I don’t know how I feel about this exactly. I have been subbing in the district from which I retired, as well as a few other districts. I travel between schools in the top 2% of state test score results in Illinois, schools with very low poverty rates, and schools in the bottom 2%. This week, I covered for a high school English teacher in a school with a 98% poverty rate.

All assignments were supposed to be done on Chromebooks. Except some students did not have Chromebooks. One had never received one because she needed a parent’s signature and her dad — the only parent in the picture — was unable to get into the school during the workday. No dad, no Chromebook. Another student had mostly given hers up because she’d lost her charger and a new one cost $40. No one had a spare $40. I listened to the excuses. Most were in the category of “left it home because I forgot,” but others were money or “It’s broken and I gave it to them a few weeks ago but it’s still not fixed.”

I am clear that a poor school cannot simply hand out free, replacement chargers. Kids lose things all the time. If there’s no cost to replacing those chargers, they will disappear more often. I understand that less financially advantaged districts may not have extra, loaner Chromebooks (though the teacher had a few of the old, thin, metal ones) or enough people to handle the volume of repairs.

But this issue escapes the radar too often. That poor district would proudly tell the world that it’s students are using Chromebooks and they, too, have the technology of the times. But the wealthy districts where I work have more technology, more technology younger, more technology that can go home with students — my poor district only offers this to high school students — and when students in wealthy districts find their technology has broken, those districts quickly replace that technology. Usually the replacement process just requires a trip to the library.

Eduhonesty: The problem I see is that my wealthy districts and the less financially fortunate district where I subbed this week would both claim they are up-to-date with current technology and the educational practices using that technology. But then there’s “Marina” who has no Chromebook yet in October because of her dad’s work hours and other students who are waiting for weeks for the Chromebook with the cracked screen to come back, not to mention the kids who could probably have borrowed a charger to use to replace the one they can’t afford, but who decided they’d rather skip the work instead.

Yes, all the players in my daily life have technology available to students. But the students with money don’t suffer from technological downtime. That downtime adds up.

That downtime matters.

In uneven times, we forget that the past and present are not neatly merged into this one new all-inclusive time. At the edges of the envelope, teachers begin to plan to ask students their preferred pronouns. “Do you prefer the singular they?” They want to know. These educators desire to create a welcoming space for their trans students, for the gender fluid and otherwise defined who have left the binary behind. 

But a small, dark, elfin young woman reminded me of a fact that must be considered before we tackle pronouns: Not everyone is out. That woman is not out because she is afraid her father might become physically violent if she outed herself. She might be wrong about her dad — but she might not.

In her words, “pronouns can be swords.”

Eduhonesty: Some kids prefer life in closets. At least until they are out on their own, genuine questions of physical and mental safety may be in play. I support using preferred pronouns, but our adolescents today tend to be remarkably savvy about the world they live in. Beyond asking a class in general, ” if you have any special desires where pronouns are concerned, let me know,” I think I’d leave pronouns alone.

“You can’t go wrong if you keep silent,” the woman said.

She was telling white people not to insert themselves into the discussion spaces of other, non-white groups. Save your great opinions and listen, she tried to say. She made good points about cultural sensitivity. White Americans are programmed to leap into the protest march, shouting and waving their signs while vigorously speaking up for the less-fortunate, whoever those poor people might be.

That said, I’ve heard this narrative before. The call to silence white people has gained traction in the recent past. Another part of the same discussion extended that call to silence.

“‘I meant well’ is no excuse,” the speaker said. “Yes, you meant well, but you brought it right back to you.”

Her audience was listening attentively. I expect some of those listeners will actively try to be quieter, will intrude less often into unfamiliar cultural spaces. Less whitesplainin’ will decrease awkwardness and annoyance.

But I have growing reservations about the recent calls to silence. Social anxiety besets many of us. In any staff meeting of teachers, one finds fearless talkers — teaching favors extroverts — but also silent colleagues with their eyes mostly on their notes. These note watchers and takers speak up rarely, mostly when the spotlight falls on them against their will or a huge injustice appears to be underway. I worry that the quiet people especially will simply begin to avoid nonwhite spaces and will cease to be allies in the fight to provide equal education and equal opportunity to all. A call to silence can be a relief to someone who would prefer not to speak in the first place, a justification for avoiding awkward and potentially painful conversations. At what point does that relief become permission to drop issues of social equality in favor of less frightening topics? One reason so many health teachers of the past described anatomy in excessive detail was that putting parts into a puzzle allowed a teacher to avoid the topic of how those parts might be used.

