And Now For the Interview...

Being engulfed by the "selfie" culture that we live in can prevent us from expressing gratitude for what we have. Whether I recognize them or not, there are countless moments during the course of the school year that should make me thankful for my job.  Some of those experiences are annual and stand out more than others- like working the job fair or participating on an interview team.

Everyone has a unique story about how he/she was hired. And we are the lucky ones. There are plenty of job seekers in our field- and plenty of experienced professionals chasing promotions or changes that crowd our job market.

The truth is, there was a time in our careers, when we were scratching and clawing to get to EXACTLY where we are now.

Since graduating from college, I have interviewed for 13 different jobs inside and outside of my district. I received three offers.  I don't claim to be an expert on interviewing. I don't have a monopoly on the ingredients to land a job and my personal statistics prove that!  I have gained, (I think), some perspective on interviewing and I think these 3 things are true:

1. There is no such thing as preparing too much, or too little. 

I think you can play this both ways. For some positions, it's important to anticipate questions and rehearse how you would answer them. Especially if you applying for a position that may be a stretch based on your qualifications. For new teachers, understanding the basics about the district and becoming a "playful pest" to keep your name in the conversation is important.

I know I have been guilty of coming across disingenuous from being over-prepared, over-thinking the questions, and over-selling myself. That's why I think for some candidates, it is important to just talk conversationally. Exude quiet confidence and let your personality shine through. Less is more in some cases. Do some research to show your interest but stay true to yourself. Find a median of preparation that gives you the confidence to shine.


2. Interviewing is not a "results based" entity.

Evaluating the interview's success or failure by the end result isn't necessarily fair. I think you can blow away an interview committee and still not receive a job offer-if you aren't exactly what they are looking for. Sometimes you can answer all the questions perfectly and maybe another candidate was more perfect. You are likely competing against dozens of well qualified candidates. The point is, you never know exactly why they hire who they do. Don't worry about the result. Process the process, and give it your best shot.

3. Que sera, sera.

I am lucky to have learned from some of the greatest mentors a guy could ask for. My #savmp mentor was my coach throughout my last round of interviews. What we worked on may or may not have helped my answers, but it definitely impacted my mindset. Tony Sinanis helped me realize that if you want something bad enough, it will happen...eventually. I've kept every rejection letter and email I have received over the past 8 years. I promise it's not an OCD or acrimonious practice, but merely a reminder that if it's meant to be, it will be. Those jobs were not meant to be. Trusting this idea is the hardest thing to do, especially if you experience a professional disappointment or cannot break through with that first job.

Interviewing is an imperfect science. I suppose there are some wrong answers, but I don't know if there are right ones either. What advice would you give someone who was interviewing for their dream job?

History Matters

I picked history because it was the subject I hated the least when I was in high school. I knew I wanted to teach. I knew I loved kids. I knew this was the right profession for me, but picking a subject area was the toughest part of getting started.

Luckily, in what I would consider a common experience for many of us, I fell in love with my subject matter because of a great teacher. It only took 20 years and countless hours of courses, but I knew what I wanted to teach.

 

Part of the allure of history and social studies, more generally, is how you can teach it. I feel for my math colleagues that are somewhat limited in how they can present their content. In social studies, almost anything goes. While we've been typecast as the "movie show-ers," and the boring story tellers, our discipline becomes more important and more relevant every day, in my opinion. The common core has tied social studies to critical thinking and writing skills that are crucial pieces of communication in life. The 1:1 initiative in many schools has opened so many instructional doors that its hard to keep up. The tech wave that's cresting was made for social studies. 

And while I've recently pushed my students towards current events involving the Donald Sterling tapes or the missing Malaysian airplane saga, I still come back to history. I love the strides social studies has made towards teaching what's really important for kids to know in the 21st century. We've replaced teaching the War of 1812 with the tragedy of September 11th. We talk about the Civil Rights Movement in context of the gay rights and immigration movements of today. We have to bring history to the present day and make it relevant for our students. Kids need those connections, but kids need history too.

I'm wrapping up my final year of teaching Advanced Placement United States History, a course that carries the reputation of being grudgingly difficulty and incredibly tedious. But in studying the highs and lows of our forefathers, I hope my students have felt the weight and importance of our country's past. 

History is rewarding. Dramatic. Restless. Puzzling. Romantic. Inspiring, And in some cases, unfair. 

What a parallel to life. 

Often times, we don't have to look far to find the passion behind what we teach. The importance of our subject matter and its relevance to who we are teaching gives us the answer every time. 

It Takes a Village...

A screen shot of our GHO on my phone

Today was another day circled on the calendar. Another obligation. Another family function. Another moment that I otherwise take for granted. We are fortunate to have such an amazing support circle and true to form, my son's baptism today was another outpouring of love from our family and friends.

There was something missing though. My sister, who now lives in Italy, is 8 months pregnant and obviously could not fly to be with us today. She and her husband are the godparents. So we did something no one would have dreamed of years ago- we had a Google Hangout and they were were able to see, hear, and share in our special moment. The church could hear them respond when our priest asked them if they were willing to accept responsibly for raising our son in the faith. There's power in that- being 4,651 miles away- yet still, connected.

We are very lucky and very blessed in so many ways. It shouldn't take moments like these to admit that. My son is fortunate to have a village of people raising him. Many of us can probably say the same thing about own own children and families. Unfortunately, for some families, this is far from the case.

I think about my students in times like these. I know for some of our kids, the school is their extended family. Their classmates function as their support circle. Some of their teachers act as mother, father, brother or sister. There's power in that, too.

Maybe it's easier that way. What if we all treat each other like they are a member of our family who is counting on our support. We could recognize that no family is perfect and that all families are different. Members of the family sometimes drift and we could pull them back in.  Other's aren't in the family, but we treat them like the closest of blood relatives. But that's what family is.

School is family- and it takes a village to raise the family's children.

Our school community doesn't ask for this service, we provide it for them. We owe it to our students to be "en loco parentis," and accept them into our circle of support. My personal priorities certainly are shifting these days as I spend a lot more of my free time taking care of my son. But I want to make sure that Diego, Jay, and Stephanie are taken care of- because in a sense- they are family too.