Not Another First Day!

Hello, everyone! If you read my most recent post, you know that last week I was feeling a little bummed, because I was unable to find a teaching job for fall and instead took a job as an aide. (By the way, I wanted to give a shout out to Miss L for her kind comment that really helped me feel better and put things into perspective!)

Last week when I wrote, I said that I had been hired as a 1:1 aide for a child with Cerebral Palsy, a third grader named Bess. Well, today was scheduled to be my first day. So yesterday I emailed the principal, Mr. Dulcet, to see what time I should arrive. He replied that I should arrive at 8:20, and mentioned that I'd be placed as an aide in Mr. Shizuka's classroom, and that I would also serve as a "backup aide" for the little girl named Bess. I was a little confused by that! When they hired me they tld me I'd be working with Bess, and they even had me meet with Bess's teacher, but then they told me I'd be working as a classroom aide in a regular education first grade classroom!

Today when I got there, things were cleared up a bit. An aide named Ms. Lane had been working, since the beginning of the school year, as a 1:1 for a first grade boy named Wyken. But Ms. Lane has a strong background in working with children with physical disabilities. So somewhere between last week and this week, it was decided that Ms. Lane would work with Bess, and I would take over working with Wyken.

The weird thing is that Wyken barely needs any help. He has a mild behavior disorder. Apparently last school year there was an incident in which he brought a kitchen knife to school inside his folder, causing all hell to break loose with the parents of the other kindergarteners. So that's when it was decided that Wyken needed an aide. He also has some mild sensory issues. But otherwise, he's fine, a little hyper but very eager to please. The goal is for him to not need an aide at all next school year. So my job is really to keep an eye on him, and step in when he does need help, but really let him be as independent as possible. Which is great, for Wyken, because he hates having an aide and being different from the other kids!

So today I did mostly busy work. I had to pull out all of the pages from the students' math worksheets, and collate them, so they could be passed out one at a time throughout the year. I hung up the students' art work in the hallway. I graded some homework. I distributed some papers and finished schoolwork into the kids' mailboxes. I helped Ms. Lane take Bess to the bathroom. (All I had to do is stand there, just so Ms. Lane wasn't in the situation of being alone with a child in a bathroom!)

One weird part of my day is that I was told I'd also have to go to a PE class to help out with four boys who are in special education but are mainstreamed into a regular PE period. I think they are in fourth grade. But when I went down to the gym, the PE teacher told me that the person who worked with the boys had to be a certified adaptive PE teacher, who could modify the activities for them. Ms. Lane, who had been doing it before, was a certified adaptive PE teacher. I stayed for that PE period, but really had no idea what I was supposed to be doing... the kids were playing some game I've never heard of called Four Corners Soccer. Balls were flying everywhere. Afterwards I went and asked the special education teacher, who I was told knows what is going on, what I was supposed to do during that gym class. She told me that my only job was to be an extra person and help out with the boys, but not modify anything. Later I asked Ms. Lane. She said that she did modify things, and that she thought she should still work with the boys, in which case I might take over and work with Bess for that half hour each day.

Then there was the issue of some people telling me that I'd take turns with two other people for doing lunch duty... and then some other people told me that I wasn't supposed to do lunch duty without getting paid, and that someone was being hired specifically for lunch duty. And other people told me that I would have to do lunch duty but would get paid for it.

Confusing!

Not bad, though. Everyone seems very nice. And the pay is good. Not as good as a teacher's pay, but much better than what I earned in the ESY program or at any other job I've worked at. So, I guess it will work out fine, for now.

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Allow Me To Wallow For A Minute, Please!

Hi everyone! Did ya miss me? Can't believe it's October! I've been hiding under a rock for quite a while now.

The good news is, I finally got a job.

The bad news is, it is not a teaching job. I got a job as a 1:1 aide for a 3rd grader with cerebral palsy.