Eduhonesty: Here’s a vote for finding the most compassionate and welcoming ways to ask people NOT to participate in conversations — because sometimes when people exit the conversation, they drop the topic under discussion and never return.

My massage therapist was born in the 1980s, before the internet and school shootings. As we talked yesterday about student anxiety, the demands placed on kids today and school shootings — not exactly the most relaxing massage 🙂 — I was struck by a realization: She cannot relate to today’s students as they get off the bus and walk into their schools.

I catch echoes of today’s fear. I was young in the time of duck and cover drills, of shut-your-eyes-so-you-won’t-go-blind advice. My elementary school’s subbasement had large steel drums of water and food stored behind the black and yellow sign of the times: 

But I am far away from that shelter in time and I was never the most nervous kid on the block. Despite my echoes, I don’t know what it’s like to think you might die on any random weekday because some random kid got tired of being bullied or feeling invisible.

I should probably feel more fearful. I substitute often enough. My past is peppered with scary moments. I tried to keep my students away from windows, knowing a kid with a gun was on his way to my school. We do so many drills that students do not take us seriously sometimes. I have done a few “real” lock-downs and the toughest part of those lockdowns is convincing students that this time we are not playacting.

Eduhonesty: That woman in the temporal window between the A-Bomb and the shooters? She does not know how school “feels” to our more sensitive students. In a sense, I don’t know either. I’m older and I’m numerate. I can assess the odds, and those odds are good enough. I don’t worry about walking into new classrooms.

Many students cannot accurately assess their odds, though. Even those who can run the numbers are experiencing school as a calculated survival risk. Every day, they put themselves out there and the more fearful among them cannot be certain they will return home.

Today’s schools are not yesterday’s schools. I envied my massage therapist. I envy the lucky people who grew up after fallout shelters and before snipers.

Desperate need for posters? I gave the best stuff away, but I still have a laminated poster of a volcano that would add color and authenticity until student art could replace my souvenir of Mt. St. Helens. I will be giving this to a school I help shortly, but I am not alone in having random volcano posters. I’d bet many of my former colleagues have their own volcano posters. Imagine how much random stuff the average teacher collects over his or her years of teaching. That retired teacher down the block? Stop and visit that retiree on your next dog walk.

I don’t sub much in my old district. While the district pays well, I can find fun assignments much closer to home. My old district is lamentably disorganized, too. They fail to post positions I know they need to fill. They require that I turn in a paper sheet with my hours, signed by school administrators. That alone sends me elsewhere. Everyone else nearby is managing subs electronically, requiring a single signature at most. So I pass on my old district — unless an old friend asks for help. I’d help a new teacher there, too, if asked. When actual humans call, I tend to answer the call. I spent a few weeks in that district last year.

Retired teachers should be seen as possible untapped resources. Those teachers are seldom going out of their way to thrust classroom experience or materials on unsuspecting passers-by, but they may have much to offer. Many teachers fall into the category of people who respond vigorously to pleas for help.

So ask that retired friend or neighbor for a helping hand! What do you have to lose except a few minutes of your time? You might get free and cheerful help. You might get access to the resources still stashed in the basement.

You might even make a new friend.

Sell the Fit – Why Are You the Right Person?

Stay focused. If you are applying to teach chemistry, you want your chemistry knowledge and background to be out front and center.  “Here’s what I can contribute as your chemistry teacher.” You want the district to see you specifically as an aspiring chemistry teacher.

A few exceptions to this suggestion:

1)      Qualified to teach both biology and chemistry? Let people know. When you have a complementary skill set that contributes to your understanding of a desired teaching position, emphasize that fact.

2)      If you are applying in a rural area, let the district know all of your qualifications. Rural districts are often seeking people who can take on multiple roles at the same time.

3)      Foreign language skills? Be sure to share that fact. Many areas have an urgent need for bilingual instructors. I know multiple social studies and other teachers who entered their field through the bilingual door. 

