (Mac) has a strong team and lots of support. I will have to really foster strong relationships with the students so they know I am on their side and want whats best for them. I find I am already putting pressure on myself not to let the students down. Learning how to read and being successful in school is something that these students need in order to succeed for the rest of their lives not just in my class. After teaching at Mac in the morning, I'll head over to Fort and continue my Success Academy role which I feel pretty good about going into my third year.
So there you have it, my long slog to become a FT teacher. Three years could've been much worse. In many ways things worked out pretty good. Not always on the time schedule I wanted, but it seemed we were always provided just enough to get by. Next year I know I'll have the .60 position, but am not sure about the rest. It'd be nice to be in one building someday, but at this point I am just thankful to have a FT job doing what I love.
Previous Posts about Jeff's Job Search Part I and Part II
Update: Just this week on Tuesday September 17, my principle asked me if I would be interested in a US History section. So of course I said YES! So two days later I started teaching the class. I am pretty excited, what History teacher doesn't want to teach US History? So now I will be 1.2 or 20% more than FT for at least first semester and probably the year. That is double what I was last year at .6, although I think I might have more than double the workload (last year was pretty low key). The only down side is that I will have to rush from school to school and possible settle for a granola bar for lunch on occasion. Twice a month, on early release days, I will have 8 minutes to get from the end of one class to the start of the next; I may have quite a few tardies. I am pumped but have lot's of work to do. Excuse me while I brush up on Reconstruction and Indian Removal.
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