It;s kind of been depressing for me because, all last year, whenever it was a holiday or special occasion, I'd be thinking, "Next year at this time I'll be doing this with my own class!" And I have this huge pile of classroom materials and things in my room, all these books I've collected, all in hopes of being a teacher. And I'm not going to be using them. Instead I'll be working in someone else's classroom, doing what I'm told to do and nothing more.

Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic and feeling sorry for myself... but in real life I've been forcing myself to be cheerful and look on the bright side all the time for the benefit of my family members and others. I'm too embarrassed to talk about my real feelings. So in this blog, I feel like I just need to vent a little and say, I feel like a failure. I really do. One reason I've been avoiding this blog is because it is so hard for me to read about all the teachers doing great things with their students, while I have nothing to contribute. It's kind of pushed me into depression. I mean it's been getting hard for me to wake up in the morning, and leave the house and things, which are symptoms of my getting a depressive episode.

Sorry, I really don't mean to be wallowing in my misery, but I really just have to get that off my chest. To my parents and everyone, on Facebook and everywhere else, I have been all, "Oh, I'll do what I have to do, at least as an aide I'll get more experience, etc, etc, etc." So this is really the only place, where I can hide behind my fake name and cartoon avatar, and admit that I feel awful.

The weird thing is, even though I started applying for aide jobs after labor day when it became clear that I wasn't going to have a teaching job right away and I started to run low on my savings, it took me this long to find a job. Part of this is probably because it was obvious I still do plan to get a teaching job, and schools want to hire aides who are going to be pretty stagnant so they won't have to be hiring and training a whole new person in six months. I had already decided that if I got an aide job I was going to stay with it for the entire school year, and not start looking for teaching jobs until the fall of 2013, because I don't think it would be fair to be a teacher's aide for a few months and then leave. But still I guess schools want someone who is going to be there as an aide for years. A lot of the aides I know in this area are older women, married, with grown children, who don't have any plans to move up on the career ladder. They are basically just chilling and saving up money so they can retire. So I actually got turned down for a whole lot of aide jobs, which just made me feel worse!

At one private therapeutic day school where I applied to be an aide, the principal (who showed up to the interview wearing sweats, a T-shirt, and a baseball hat with her ponytail sticking out the back) actually said to me several times, "How come you can't get a teaching job? I would think special ed teachers are in high demand right now. Why couldn't you get a job?" (Never mind that she works at a special education school that is not hiring any teachers!)

I applied at another therapeutic day school that works specifically with children with autism, and I really thought I was going to be hired there. They were hiring multiple people, and I have a ton of experience with children with autism. However, they sent me a rejection letter. I was actually a little relieved, because the one bad thing about them was that they were a year-round school, so you don't get summers off, and although I don't necessarily need the entire summer off, my family is planning a 2-week cabin/boat/woods vacation along with several other family members, including my brother who mI haven't seen in years and my cousin whom I've only seen once in the past ten years, and I really didn't want to miss that!

So anyway, last week I went on about five different interviews at various schools, but none of them called me back. And then, last Thursday, a principal called me and asked if I could come in for a second interview the very next day. The "interview" turned out really to be just a chance for me to meet the classroom teacher I'd be working with... I guess so she could see if she had a good feeling about me, and so she'd be able to give the principal her input before he made a final decision.

And this morning, I got the call, saying I was hired! I'm going on Thursday to fill out all the papers, and then I'll start next week.

By the way, did I mention I know nothing about cerebral palsy? Of all the jobs I applied to working with kids with disabilities I have experience with, the one I got hired for was for working with a disability I admitted I didn't have any experience with! They hinted that one of the reasons they wanted to hire me was because I said I don't have issues with helping kids with toileting. LOL!

So... everyone! If you've worked with children with cerebral palsy before, have any hints for me? I know all kids with cerebral palsy are not the same, just like all children with autism are not the same. This particular girl is cognitively high functioning, is able to speak, and from what I've heard has a great personality and everyone loves her. She's a third grader. So I imagine it will be like working with a typically developing third grader, and movement is the only thing atypical about her. But I don't know. I haven't met her yet. I'm a little nervous. What do you think???

