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I don't know. I mean I guess I understand the whole idea of subbing if I wanted to stay here in Grand Rapids. And I know I should keep my options open as far as possibly staying here. But if schools are only hiring substitute teachers, then do people coming strait out of college or university have trouble getting a job?

I don't know...I just feel that for me, the para-pro gig is best and I have taken the job. I start on Monday.

Deciding this with Lies was a big reason why I chose what I did. But you know how people kind of say you'll feel right about certain jobs/schools when looking for a job? Well, there's something about this staff and these students that felt right to me. So, I am excited and went for it.

Thank you all for your responses. I really appreciate it and I'm sorry if it seems that I ignored your advice.
 
... I live in Michigan and jobs are not in existence. ...what do you think I should do?

1. Get the Hell out of Michigan - cause, what? You like snot freezing to your face from the end of October 'til the spring thaw... in JULY?!?!? :no:

2. See suggestion #1.

:D

All joking aside, this is a toughy. You suck it up & stay where you are, getting paid peanuts, because at least you've got all your family around for moral/emotional support. (You realize, of course, the fact you & Lies both like being around your family makes you unusual, right? :lol: ) The other option is you send out resumes to states you might like to live in, where teachers are desparately needed; you get hired and you both move. Now you're living in a place that's totally foreign to you, you don't really know anybody & you're homesick as all getout for the old neighborhood & 4 feet of snow on the ground. If you can stick it out for a few years, it may prove to be the best thing for you, but staying seems like a fate worse than death and tucking your tail & going back home seems like being a failure. :sigh: It calls to mind the old rock & a hard place, you know? ( :reject: All this from one who experienced it... yep - me & Mr. Blu, back in the day).

I don't know how the pay is here in NC, but the couple of teachers that I know are always commenting on how short-staffed their schools are. And as far as being completely alone/away from family, do I remember you or Lies saying that you had a brother here in Morehead City? You guys wouldn't be too far away if you were in say Richmond, VA or the Triangle area of NC (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill).

I don't envy you guys - you both seem really responsible, though. I'm sure you'll consider all the angles & make the decision that's best for you both. :hug:
 
then do people coming strait out of college or university have trouble getting a job?
YES.

I don't know...I just feel that for me, the para-pro gig is best
Then you should take the job and enjoy it. :)


Thank you all for your responses. I really appreciate it and I'm sorry if it seems that I ignored your advice.
You didn't seem to ignore it, you seemed to consider it, then apply it to your personal goals. It did seem like nearly all the education professionals were advising you to sub, but we're not in your position, and we don't know your personal situation.
 
Family? Meh. The main draw of staying here is the possibility of free/cheap childcare from my mom. But we see my family maybe...once every 2 weeks? And that's mainly because they have lunch nearly every Sunday and we are broke and hungry, lol. If they don't meet, then it's not like we go see my parents or anything. None of Phil's family lives around here. Right now I have one really good friend here, but all my other best friends live in random places over the country/world so we see each other once a year or so if that. Moving means I would lose pretty regular get-togethers with my good friend and the possibility of free childcare, but other than that....not a whole lot. My social life and non-work activities revolve around my dogs and that's not unique to west Michigan. In fact there are tons of great clubs in the east (new england, TN/KY, Florida, NC/VA....). Right now I'd have to either drive to Ann Arbor, South Bend IN, or Chicagoland to get to a decent club. Depending on where, moving could actually REALLY help me and the dogs and open up a lot more possibilities. Nikon may go to Germany at some point, he has the potential, but we need a club that can work at that level. My job doesn't really factor in. I would probably go crazy without even a part time job, but what it is doesn't matter as long as it pays bills and finances my dogs. My current job is a great job and I can't say anything bad about my co-workers, but it's not really my line of interest and after 7 years of doing it...well if we won the lottery today I'd be cleaning off my desk tomorrow!

