How Many Shots Does It Take?

After Thanksgiving, I was in the glad process of finishing up all of my early childhood coursework. I was ecstatic, until I realized that this meant that the proverbial next step now had to be taken. Only I wasn't sure what that step was. After careful consideration, I came up with some options.

1) In order to actually get the early childhood license (the entire reason for going back to school in the first place) I still technically need to finish up 5 weeks of student teaching in a kindergarten class. I was less than thrilled with this option. As tedious as the semester was for me, I was feeling done with school (for now). Besides, Utah is in the midst of changing all of their licensing requirements, so the early childhood license is going to become obsolete. I also had visions of the anti-social, poor, starving college student I was for my last year in Hawaii as a result of student teaching. I didn't want to have to quit my job, but full-time student teaching doesn't lend itself well to additional activities. Needless to say, this option was not top on my list.

2) As much as the idea of student teaching repulsed me, I still wasn't quite ready to give up on getting the additional certification, even it will soon be obsolete. At least it would still show potential employers my area of emphasis. So I was in a pickle until I thought of a brilliant idea. I wouldn't mind getting paid to student teach. Plus, it would give me more experience. Yes, I thought I'd struck gold. I started filling out applications for local districts and daily checking for job postings. Then one day it happened. There was a posting for a kindergarten teacher at an elementary school just down the road from my house! Needless to say, it was perfect! I quickly applied and anxiously waited to hear back.

I finally got the call and nervously went for my first "real job" interview. I was a nervous wreck! It didn't help that I had to sit there for an hour before actually going in because they were running late. Nor did it help that I caught a brief glimpse of the list of interviewees and was devastated by how long it was. To cap off the whole experience, the couple other interviewees that I saw definitely had teaching experience under their belts. Something that I am severely lacking--which I was reminded of during the first question of the interview: "Describe to us your educational and professional background and experience."

I left the interview feeling glad that I'd done it, but was fairly positive there was no way they were going to choose me. So imagine my surprise when I got a phone call the next week asking me to come back down to the school and read a short story to the class.

The butterflies instantly re-entered my stomach and I spent the next day figuring out a story I could read along with a simple activity to go with. The only problem was that once I got there, they had a book for me. A book that definitely wouldn't go with my preparations. But I dove in nonetheless remembering that flexibility is an important characteristic in a teacher. I read the story, interacted with the class, and then went on my merry way, feeling a bit more confident this time around.

All such confidence was shattered when I received the final phonecall. I hadn't gotten the job. They ensured me that I was one of the top candidates. That their decision was no reflection on me. That they'd chosen to go another direction--a direction who happened to have experience.
I was devastated. Everything had fallen in to place so perfectly that I'd foolishly believed it was meant to be. By this point the semester was over and Christmas Break was upon me. By investing so much into the job opportunity, I hadn't even followed through on Option 1 (student teaching) which would be impossible to set up during the break. I let myself mope around for a while, but eventually picked myself back up and began brainstorming once more.

3) At this point my biggest concern was finding something to keep me busy. With my current job I only work until noon Monday-Friday. That leaves a lot of open afternoons. Afternoons which I could see myself wasting in front of the tv or just lazing about the house. I know that prolly doesn't sound all too terrible to most people, but for me, it would be. So I looked into substitute teaching. True, it wouldn't give me the opportunity to finish up the certificate requirements, but it would still be good experience, look great on my resume, and give me the chance to get to know schools, principals, etc.

But this option was also difficult to look into over the break since the schools and the district office were closed. I spent the break relaxing and was rearing to get a move on as soon as school was back in session. During a talk with a principal in my neighborhood, she suggested that I get on the district sub list but also take a resume and business card around to the local elementary schools to try and get higher on the priority list. So I spent hours this week creating clever business cards (in the shape of a pencil), tweaking my resume, and updating my website.
Looks great, if I do say so myself.

I got all dressed up yesterday and set off. The plan was to go to the district office first and then hit as many of the schools as I could. But even this option was not to be. At the district office I was quickly told that they were overflowing with subs and couldn't possibly take on anymore.

So where am I? After a month of planning, hard work, and let downs, I am exactly where I started: optionless. So instead of trying to figure anything else out for my open afternoons, I am going to start thinking a little further ahead and look into jobs for next fall. Wish me luck!

Final Post: Technology Tools

Technology Article #1: SnapGenie by Myfamily.com
Share the stories behind photos with SnapGenie. SnapGenie helps you easily build and share narrated photo slideshows. It uses a simple, three-step process: 1) upload up to 50 photos per show, 2) use a phone to narrate the show, and 3) publish and share it! SnapGenie shows are easy to share and once created, always exist under your account. Best of all, it is totally FREE!

I think this program could easily be incorporated into a classroom in a variety of ways. For example, students could create their own slideshows with pictures they’ve taken. These shows could be part of a group or class project. The shows are easily emailed to the teacher to be used as a form of assessment.

Teachers can also use this as a tool to communicate with parents. Pictures could (and should) be taken of the various happenings in the classroom. Then, on a regular basis (weekly or monthly), the teacher could compile a slideshow and narrate it. It is then easily emailed to the parents as a visual narration of what their children are doing at school.

Technology Article #2: iMovie from Apple
iMovie is a video editing software application which allows Mac users to create and edit their own movies. It is free with the Apple operating system and is very easy to use. Despite this simplicity, it still includes "professional" editing options such as dropping clips on a timeline, cropping them, and adding transitions between clips. There are also support tutorials available from the Apple website. I also found these tutorials from the Iowa State University website helpful.

As far as integrating iMovie into a classroom, I could see it being used with older students (like grades 5-6) because fairly sound knowledge of computers and digital cameras are needed as a foundation. However, I can see it being very successful with the proper instruction. In fact, my student teaching classroom used iMovie to create their own movie, highlighting events from the entire year. Pictures and videos are easily collected throughout the year, providing students with a wealth of material to choose from. They could also use it in group or individual projects.

Teachers can also use iMovie. This would be a more practical approach for use in classes with younger children. They could create movies to extend specific topics, as a form of assessment and documentation, as memorabilia for them and the students, and as a way to help parents feel included in their child's learning. The possibilities are endless!

Publisher

Over the past several weeks, I have been working with Microsoft Publisher to create various documents such as a flyer, newsletter, and list of classroom rules. I am an old friend of Publisher, so I've rather enjoyed this process.

I like Publisher because it provides numerous templates for a variety of projects. These templates are easily manipulated, even for beginners. This would be useful in a classroom because it would allow students to create professional-looking documents with ease. It also makes the teacher look more computer-saavy when sending home notes, newsletters, calendars, etc. to parents.

I have also been filling out my Google Site a little more. It now includes items such as a class calendar, students of the week, and homework assignments. I can see this becoming a valuable tool to help open up communication between parents, teachers, and students.

The key to making this work would be to make sure that parents know that it is available. It is also important that the teacher keep it updated, otherwise it becomes pointless.