Another Update

Hi everyone! Long time no speak! Since I haven't gotten a job yet, I haven't felt like reading everyone's blogs... no offense, its just that it would have made me sad to hear about everyone getting their classrooms ready and doing first week activities, when I couldn't do those things.

Anyways things may be looking up. I have two interviews this week. One of them is as a K-5 LD Resource teacher. The good things about that job would be that it is at the school my little cousins attend, and close to their house, although it is 45 minutes away from where I currently live. I'd be able to see my cousins,  and visit my aunt more often, and if there was a blizzard or something I could always sleep over at their house and have only a five minute drive in the morning. Since several of my family members live out that way, I'd probably look for an apartment between my parents' house and the school, so I'd be close to everyone! The rent rates are lower in that area.The negatives about this job would be that I would be a resource teacher instead of having my own classroom, and I'd have a long drive at least for a while.

The second interview is for a K-1 self-contained crosscat classroom. The positives would be that I'd have my own classroom, I'd be with the grade levels I'm most comfortable with, and it is only about a 20-25 minute drive from where I'm now staying. The negatives would be that it is at a "failing school" that is in a district that isn't too wonderful... since most of the schools in that district are failing, they are obsessed with test scores... and also that, while I would still want to get my own apartment as soon as possible, the rent in this area is a lot higher. Plus, it just wouldn't be my cousins' school. Not exactly a negative, because obviously working at my cousins' school isn't a requirement... or else I'd have very narrow job prospects!

I also have an interview as a library aide at another school. I am not exactly sure what a library aide does... I guess I would be straightening out books and reading to little kids. It is also about forty minutes from my house. That job would be more like a last resort.

I'd be so excited to get either one of the two teaching jobs! I'm actually studying for the interviews, to make sure I don't get taken by surprise by any of the questions! Everyone send me their positive thought! I'll write again over the weekend and tell you how all three interviews went.

See ya later!

I'm Running Out Of Time!

Hi everyone! It is now the middle of August, as you may have noticed, and I have not found a job! I was out of town for a while and had no access to the Internet, and I was hoping that, upon my return to civilization, K12jobspot would be filled with jobs needing to be filled! But there only turned out to be about five new special ed teaching job posts in my area. (I applied to all of them.) You know what there are a ton of? Aide jobs! Every district calls it something else... teacher's aides, teaching assistants, paraprofessionals, associate teachers, superhero's sidekick, etc, but they are all basically the same job description, and every district is looking for them. It's almost as if districts are saving money by hiring more assistants, who can do a lot of the same work a teacher would do, but for way less pay. For instance, they could probably justify having larger classes, if they could give each teacher an aide or two. I'm not certain this is the case. It's just a theory. 

But anyways, here I am, beginning to panic! I was just on summer vacation with my cousin, who also has a teaching degree. He got his Master's degree a year ago, and he spent the entire school year trying to make ends meet by subbing and working part time in a book store, because he couldn't find a teaching job. This summer he finally managed to score a teaching job, thank goodness! But I don't think I could do what he did. I'd be too nervous to sub... it would be like every day was my first day of work! Kind of like "50 First Dates," only it would be "350 First Days."

I'm highly qualified. I have a great resume and great references. (I've actually been told this by a few potential employers.) The only thing I don't really have is experience... but how am I going to get experience without a job? I already have plenty of aide experience.  What I need is teaching experience. 

You may remember that a lot of the things have happened for me at the last minute, this past year. I got my first student teaching placement at the last minute. Then, I got a ten-week student teaching placement, only to be rejected from it after they realized I wasn't a reading specialist. I didn't receive an actual student teaching placement until the Friday before I was supposed to start! And this summer, I searched frantically for a job, and had almost given up, when I suddenly got hired over the phone for the ESY aide job that started less than a week later. So my only hope is that, like everything else, a wonderful teaching position will just fall into my lap at the last minute! Otherwise, seriously, I have no idea what I'll do. 

