So a few months ago, in December, I heard about a job fair for the state in my area, and probably ohhh 30 minutes before it started, I decided to go. Probably the best decision I’ve ever made, since one of the recruiters there is the principal of a middle school that’s now 20 minutes away from me. Meeting him led to an interview, a promise to put me on the preferred sub list & keep my resume on file, and as of yesterday – another interview for a long term sub position. I went in the other day for an interview with the Director of student services, and 2 teachers from the department for the long term position. After talking to them, I think that I’m the only person they’ve contacted about this AND this job comes with the promise of being hired on as a full time teacher for the following school year. Crossing my fingers harder than I ever had because this position sounds almost too good to be true. And all of this stems from a chance meeting at a job fair, and that same person continuing to help me out.
The position – 7th grade US history teacher is one of my favorite contents AND I love that age group. There’s something so fantastic about getting to be the observer of puberty and not the victim. I foresee hilarious work stories in my future with this position… I’m just so nervous! A large chunk of the rest of the year are SOL’s and preparing students for it, and I’m nervous having those grades reflect on me when (a) I didn’t teach for most of the year, and (b) they’re so overvalued in regards to my performance. Plus I’m nervous about the normal things – entering into a new classroom in the middle of the year, a new content & a lot of time preparing materials, and the parents! The area the school is in is fairly affluent, and the director and teachers have already warned me about how “over-involved” some parents are. At my last school getting parent involvement was like pulling teeth. I have NO concept of what the opposite extreme is like…yup, now that I think about it, parents are definitely the thing I’m most nervous about. Help?!