I suppose it's a moot point though b/c Phil doesn't want to work in the yuppy private schools, but the public schools have a hiring freeze. I don't care if we stay here because before I was adament about moving I didn't have such a good friend here and wasn't thinking about who could help raise my babies, lol, but Phil knows my "terms" which include our OWN house and a car we can actually drive (as opposed to last night when a chunk of metal fell of the car and we just laughed). I'm sick of sinking money into rent, I pay more in rent than my dad pays on his mortgage, but I'm not about to buy property in this market if there's a chance we can move in August.

we don't know your personal situation.

I'll give you the scoop, I told him I can't afford to pay his student loans. If he can't guarantee a steady income with subbing than he might as well be working retail again. Subbing is great if you live with your mom or don't have student loans and such. I'm of the opinion that when someone offers you steady work, you take it unless you actually have something else lined up. You can always change your mind and quit, but you can't get that opportunity back.
 
Have you ever or can you get a job helping special ed kids somewhere else besides a public school? Like a group home or a facility? I can't remember what they are called. I was in special ed because of truancy and my teacher said special ed teachers were in demand for centers like that because no one can handle working with the kids. I just looked it up the one she was talking about it's called a treatment center. Just a thought....
 
Have you ever or can you get a job helping special ed kids somewhere else besides a public school? Like a group home or a facility? I can't remember what they are called. I was in special ed because of truancy and my teacher said special ed teachers were in demand for centers like that because no one can handle working with the kids. I just looked it up the one she was talking about it's called a treatment center. Just a thought....

I think I can answer this one. We have several centers like this around here, and yup you can get jobs there fairly easily. The thing is, they don't pay really well because you aren't necessarily teaching, so you don't have to have an ed degree and be certified, you aren't "worth" as much. Not that it's only about money, but there comes a time in someone's life when they need health insurance, would like to get a mortgage for a house, and be able to feed a family. A friend of mine worked at a place like this for a while. She was paid hourly, had to work into (minimal) benefits...could have made more and gotten better benefits at Starbucks really. Maybe that's just the Michigan economy though.

I think the thing with Phil is that he really wants to teach. His first degree already qualified him to work in treatment centers and even before he went back for special ed he had a lot of experience working with disabled kids. Now he's done a ton of student teaching and teacher aiding (he had to do twice as much as just a regular ed major, two semesters of both), some subbing, volunteering, one-on-one lessons with disabled kids, and doing some summer programs with disabled young adults, but all along he's said to me that he wants to be in the classroom, have a classroom of his own.

He told me last night about the teaching job fair. I guess school administrators come from all over the country (there is one for country-wide and one for local). The first day you go around and meet people, then the second day they setup interviews. It's like a hire-on-the-spot situation so you don't have to apply and then fly across the country to interview. The Career Dev office said it is common for people to get hired on the spot and what we have going for us is that we are open to change of location. We're going to buy Phil a nice suit, lol.

If we didn't have so many frickin animals we'd probably be in the Peace Corps or doing one of those "teach English abroad" stints where they hook you up with an apartment and everything.
 
:hmm: She implied that they made good money and it was a teaching position (a classroom with students). Maybe Ohio isn't so bad if that's true. I hear Columbus is always looking for people to work in the inner city schools. Everyone wants to work in the suburbs around here. And we have a Schutzhund club in Cincinnati....i think. Yeah I know Ohio sucks and we took a shot at you so that's bad but were not all bad. *No I am not making light of you getting shot at*
 
I just said to the staff at the school I'm going to be at until June that really, if there is a full time teaching job available at this school next year, which I think their might be, I'm all about it. :) I know the school is technically not special education, but I tell you what...when you have 2nd graders at a Kindergarten level and 5th graders at a second grade level, it's not much different.

As far as buzzwords go, got any tips? I mean, differentiation is a big one around here I know. But got any others they might be looking for?

I can't wait until the list comes out of what schools are coming. Research will be my friend. :yes:

edit: I should add that I will not wait around however. If I get a job elsewhere and I know of nothing at my school, I'm gone.
 