Send positive vibes my way, everyone!

Miss Read's First Interview, Sort Of

Hi everyone! I sort of had my first teaching interview yesterday! I say "sort of" because the interviewers stressed that it was just a screening interview. I'm not sure if that means everyone who applied for the job  was interviewed, or if they weeded out some of the applications ahead of time, or what. But either way, it was an interview!


One great thing is that, when I first applied, I was browsing around on the school district's website, and I saw a familiar name in the staff directory. The school psychologist at one of the district's schools (although not the one I'd be working at) was actually the woman who was the social worker at the school where I worked as a 1:1 aide many years ago. Back then we knew each other very well, because the child I worked with had a lot of behavioral issues and the social worker and I worked closely together to help him. To use a term that is used much more often these days, we "collaborated" frequently! So I emailed her, she emailed me back, we caught up, she said I could use her as a reference, etc. Well, when I got the call for the interview, I emailed her to tell her the good news. It turned out, the interviews were being done in the building she worked in, because that school is already out for the summer and the other schools in the district are not. And, to make matters better, the day of my interview was a day that she was planning to be in the building (even though this is technically her summer vacation) to help with an evaluation for in incoming student. (I actually met that student while I was in the lobby waiting for the interview. He was an adorable little guy who entertained me for the entire twenty minute wait by pretending to be various animals such as a cat, a dog, a bear, a snake, and a spider.) So... my friend actually went into the room where they were doing the interviews, and told the people that she had worked with me and that she highly recommended me. She described the child I used to work with and the things I used to do for him.


(In my very first blog post, I described "Tommy," a little guy with autism who I worked with from kindergarten through second grade. I was just barely into my twenties at the time and had never had this type of job before, although I'd worked as a general aide in several day care centers. Working with Tommy was probably one of the best experiences in my life. I loved that little guy. When you're a 1:1 you get very close to the kid you're with. He was an amazingly smart boy, and also very challenged by his frustration. So one minute he'd be hitting me and kicking me and pulling my hair, and ten minutes later he'd be sitting on my lap and crying in my arms. Its a really bonding experience. I remember feeling protective of him, as if he were my little brother or something. He had a bad reputation at the school because of the ways he acted when he was upset, but really the people who thought of him as bad were people who didn't know him well, like teachers in the other grades. All of the teachers and aides who worked directly with him, and the social worker, and me, loved him... he was really a sweet little kid who just got so overwhelmed sometimes. But I digress...)


At any rate, I got a personal recommendation from the school psychologist, which at least will make me stand out from other applicants. The screening interview itself was fairly easy. They didn't ask about standards and data and other complicated things. The questions were more designed to see how you really felt about kids and about being a teacher, why you wanted to be one, what you thought the purpose of school should be, your attitude towards parents, etc. I also had to go into another room, read a pretend case study, and write some IEP goals and objectives for the fake student. I am usually pretty good at writing goals, although I've found that different people want the goals written in different way. It seems like every class I took, I was taught a different way to write goals!


Here's an example of what I wrote for a kindergarten student who needed frequent reminders to complete his arrival routine. 


1. Given a visual schedule, Jason will independently complete his entire arrival routine, on four out of five school days. 
          A. Given a visual schedule, Jason will independently hang up his coat and backpack when he arrives in the morning, without teacher reminders, on four out of five school days. 
         B. Given a visual schedule, Jason will independently put his lunch box in the appropriate bin when he arrives in the morning, without teacher reminders, on four out of five school days. 
         C. Given a visual schedule, Jason will independently move his name tag on the attendance board when he arrives in the morning, without teacher reminders, on four out of five school days. 


What do you think? I'd love to hear how you write goals at your school. 


Oh yeah... the job, if I actually got it, would be teaching an all day special ed kindergarten class!


I'll keep you updated on whether I get called back for a second interview.


Thanks for reading!

