Job Fair Tomorrow

So tomorrow I will be heading over to Navy Pier for my first job fair for job search 2008. I'm sure there will be a ton of people there especially the newly graduated as well as the recenly displaced like me. I have no idea how many schools will be there or how many will be looking for history teachers but I'm hopeful I'll at least get an interview or three out of the trip.

Interview went very well

So I had my first in-person interview this morning and it went very well. I got a tour of the facility and it looks like a very cool place. I'm a little leery that the interview was relatively short and at the end the Principal said "I think we can work together" and that someone from HR would be contacting me soon. It would seem that I have my first job offer for the next year.

I'm going to wait to get some information from HR and see if some other schools might be interested but at least I know someone wants to hire me.

Another Interview

Received a voicemail from another school this afternoon that wants to interview me for a teaching position. This one is a charter school on the north side. I know a lot of people have issues with charter schools but I don't buy many of their arguments. I think some charters are great and others are problematic but guess what? So are public schools. My interview is tomorrow morning so we'll see how things go.

First Interview

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I received a phone call from a performance school I had sent my resume to. I spoke to them for about 20 minutes and it was, I think, a great interview. At the end, the woman I spoke to said someone would be contacting me next week to set up an in-person interview. From everything I've read, it seems like a great program and one that will be a great fit. I'll post more details once I have an in-person interview. I don't want to jinx anything.

Job Search Update

So I've been sending out numerous resumes lately. There are some very interesting schools out there under the new "Renaissance 2010" project. Many are charter schools but others are called "Performance Schools" and I'm looking closely at them. In effect they are part of CPS but have greater flexibility for curriculum and are reorganized from older schools.

I've already heard from two schools. Apparently Social Justice High School and the Marine Math & Science Academy have no history openings. The REN2010 office just published a new list of brand-new schools opening and one looks really cool at the old Austin High School. I could have an advantage with my current graduate program.

Anyway, no interviews lined up. The resume has been updated and looks good. I had a batch printed at Kinkos and will start mailing some out the old fashioned way. It's kind of like fishing. Throw out a bunch of lines and see what bites.

Time at Farragut almost over

So... where to begin? This will be my final year at Farragut. That wasn't part of the plan. My principal decided that I am not the kind of teacher she wants for her school. That's not the "official" reason. She has decided to exercise her ability to not renew me as a teacher and now I have to find a new school to teach for. It was really a kick in the gut. I am one of 10 or 12 teachers who have been told that they will not be returning; all but one has at least three years of experience. It makes not sense and I cannot find a professional reason why I was let go.

So what's next? Well, I guess I have to go to some job fairs. Gotta check my suits to see what looks good. Time to print up my resume and send it out.

I will miss the kids. We have some great students at Farragut and I'm saddest to leave them. Its also hard to leave the history department. We had a fantastic team there, but the principal fired two others and it doesn't look like much will survive.

Now that I'm on a job hunt, I'll try to post more often to keep people informed as to what I'm doing. Wish me luck.