Job fair blues

During this past week I have attended my first two job fairs! Last Tuesday's took place in Ann Arbor (which I know many fellow MACers attended), and Saturday, a few of us went to Chicago's public school fair. Horrifying as interviews are to me (I have a severe inability to talk about myself in a good light), I definitely understand now the concept of 'practice makes perfect'. Tuesday started out rough. I talked to a few schools that I was only mildly interest in, saving the more impressive schools or interviews until I was warmed up. This certainly eased my nerves a little bit, but it also meant that I didn't make it to two schools because they left the fair early. Overall, I think I only bombed one interview; however, I don't think I can safely say that any of them were great.

Chicago was also difficult. The Thursday and Friday preceding the fair constituted the two worst days of my year, but oddly enough, that only made me more determined to concentrate on job opportunities. None of these employers conducted what could legitimately be called an interview, but I may have one possibility open to me after this weekend. I'll have to wait and see.

Starting the job search has shown me how far behind I actually am! I commend everyone who has all their letters written, references collected, applications made, thank you's sent.... my method seems to be getting my feet wet in the job search while I'm finishing classes. Hopefully it won't be too late to catch up after next week.

MACUL musings

In place of a live blog, I'm writing a regular blog entry about the MACUL conference! I think you can still see my failed attempt at a liveblog below... That was really my only disappointment about the conference: the fact that we had technology requirements to fulfill, but a faulty internet connection in Cobo. I don't know about others, but I actually found the liveblogs distracting while trying to pay attention to my own session. Everything else was pretty darn exciting! That was the first conference I've ever attended, and I picked up quite a few new ideas from a session on the senses.

However, everything went downhill once that third session started. A group of us went to learn about how to make games for our classrooms, and waited fifteen minutes before giving up on the presenter. A no-show at a professional conference! I don't get it. So we shuffled over to the next room where we had to sit on the floor, in the back of the room, unable to see anything while our legs and backs cramped. Plus, it was on web 2.0 tools that Jeff and Liz had already covered. Needless to say, it was a big let-down after our initial excitement about game-making.

All in all, I'm glad we were able to attend this conference after we've been teaching a while - it was much easier to visualize possibilities now that I have some idea of what actually works in a classroom. That, and I'm eternally grateful to have the chance to go to a conference with fellow MACers before I'm sent to one after I've been hired. If I weren't so busy that week, I may have even stayed for the afternoon session:)

MACUL

Excited about technology.... for once

               Our classroom is getting an interactive whiteboard!!  We received no advanced warning - just an email on Thursday morning saying that there would be a drawing to pick out four teachers who would eventually have on bestowed upon them.  Turns out we were one of the lucky ones, and instead of using Friday to prepare for the next semester, we went to listen to four presentations by different brands to help the administration decide what brand would be most useful for the school.

               The most helpful thing I learned is that "SmartBoard" is to "interactive whiteboard" as "Kleenex" is to "tissue".  There's also Mimio, Promethean, ProVision, and others that I don't remember.  Of the three presentations that I saw, only one was really impressive.  The Promethean board is made by educators for educators, and is only concerned with marketing towards teachers.  I, the most technologically illiterate MACer, could actually visualize using their software and materials in a foreign language classroom.  And better yet, they have a website where teachers can share their problems, successes, and suggestions.  

               My second place was ProVision, and although they had a nearly indestructible board, the software they presented was only useful for primary education, and I couldn't really see the advantage that it had over a regular whiteboard.  Other teachers disagreed, saying that the superior hardware would be a better investment, and that their software would catch up to our needs soon enough.  

               Either way, I'm more excited about using technology in the classroom than I've been throughout this whole program.  Every other application of technology in our class was forced and awkward because of the set-up; but it would be so much more feasible and accessible with everything right there in the front.  The students won't have to lean around the teacher or the projector to see the board, we can use clickers to answer questions, project images from the internet straight to the board, and just get the students more engaged in general.  That's the idea, at least!  And better  yet, I may actually be able to use this.  When the teacher's heard about this we figured that we wouldn't get the whiteboards until the fall (by which time I would be long gone), but one of the administrators present said that the goal is to get them installed in two months!!  I'll keep my fingers crossed!

back to school!

So, how was everyone's first week back to school?  I don't know about you guys, but going to school every day seemed much more natural to me than only two days, and makes me even more impatient to finish grad school and start teaching.  Even after just a week I already know the names of the students I could never remember - the consistency seems to help - and I'm more in touch with their day-to-day activities.  For instance, has anyone else noticed that children's backpacks are the popular thing?  I have one student in particular who follows the style of wearing his jeans below the bum (I'm not talking underwear-showing - this is belt-at-the-thighs level) and fancy italian shoes, but totes around a pink dora the explorer backpack!  It seems counterintuitive to me.  I've also been more involved in grading quizzes, and I've noticed that my mentor marks down for English spelling and grammar.  I'm looking for people's opinions: is this fair when the subject matter is supposed to be Spanish?  Also, should I approach my mentor when I know that a few of her habits in Spanish are incorrect?  I feel like this is a tricky frontier...

Police in school

Every few weeks at Thurston there is a lunch that is held for mentor teachers and their new teacher charges.  My mentor and I went to the lunch yesterday where they invited the policeman in charge of school security to talk with us while we ate.  Most of the teachers there were very familiar with him and his practices, but I had only seen him once before at a PD day in August.  I'm sure others' opinions about a police presence in high schools is different from mine, but from these two 30 minute sessions he has gained my complete trust and confidence.

This is a huge man, dressed in full uniform, probably wearing a kevlar vest, and for some reason I always get this urge to hug him!  At both meetings he told us of the different gangs that students may belong to, instances of violence that happened in the past, and measures he took to monitor students - all rather disturbing thoughts.  But at the same time he emphasized the respect he had for the students and his priority for student safety - every student's safety.  This being my first exposure to a major police presence (my high school had one guy in a button up shirt with a walkie talkie - maybe a gun?) I am very impressed and reassured.  I can tell that this officer understands the extent of his responsibility, and takes his job more seriously than I can even imagine.  I no longer take his position for granted.

Something else that impressed me was that he is more than willing to get involved at the classroom level.  He literally said, "I want to be used."  He wants to be a resource for teachers!  Once he played the judge in a class's criminal law trial, pointing out to students what information would be relevant in a real trial, but he is available for so much more.  I'm not sure how a foreign language classroom could incorporate a police officer, but government classes could really be improved with a discussion about search and seizure from someone who actually has first hand experience.  He mentioned other subjects he could discuss which I can't remember, but he definitely opened my eyes to the types of people teachers can bring into their classroom.  What better way to your subject to life than by inviting a professional in who experiences that subject on a daily basis?

Fodder for thought: how does a teacher think the best of his/her students when he/she realizes that they could potentially be a violent influence in the classroom?

    This is a video Natasha and I made in tech class.  It documents Christopher Columbus's arrival to America...with stick figures!  Enjoy.