Consider Sending a Letter of Application to Sister Mary

Check out the local private schools. Almost the whole world is operating online, but every so often you might stumble on an exception. I’ll note that private schools tend not to pay well – that salary often proves a deal-killer – but they can nonetheless be fine places to begin your career. The paper-in-an-envelope approach has been known to work, especially when backed up with email and phone calls.

Adapt, adapt, adapt

You should have multiple resume versions. Be prepared to create versions that best match any positions for which you apply. You might have extra references. Who should tell District 42 about you? Frank or Jaime? Who can best address your fit to District 42? If you are lucky enough to be able to make choices, think about which references to use before you put them down.

Consider adding a few extra lines to any required essays, lines that directly link you to specific district desires.

Don’t Be Afraid to Show Your Quirks, Interests and Hobbies

Well, mostly anyway. If you have stocked a year’s supply of canned soup in the basement for fear of the zombie apocalypse, you might save that detail for after you are hired. Or even after you are tenured… But district interviewers like to hear about personal passions and favorite activities. Even if your interviewer is a White Sox fan, your Cubbies fandom identifies you as a baseball fan. You want to make a personal connection. The fact that you love Marvel movies and have a collection of Thor comics will make you stand out, and might help you find a kindred spirit among interviewers. (If your interviewers don’t much like your quirks, whatever they are, maybe you don’t want to work for that district anyway.)

Sports interests should definitely make their way to the table. At the middle school and high school levels, ask about coaching and sponsorship opportunities. Let interviewers know if you can coach or sponsor a club. Even asking if you can help coach volleyball will identify you as someone willing to stay after school for the kids, whether coaching vacancies exist or not.

I’ll run this thread a bit longer and then shift to teaching tips for the new year. (Search “job search” on the blog for more.) Good luck!

New to teaching? New to middle school? This is a quick post to describe middle school issues that affect student success. Aside from transition issues, the pain that comes from leaving cozy elementary classrooms, students confront intimidating challenges on entering middle school. A few issues to think about before your interview:

1. Organization — what does the school organization look like? What team will you be on? How are teams organized? How do they work together? When do they have common planning time?
2. Organization — how will you help students with their personal organization? Oh, those lockers! By October, the papers may be spilling out, some of them completed pieces of homework that never made their way to a teacher. Paperback books will be crushed. Bananas may be oozing down the back of that metal box. One job not listed on the job description will be getting your students organized. Create a rough plan for managing that so you will sound ready if the issue arises in an interview. Emphasize the importance of helping students learn to be organized, the small details like regular, rigid adherence to the daily planner. Emphasize the family/teacher link and your plans to communicate with parents regularly when you observe organizational problems.
3. Study skills — what might you do to improve/develop your students’ study skills? How can you work in techniques for active learning? How can you help students take advantage of their learning styles and best times during the day? What can you teach to help students retain material? Mnemonics, study guides and graphic organizers are favorites. Do you have a special talent for any of these?
4. Multiple learning styles — how will you differentiate for learners in your classroom? How will you know your students are on target? Some answers: Pre-assess and make sure students are staying with you through regular checks such as exit slips and quick question/answer moments. Experiment with different groups so students can best help each other and learn from each other. Work with cooperating teachers to appropriately adapt materials. Communicate with home regularly to see if parents are observing problems or stressors you can manage before they spiral into ugly academic results or behaviors.
5. Reading — how will you promote reading? Your intended area of teaching does not matter. Reading is pivotal to long-term school success. Teaching your students how best to approach their social studies textbook helps set them up for later success in a wide variety of classes. Think about how to work that reading piece into the interview should the right opportunity arise.
6. Adolescent craziness — how will you address the extreme angst and emotionalism that some kids demonstrate in middle school? What will you do when Phillipa runs out into the hallway in tears because May told her that her she had small breasts? When Justin melts down because his hamster died? How will you manage when a pregnant seventh grader has a panic attack? Given any scenario like the above, I recommend telling interviewers you will seek advice from social workers and counselors. More serious problems should be delegated quickly to these professionals. If you don’t quite know how to address adolescent wackiness yet — you’ll learn — show a sense of humor and emphasize that you will communicate with family and other school professionals to get the help you need when the crisis arises.

