I'm Pretty Much the Interview Queen {is that good or bad?}

I'm not sure about your area, but California has been hit pretty hard with major budget cuts over the last few years.  The first time I was pink-slipped freaked me out.  I was young and naive and didn't  understand the politics involved in teaching.  Luckily, I was hired back at a different school, which ended up being a blessing. I moved from 1st grade to Kinder.  Another year in the books and another pink slip and was moved from full-day Kinder to 1st grade because our team was too strong.  This was another blessing.  The next pink slip was tough because it forced 400 tenured teachers in my district out of our classrooms and schools that we loved.  I remember thinking, "This can't be happening.  I'm a great teacher, I teacher Professional Development classes for the district, I created Family Literacy nights for our school to get our Title I parents involved, 100% of my students are at benchmark, and I'm in the middle of earning my Master's Degree in Reading along with my Reading Specialist certificate."

I spent the next year subbing for the district that laid me off.  Talk about a morale breaker.  It was heartbreaking to sub for teachers you use to work with and train.  I took a 3 month long term sub position at a great school in my town.  I'd been so use to working at Title I schools so this was a nice change.  

I spent that summer on Ed Join several times a day, in search for a teaching job.  I became a pro at filling out applications and updating my cover letter and resume.  Shoot, my letters of reference inspired me to hire myself if I could!  

I'd applied to teach in Hawaii last year and got a call in the fall to start teaching in 2 weeks.  I nailed my interview and had a huge decision to make.  Holy crap, how am I going to pack, move, and find a place to live, let along get a class ready?  Sounds like insanity!  But I followed my dream and took it.  I moved over with 2 large boxes and 2 pieces of luggage.  I had rented a vacation rental for a few days until I found a place to live {that's a whole other blog post}.

 Teaching in Hawaii was beautiful and I fulfilled a dream.  I brought my knowledge from the mainland and was able to share it with new teachers.  I taught PD classes for beginning teachers and shared how to run a successful Literacy Workshop, or centers.  I learned so much in Hawaii and am so grateful for the opportunity, but had a lot going on in my personal life and just wanted to be home.

Like the summers before, I spent all of my time back on Ed Join.  I shipped my car back from Hawaii to Washington.  My mom, my dog Marley, and I picked up my car and went on a road trip to Seattle, Oregon, and the California coast.  

happy to have my car back

taking a little break

Golden Gate Bridge

On the way, I got a call for an interview.  All I had were bikinis and sundresses so we scoured the mall for an interview outfit.

 I had three interviews for a position in Calabassas {Hello Kardashians} In the end, I declined the position because they hired me on a Thursday to begin teaching on the following Monday.  I hadn't even moved back home yet and wasn't ready to make another move.  On the bright side, I was honing in on my interview skills and feeling confident.

I  sucked up my pride and took an Aide position in a prominent community that was featured on several reality shows.  I was told that it was my way to get my foot in the door.  Everyone else who took the position earned a teaching job, so I figured I could do this for a year.  I worked as a Reading Specialist in a 19/hour position.  It was great working with struggling readers but I missed being in the classroom. I had a panel interview for a teaching position at my school.  I truly thought this was FINALLY my time.  I had paid my dues and it was going to work out.  The HR person on the panel was friends with my mentor and was a principal in my former district, my current Principal was on the panel, and one of the teachers who wrote a letter of reference for me was also on the panel.  

2 brand new teachers got the jobs.  This is when I learned about politics and lost some faith in teaching.    I felt incredibly helpless and frustrated.  I went back to my Aide position feeling defeated and embarrassed.  That was one of the toughest years because I faced a lot of bullying and intimidation.  It was the happiest day when I was able to walk out on the last day and not look back.  I knew my value and refused to be taken advantage of again.  It also showed me that sadly, some teachers are competitive with one another and will go to any length to knock you down.  I vowed to be less naive in the future.

I interviewed for a 1/2 position an hour away from me.  This was the 2nd time that I had to do a model lesson.  I used the GLAD strategies and incorporated it into a Project Based Learning lesson.  I left the interview feeling good but learned a few years ago not to over think it or get too excited.  I interviewed Monday, got the call Wednesday, and began setting up my classroom on Thursday to start teaching on Monday.  Not only am I an interview queen, I may be a master at setting up classrooms quickly!  I loved my class and teaching a combo.  It was challenging but once I got it down, it was great!  I also learned that I love 2nd grade.  I never knew this was possible because my heart was in 1st grade for so many years.

But March rolled around and I received another pink slip.  I was really sad because I was told that I was safe.  It gets frustrating, but I love teaching too much to do anything else.  Funny thing is that the day I was laid off, I got a call to reinterview for yet another position.  It was informal since we all made it into a teacher pool from last year.

I'm thrilled to say that this is the first summer I won't be spending on Ed Join because I will be teaching 2nd grade in San Diego.  

It's been a long journey and there have been lots of tears and a broken heart.  

But teachers are dedicated, passionate, and driven.  We will get knocked down and will always get back up.  For those of you in a similar situation or if you're starting out in your teaching career, it will eventually work out the way it should.  Just take away lessons from each experience and you'll be ok.  I want to share with you some things I've learned over the years with a ton of interview practice.  I created this for Tara's "Monday Made It."

Grab 6 page of interview tips and questions here!