Miss Read Tries To Become Bilingual

Hi everyone! Its been a while since I last posted! While most of you who are already teachers are finishing up your school year, I am floating around in limbo with nothing much to do. I've been spending a lot of time looking for jobs, both for the summer and for the fall. For the fall, I've been applying for just about any special education teaching job I come across, and I've also sent my resume to a few private therapeutic day schools in the area even though they didn't advertise for job openings. I've sent out about 35 applications so far... and people have been telling me that a lot more jobs will start cropping up sometime in July. I've also been working a lot on getting my professional portfolio ready, in case I do get an interview!
For this summer, I've been applying everywhere! I've been applying at day care centers, schools with ESY programs, summer day camps, health clubs with child care rooms, and more. The only reason it is somewhat difficult for me to find jobs is because I'm leaving town for a while during the first week of August, and many jobs want you to commit to the entire summer without taking time off. :(  I also made profiles on a few tutoring sites. Even though its summer, some people want to get tutors for their children to keep their brains sharp for next school year! 
I like to have a project to keep me busy when I have a lot of time off. One thing I've been trying to do is learn Spanish. I found this app for my Kindle Fire, called Spanish In A Month. Its an app that tries to teach you Spanish without involving any English at all, basically by showing you pictures and saying the Spanish words, and then quizzing you. Each lesson starts out easy by showing you pictures accompanied by one Spanish word, and quizzing you on six pictures at a time. Then it starts showing pictures with two words, such as a word and a description or action. For instance, "red dress" instead of just "dress." Pretty soon its giving you short sentences, like "The girl is wearing a red dress." And finally, towards the end, you're getting quizzed on long sentences such as, "Is the girl wearing blue pants? No, she is wearing a red dress." If you try this app, you'd be surprised at how fast you start understanding the sentences! The only problem is, although I can definitely read and understand many sentences and words in Spanish now, it is much harder for me to understand sentences I hear, and even harder to actually speak in Spanish off the top of my head. 
Another thing I've been doing to try to improve my listening comprehension and spoken Spanish is watching Spanish TV shows. I've Tivoed the Mexican version of Sesame Street... Plaza Sesamo. Stop laughing! Its very entertaining!
I've also been watching an old telenova called Carita De Angel. When I lived in Colorado, I was close friends with a Mexican family. We would often watch Carita De Angel at their house, and they would sort of describe what was happening, in English, so I could enjoy it too. Its a very cute show about this little 5-year-old girl named Dulce Maria, and her family. She goes to boarding school, but she also spends time at her dad's house, and even visits her deceased mother in Heaven. Also she has a puppy called Chipira. And the puppy talks.  Its adorable! I've been watching one episode each night, and trying to understand as much as I can. Its still kind of hard, but I can usually at least figure out what is going on! Its easiest to understand Dulce Maria because, being a little kid, she sort of uses easier words and talks more slowly, and more animatedly. She has the hugest brown eyes, and she's always rolling them!
I thought I'd show you a clip from Carita De Angel so you can see what I mean... maybe you'll get addicted too! 


For anyone who didn't catch that, Dulce Maria and the rest of the family have been hiding the puppy because the dad doesn't allow pets in the house. While Dulce Maria visited her mother in Heaven, her mother told her to name the puppy Chiripa, and that it would make her dad agree to let her keep the puppy. So in this part she's introducing the puppy and saying she's going to call her Chiripa, and the dad flashes back to a dog that he and his deceased wife had together, whom they had called Chiripa. He asks Dulce Maria where she heard that name, and she says she saw it in an old diary. So he lets her keep the puppy! (And did you hear the puppy talk?) In the bedroom scene he's telling Dulce Maria she can't put Chiripa in the bed, because pets shouldn't sleep with people, but Dulce Maria talks him into letting the puppy sleep in the bed. :D


Anyway... that's all for now! Let me know if you have any suggestions on how to learn more Spanish! 
Anyways... that's all for today! Thanks for reading!