Many elementary/middle/high school issues overlap. Different administrators go down different roads in an interview. But these are issues to think about before you sit around that table with the hiring committee.

Good luck!

I started as a high school Spanish teacher, entirely unintentionally. My original intent was to teach high school mathematics. I wanted to work in the high school where I had done my student teaching and the Department Chairman did not discourage me. He was expecting to make multiple hires. I waited. And I waited. One woman with previous experience was hired, then another. The Department Chairman called me in July to say two anticipated positions still awaiting funding might not be funded. He then suggested I talk to the man in charge of the bilingual department to see if that department had a possible mathematics position.

(I apologize if some of this is familiar history to regular readers.)

I journeyed north in the summer heat, into a school with almost no air conditioning, none in the classrooms.* A sweaty, flushed, blond man with a fondness for videogames told me that no math positions were available, but the school desperately needed another Spanish teacher. Could I teach Spanish?

It was mid-July. I would have signed on to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts or even Potions if either position had been offered. My Spanish was oh-so-rusty, but good enough to hack my way through a job interview. Within little more than an hour, I had met administration, shook hands, and signed on to teach Spanish, all with a slight sense of unreality. Then I went home and started furiously reading books and watching TV in Spanish. I immersed the household, a slight challenge for the daughter learning Spanish and a real learning experience for the one taking French. My husband’s Spanish was functional and he played along.

Maybe you are out there looking for the right early elementary reading position right now. I’d like to suggest you throw your hat into the ring for a middle school language arts position as well. Here’s a fact to consider: I was convinced I wanted to teach high school mathematics, but eventually I ended up teaching bilingual middle school classes instead. I taught bilingual mathematics, but I also enjoyed language arts, social studies, and science. (Oh my, do I have endorsements 🙂 .) In fact, language arts and science turned out to be my favorites. I discovered I preferred middle school to high school as well. Heck, I love middle school. Kids in transition are kids you can reach.

A colleague once explained to me why he preferred middle school mathematics over high school mathematics.

“You can get them to believe in themselves,” he said. “You can still convince them to like math.”

We agreed that middle-school students often proved more reachable than their high school counterparts.

In terms of job searches, what I want to convey is that what you planned to do may not turn out to be what you most enjoy doing. So if you are trying to find that position and not having much or any luck, consider moving up in age. Or down. If you are not finding any open high school history positions, consider middle school social studies. If you qualify or almost qualify for a health endorsement, apply for middle school health classes instead of high school biology.

It’s almost July. At this point, I’d advise taking a few chances. Fact: Spanish had not been my plan, but overall I enjoyed teaching Spanish more than I enjoyed teaching mathematics. I enjoyed teaching metaphors more than I enjoyed teaching geometry. I loved astronomy.

As we move into July, administrations will be worrying about filling open positions. If you qualify for a position, I suggest applying. If you are close to qualifying for a position in an area where no qualified candidates may exist, consider applying. Defense Against the Dark Arts may sound sexier, but Muggle Studies will get your foot in the door.

You may find your true calling in Muggle Studies. Who knows? The latest rubber ducky research could turn out to be a fascinating read. At worst you will be an experienced teacher with a story to tell when you start applying for Dark Arts posts in the spring.

*Fortunately, I was younger when I applied for employment in that sweltering office. Some American schools still have limited or even no air conditioning. I recommend being careful when considering working in those schools if you are unusually heat-sensitive. 

(Assistive technology that might be used by instructional aides.)

My post is largely anecdotal. I don’t know the stats for turning an aide position into a teaching position — those stats may not exist — so take this post with a grain of the proverbial salt, since the “Aide” strategy has been known to work, especially when an aide was busy taking education classes toward a teaching certificate. Districts may reward aides with that new certificate or degree, “promoting” them into a classroom of their own.

It’s mid-June and you may be feeling worried or even desperate. You want to nail that position down so you can enjoy the rest of the summer. You want to know that your dollars on education have been well-spent.

