the end

[thinktnk]

I have failed to acquire a teaching job. I have had five interviews and zero job offers. School starts back on Monday. Really, though I've been forced to decide if i want to radically relocate myself in order to be a teacher. I wasn't really planning on moving very far from where i am. The worst part is my chances of becoming a teacher in the

Comments

uhmm...

[elusive_e]

there arent any substittute teaching posts open? just so you could at least get some classroom time? odd...
i dont know what to tell you as i have never had any involvement in the teaching world but...i suppose your best bet is to add the physics, keep pushing your resume even if the schools have all the staff they need and figure out the furthest youre willing to move to have a job in teaching. otherwise a lot of teachers who leave the field find other ways to use their teaching skills.

Re: uhmm...

[thinktnk]

I'm not interested in subbing, primarily because my current job pays more, but also because i've done this before and i don't particularly enjoy not knowing if i'm going to get a phone call at 6.30 am asking me to work that day. It would be good on my resume, but again this is assuming that i'd never do anything else in my life but teach. I don't think I ever thought that

Re: uhmm...

[dap6000]

but that's really only true for the first position, right? once you've got a few years experience the test scores and reference letters aren't quite as important? you're talking like you're thinking about giving up on what you've devoted that past couple of years of your life towards after a measly 5 interviews. i had nearly 10 interviews before i was offered my current job, and yes, i took the first job that was offered to me. several of those interviews ended with "thanks, but there will be no 2nd interview". i asked those people why and they all took the time to answer. usually, it had something to do with my lack of experience with object oriented programing in web environments (java doesn't count, and the PHP work i had done up to that point was non-OOP). had i not found this job, i would have made sure to address that particular weakness on my resume as my search continued

[dap6000]

have you checked for adjunct positions at pellissippi?

[dap6000]

gallatin high school needs a math teacher and hawkins middle school needs a science teacher. source.

see also pellissippi's adjunct listing and vol state's math & science adjunct listing.

[thinktnk]

thanks for the research. One of the points i was trying to make in the entry is at this stage of the game, schools would need me to start very quickly if they did hire me; I'm not prepared to move at short notice, and much less have a long commute to and from such a job.

both the adjunct faculty positions require a master's degree in something and at least 18 hours at the graduate level of the subject. i meet neither of these requirements.

at this point, if i want to go back to school, my easiest (and rather expensive) option is to go back to LMU and get in their knoxville campus M.Ed. program, I'd only need i think 12 more hours for the master's in education. It would get me more pay as a teacher but I'm unconvinced that it would help my chances for a position (at least for 08-09 school year in the knoxville area anyway).

[dap6000]

i'm not suggesting you move to gallatin next week or anything. the point i'm trying to make is math and science teaching positions can be found all over the place, so even if this year didn't come together as you hoped, i still think it's a wise career move on your part. if you can't get a full time teaching position now, why not go ahead and do the additional 12 hours for the M. Ed? that would open even more doors for next year. and maybe by then you could save up enough of a nest egg to be able to move on short notice next summer, if that's what needs to happen.

[narration]

Heres an interesting plan B for you. Both the Military and the State Department are always in need of teachers for A. military schools overseas and B. teaching the children of diplomatic staff overseas. Have you thought about looking into that?

[thinktnk]

it's interesting you should mention that. a couple of years ago, my brother told me about this organization that recruits people to live in Japan and teach english, for really good pay, and with no teaching experience or knowledge of Japanese required. I thought about this because I'm vaguely interested in Japan, but it seems to be opposite my subject interest, and what else would I do during downtime?

I think I will look into this, although I imagine that would require enlisting. I don't have a problem with the military as far as philosophy, etc. but for a long time I assumed I wouldn't be accepted because I have (undiagnosed) issues with depression. The only other problem would be as I told E above, I don't know if I can move far away with like a couple weeks' notice, but then again if they have a different calendar it may be a non-issue.

[narration]

Nononono. You do not have to enlist. These are civilian jobs. You would be a DOD Civilian, which means you'd be on the GS pay scale, which while not awesome until the higher levels, is pretty nice and brings all the government benefits with it.

The teaching english in japan thing is a seperate (unrelated to what I was talking about ;) ) thing, and I have a couple friends who have done it, one of whom is still in Japan. They seem to have enjoyed it.

My dad is actually a high school teacher now, and has looked into the teaching for the state department at embassies thing. If you want I can give you his email address.

[dap6000]

one of my candian classmates did exactly that (taught english in japan for 5 years with no prior experience with neither teaching nor the japanese language). so if that's something you're interested in looking in to, i can put you in touch with her.