I just said to the staff at the school I'm going to be at until June that really, if there is a full time teaching job available at this school next year, which I think their might be, I'm all about it. :) I know the school is technically not special education, but I tell you what...when you have 2nd graders at a Kindergarten level and 5th graders at a second grade level, it's not much different.

As far as buzzwords go, got any tips? I mean, differentiation is a big one around here I know. But got any others they might be looking for?

I can't wait until the list comes out of what schools are coming. Research will be my friend. :yes:

edit: I should add that I will not wait around however. If I get a job elsewhere and I know of nothing at my school, I'm gone.

Here in NY the big thing is Teacher's College reader and writer's workshops. Any knowledge on how to teach workshops gets immediate attention. Mini lessons, conferring, shared reading/writing, are some components. I know this is spreading, not sure if it's in your area.
 
If you want to move south I would suggest you learn Spanish. Well maybe not fluent but some probably wouldn't hurt. My sister lives in Atlanta and she subbed for a bit and she told me of the students that don't speak English just sit there all day doing nothing. I think they have an hour with a Spanish speaking tutor.
 
^I saw this here in Michigan and yes, a goal of mine is to learn Spanish. I do know a little bit and can say basic things, but trying to teach the student was nearly impossible. I ended up telling the students what to do and got them going on an activity and then going on the internet to look for translations to help me out.

Then, he proceeded to tell me I needed to learn Spanish. To which I told him I agree, but he should learn English as well. :D
 
differentiation


The whole freakin' room starts abuzzin'. :crack:

Standards, positive discipline, print-rich environment (I think that one's still good), meeting individual needs, the writing process is big still; tell them what you know about writing IEPs (they'll want to know that even for a general ed position).

Look through your methods and theory class notes.

One thing I always tell my student teachers, and I mean it, is be able to explain the theory behind your practice. Know why you're doing what you're doing. If you can name the theoretician and how you apply the theory in your lessons and/or management, then the interviewers will know that you know your shit. Talk about classroom management, especially when it comes to underperforming kids and differentiation. Special ed classroom management is even more important. Practice what you'll say, so when they ask you a question you may not have anticipated, you'll at least have an idea.

And for God's sake, don't say that differentiation is just one more educational fad/buzzword that'll be repleced in seven years. I mean, we all know that's true, but no administrator wants to hear it from the new guy. :sexywink:
 
wocka-wocka!!

I was waiting for you. ;)

I had the interviews today. Some were frustrating because they didn't even know what would be available for jobs...but it was good anyway to get my name out there. A couple were very good.

One was great. It was in Columbia, South Carolina and they were very interested in my special education experience. The woman I met with even stated that she could see me fit right in a special education classroom in their district. This is the big part. She is going to give the head director of their district my name and he will call ME! Everyone else just said "apply online...", but she was saying they would contact me. I still have to apply online. :wink:

Good day...
 
Both options sound good, but subbing would be better for actually getting a job. I subbed for many years and got to be well-known around the district. That helped me get the job I have now a mile from my house.

Subbing gets your foot in the door; if you're any good, and can actually teach, principals will be happy to see you show up in the morning. Your good reputation will make it easier to get that full-time job when it's available. People retire, get sick, get married, move away. A job or two will open up, maybe not this year, but next fall. If you've subbed and made a name for yourself, they'll remember you and want you on their staff.

Where can your Michigan credential take you? Which states will take a credential from Michigan? Didn't you go for special ed? Everyone wants special ed teachers.


I agree, subbing will make you familiar with the county and get your foot in the door. I'm volunteering nearly full-time and just started subbing. :)
 
I was waiting for you. ;)

I had the interviews today. Some were frustrating because they didn't even know what would be available for jobs...but it was good anyway to get my name out there. A couple were very good.

One was great. It was in Columbia, South Carolina and they were very interested in my special education experience. The woman I met with even stated that she could see me fit right in a special education classroom in their district. This is the big part. She is going to give the head director of their district my name and he will call ME! Everyone else just said "apply online...", but she was saying they would contact me. I still have to apply online. :wink:

Good day...

Woohoo!! I hope it works out for you!!! :)
 
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