In the next few months, you may be tempted to take a position as an instructional assistant in order to get a foot in the door. A district may even suggest this to you after they hire “Bob” to fill the position that you interviewed for the previous week. They liked you. They also liked Bob, who had more experience, but they do have an opening for a helper in a special education classroom. The Principal suggests you apply.

What to do?

I would tell that Principal, “Thank you. I love your district. But I want to teach.”

I mostly advise against the instructional assistant strategy. Those positions sometimes provide full benefits but they tend to pay poorly. Classroom aides make about the same wage as a starting prep cook in a chain restaurant in many districts, and less than the waitstaff pushing martinis out on the floor. They may make less than that prep cook.

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Teacher_Assistant/Hourly_Rate lists sobering data on pay for these positions. According to a PayScale salary survey, teaching assistants are largely women, and overall the group averages $10.86 per hour for pay. Only around one-half receive benefits such as medical coverage and about a third get dental coverage.

I suspect those salary and benefits numbers run higher for standard public school districts, and the averages are being pulled down by private and preschool numbers, but regardless salaries for teaching aides remain low. Many instructional assistants in public schools cannot afford to opt into the family insurance coverage their district offers. While personal health insurance may be free, family coverage requires a monthly premium that teaching aides commonly cannot afford.*

Pay differs greatly by location and district. Many areas pay better, and a significant range in salaries can be found in a small geographic area. According to https://www.teacher.org/career/teaching-assistant/, teacher’s aide employment opportunities are expected to grow about 9% by 2022 — which certainly should provide job security. Teacher.org lists average salary for a teachers aide at $23, 640.

Pros for the Instructional Assistant position:

1. You get your foot in the door. By next year, everyone will know you.
2. Those assistants often make quality classroom instruction possible. That quiet voice in the background helping the teacher maintain order, explain tough concepts, and sometimes even adapt materials? That voice helps teachers to differentiate instruction better than any strategy taught in any professional development.
3. Surveys show job satisfaction is high. These positions are often low stress. Unlike teachers, you don’t have regular evening work. Like teachers, you get a great vacation schedule. You will be given the chance to build relationships with smaller groups of kids and you may be vital to the success of “your” kids.
4. You often get to observe different classrooms as part of your duties, learning techniques for when you land that first teaching position.
5. Possible medical and dental benefits, likely free for just you.

Cons for the Instructional Assistant Position:

1. Low pay compared to teachers
2. Little or no control of classroom procedures, depending on the position.
3. You become seen as a highly useful instructional assistant — BUT not as a teacher. When you go to apply for future teaching positions, you are not a teacher and you will be competing with people who are teachers. That puts you at a big disadvantage in the hiring process.

Exceptions to what I just wrote: Let’s say Ms. T is going to retire next year and everyone knows this. You will be working with Ms. T. I’d make it clear that I was willing to take the assistant position because I wanted Ms. T’s job next year and then I’d watch to see how the hiring committee reacted to that.

In smaller, more rural districts, the teaching assistant to teacher plan also becomes a more likely win. In these districts, familiarity counts for a lot. The fact that you are a regular face at high school football games will be noticed in a small town. Rural districts are less likely to be flooded with applicants for positions and are more likely to go with a local than an outsider. Too many previous outsiders may have moved on from Mossycreek, Montana after deciding they could not face another year in a town with only erratic cell reception, one dingy tavern, a reduced-hour or closed post office, and a tiny food and liquor store that closes when the owner goes on vacation. (I now owe those small towns a post explaining why they can be great places to teach :-).)

Your personality counts if you take the instructional assistant path. Are you an extrovert, the sort of person who discusses the Cubs or Cavaliers passionately in the teacher’s lounge? Do you automatically look for volunteer opportunities or coaching positions? Do you have that booming, commanding voice that quiets a lunchroom? If so, you have better odds on making the teaching-aide-to-teacher-strategy work. Quiet competence will please your district, but will not necessarily help district leaders see you in an instructional role.

I intended this to be a short post but it got away from me. I wrote today’s post because I know too many teaching assistants who intended to use their positions as stepping stones but did not find teaching positions later. They are not necessarily unhappy with their positions, but not a one of them wants to try to live on what they are paid.

