Like a Circle in a Spiral...

[ursangnome]

The world doesn't just turn. It spins quickly enough to make a faint whizzzzing noise. Or so it seems to me.



A while back, in order to open up more employment opportunities, I too the MTELs- Massachusetts Tests for Education Licensure, so that I could teach high school physics to pay my bills, should the opportunity arise. A couple of weeks ago, I got my results and applied for a license (which is in process, but I meet all the requirements).

Then, I went to WorldCon. Busy weekend there, but I'll not put in a con report.

I came back frmm the con, and on Monday found a message on my answering machine - a friend telling me that there was an ad in the Sunday Boston Globe, looking for a new teacher in Waltham. Now, the School year has already started, so they want a teacher pretty badly. So I get on the hop..

Tuesday I get my resume edited up for this purpose. I ask around for folks to write the three required recommendations (My thanks again to all of you reading this who I asked!). I realized that the recommendations weren't going to be here for a couple fo days, so I decided to try to contact the school and see if they wanted my resume now, or if I should wait to gather all the stated requirements together in a single package.

End result was that before Tuesday was out, I had an interview set for Thursday morning. Without them even seeing my resume, much less any recommendation letters.

I spent Wednesday preparing - talking to teacher friends about what to expect and ask in the interview, making sure my dress clothes were clean, and so on. I spend time getting familiar with the Massachusetts educational standards and benchmarks and framework, getting papers together, and so on.

Thursday arrives, and the interview happens - I met with the Waltham district's Director of Science Education. I think things went well. We seemed to hit it off, had many similar ideas about education, and so on. He seemed to like my credentials, and so on.

He tossed me a curve-ball by asking me to address a physics class wihtout preparation. But I seemed to survive the test, as he seemed to like what I had to say, and I kept the attention of the students (perhaps better than he himself was doing). I figure I passed that test, because he continued to show me around the building introducing me to people for another hour after that. I went home feeling pretty good about it all.

They had another candidate to interview today. And they wanted one of us to start up classes on Monday. I spent the remainder of the day running errands and doing housework.

Today was spent on more errands, making mental lists of things I'll need for this new job (like - a car, new business-casual clothes, etc), waiting and fretting.

I don't know when the last candidate was supposed to be interviewed today. Nor do I know how long the conference on who to hire would take. So I sit and wait for news. School's been out for a couple of hours, but if the last candidate was getting interviewed after business hours, I shouldn't expect an answer yet.

I can't even call to check on the decision - the man I saw is slightly hard of hearing, and doesn't answer the telephone! He does all his correspondence by e-mail, and I e-mailed him already to add my cell-phone number to my contact information.

So, I sit, and listen to the whir of the spinning globe upon which all mankind rests...

Comments

[antoniseb.livejournal.com]

When I was a senior in high school, our physics teacher [who was 75, and getting ready to really retire this time] died. Our school scrambled and got someone who was not nearly as good as you. I went into physics anyway. Best of luck.