*If a person needs family insurance coverage, these positions offer one way to get that coverage. The premium may eat up a huge chunk of the aide’s salary, but I have known multiple people who used their instructional assistant position for family coverage despite the fact that family coverage gutted their pay. A self-employed spouse might earn most the family’s money while the aide provides benefits. Actual cost of family coverage in two places I worked: $1,200 per month.

More on finding that first or new position. This post may not help with this summer’s employment search, but will be worth consideration for those determined to break into education who are struggling, especially those who know a second language.

My last school had two bilingual/ESL teachers for each middle school grade. During my final years, I taught bilingual math and science. My counterpart taught bilingual language arts and social studies. We’ll call him “Anaximander.” Despite the fact that virtually all of our students who qualified for bilingual services spoke Spanish, other grades had ESL teachers who could not speak Spanish. Not enough Spanish speakers with the subject area credentials had applied. Those who did speak Spanish often preferred to work in elementary schools.

I’ve packed a lot into the above paragraph. Most teachers will know these facts, but for clarity’s sake let me add a few details: Those bilingual services are obligatory in Illinois and many other parts of the nation unless parents sign their children out of services, in effect against advice. Like special education requirements, bilingual education requirements create teaching position openings.

Two stories here:

I had taught high school Spanish, then mathematics before I decided to try to switch to bilingual education. I wanted the smaller — sometimes much smaller — class sizes, and I had discovered I loved helping launch kids into English-language learning. In Illinois, a desperate need for bilingual teachers had led to the creation of the Type 29 certification, a temporary certification that gave teachers five years (now six I believe) with short extensions to finish the formal coursework for the bilingual endorsement. The test for that Type 29 certification was essentially nothing but a language test. I clobbered that test, as might be expected from a high school Spanish teacher. My district then helped pay for my courses.

Anaximander’s story is more interesting. He had intended to be a social studies teacher when he graduated, but was unable to find employment. Finding that high school or middle school social studies position takes luck in many geographic locations. His job search failed and then failed again. At this point, Anaximander made a bold decision for a man in his twenties. He decided to learn Spanish and go in the back door. He attacked his studies with vigor, even going to work in a chain restaurant so he could practice Spanish. Without going into detail, the master plan worked. Anaximander has been teaching social studies for years now.

I can’t speak for how well this strategy would work in other states, but I offer up the idea to those searching for teaching employment. Did you take Spanish in high school? Do you know another language well?

My middle-school employed a number of English as a Second Language (ESL)* teachers who did not speak Spanish. Because of shortages in qualified Spanish-speaking applicants, the district accepted educators whose second language was Polish or German, for example.

What does this mean for job-seekers? In Illinois, Type 29 tests are offered in Japanese, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Polish, Hindi, Bulgarian, Urdu, Mandarin, Gujarati, Bosnian, Lao, Greek, Assyrian, Serbian, Korean, and Filipino, as well as Spanish. Other languages might be possible; the state will prepare special tests for low-incidence languages.

Once you have the Type 29 certification, you can find a position in a district that’s desperate for bilingual educators. Some districts provide generous tuition reimbursement, although that reimbursement varies greatly. Some districts offer none.

Eduhonesty: I can’t speak for the nation and this back door will not work in some locations. But if you are still looking for that new or better position, intensive Spanish-language studies may be exactly what you need, depending on where you live. Even if not part of your formal certification or endorsements, being able to say you speak Spanish will improve your odds of getting hired in many districts throughout the United States.

P.S. Some years back, I took an ESL course along with would-be educators who were trying to use the backdoor strategy despite not having a strong second language. The ESL endorsement can be enough without special language skills, but all other things being even close to equal, candidates with language skills will get that open position. I’d push Spanish first if you have any ear for languages at all.

P.S.S. Do you vaguely remember that high school Spanish, now mostly faded away from lack of use? It’s early June! Put the subtitles on what you watch. YouTube has El Exterminador 2 con Arnold Schwarzenegger for your viewing pleasure and many other fun options. Your television is loaded with familiar shows in Spanish. Still use DVDs? Play your favorites in English with Spanish subtitles and then try Spanish with Spanish subtitles. Your library probably still has those CDs for learning Spanish in your car. You might be amazed how quickly your Spanish comes back to you.

*The acronym can vary — ESL, ELL, or even EL.