When I Get A Job

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Suzanne Schultz Pick

I really should update on what’s been going on with me lately. Last week I was able to try out for three different teaching positions, which is a huge accomplishments when I sat here for over a year and a half without so much as an offer to be a support assistant.

On Monday I went to a Secondary School to work with some kids who may need me any time between now and April until the end of the term. After I spent the day there, I high-tailed it to do an interview and 15 minute lesson at a college where I applied to teach English (basically freshman English for those of us who hail from America.) Then on Thursday I was able to do a 30 minute try-out lesson at a Primary School.

Any of these jobs would be great to have but the Primary School is closer so it would be nice to have a short commute. I’ve taught college English before (in fact, that was my last teaching position I had in Florida) so that is a really nice opportunity too. The Secondary School is a bit out of the way, but I figured out the bus by the time I left the afternoon of my initial try-out day. Again, any of these would be a welcome relief since I am so ready to not be in the house every day.

Of course, I have my projects I want to keep working on, and the Secondary School position isn’t 5 days a week, so I would have time to continue doing my work at home as well. It’s just such a nice relief to not have to be glued to Twitter all day just because I have nothing better to do.

It’s a weird thing, being alone all day. The more use to it you get, the more you forget that there’s a whole world going on outside that you could be a part of. I try to convince myself that I don’t mind it, but once I start going into schools, I remember how good it feels to use my day productively. I like helping kids. I like being out in the fresh air. I like feeling useful.

I also like being able to have money and I’ve made a list of things I plan on getting once I finally have another job lined up:

  • A car
  • Insurance for the car
  • DAB for the car
  • TomTom for the car
  • Makeup from Avon
  • Dresses
  • Nice skincare products from ProActiv, Lush, Lancôme, etc.
  • Girlie DVDs such as Gone with the Wind, Dirty Dancing, Mean Girls, Ten Things I Hate About You, Heathers, Clueless, Carrie, The Twilight Saga (I know, I know! I even got the soundtracks on Zune player today.)
  • Go to teaching workshops- Read, Write Inc., etc.

Of course, books are on the list too, but I have a handful of them (at least) on my Currently Reading list as is. I will try to update Unfinished Book Reviews on Wednesday and Friday too. I always feel bad when I miss those posts because I have opinions on what I’m reading that I should be posting.

Besides, if I’m working, I’ll have less time to read anything outside of school. I’ll use that money to take Steve out to dinner, and to buy my parents biscuits in cute, British souvenir tins instead.

Wish me luck! (Again.) Jobs and a career are so much nicer and rewarding than watching daytime telly all week.

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Farm livin’ is the life for me.

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Suzanne Schultz Pick

We made our way back to Beamish on Saturday. This was our third visit but we hadn’t been down there since January of last year. I was really excited to use my new camera too (as you can see from my slideshow.) It is such a nice change of pace to be able to roam around the countryside, looking at farm animals, and feeling like you’re experience the good old days of English life. Certainly beats fighting crowds in a shopping mall.

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The sun will come out tomorrow

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Suzanne Schultz Pick

I finally got out of the house yesterday and took the trusty netbook with me. (This thing was well worth my time as a supply teacher just to be able to afford it.) I went to the gym for the first time since Jan 2nd too. After that, I grabbed my mug of coffee and sat at the cafe in the park to continue on my project.

The sun was out for the first time since forever, the sky was blue, and although very windy, it was a nice day. No snow cleats, no boots, no heavy coat. I could have done with some thermals but, what can I say, I’m a wussy Floridian who can’t function in anything below 70s F.

Or rather, I used to.

Anyway, so now that the weather has perked up, so have I. Even though it’s going to get cold again, I’m finally feeling that brand of hope that the New Year always promises. I have hope that I’ll get my project done, and I have hope that I’ll get my driver’s license. Even though I failed the test again on Monday.

This time, I knew what I did wrong. I screwed up the gear changes on a really steep hill, going about 20mph. I also hit a curb. Now, if you live in Florida, you’d think this means I’m a really reckless driver. Oh no. Here, the curbs are long and jut out into the street so you have to “be aware at all times.”

Yeah, you have to be aware of 100 things at all times. I’m surprised more people aren’t given Valium just to handle the undo stress of driving around here. But someone else yesterday told me not to give up hope because they passed their test after after five attempts. These are people who have lived with this road system their whole life! The main irritant about the whole thing (aside from being chastised by the driving instructor each lesson) is that it costs £62 plus the cost of the lesson because you have to use the driver’s ed car. I could have put a hefty down payment on my own car by this point!

Anyway, I’m just going to keep on keeping on. I’m also going to sign up with an office temp agency next week so maybe I can find a job I’m actually good at for a while. Every time I see someone praising a teacher for their wonderful lesson or fun activity in the classroom, I know Primary and Secondary School teaching is not my calling. I’ve never had training in things to make school fun. I asked the Department of Education yesterday if I could take any college courses to get myself more accustomed to working in the UK classrooms; the answer was, “no.” Since I’m already a certified teacher, I can’t take any teaching courses. Isn’t that insane?

They suggested I shadow a teacher, but from what I’ve seen, those girls are busy as it is, and I want fact, examples, reading material, creative ideas, Q&A… I may as well go into a classroom as is, and try to fumble around to find a place where I can be re-trained. But that’s what I’ve been doing since 2003 and without that initial teacher training, it’s just not as easy to put all the puzzle pieces together.

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Being a good teacher: Part 2

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Suzanne Schultz Pick

Continued from my previous post – Being a good teacher: Part 1

I want to work on my books. I want to save myself the humiliation and frustration of being a crappy teacher for high school/Secondary school. I keep applying for lecturer jobs and, of course, library positions but nothing, nada, zippo.

When I first moved to England, I thought I’d be able to snag a library job or another job in adult education at the least, then have a nice second income for us. But when I found that the only people who responded to my resumes were teaching agencies, I ended up going this route. It’s a shame too because I’ve had headmasters ask me why I’d quit teaching to become a librarian and if I was really committed to librarianship. Of course I am. I wouldn’t have gone through the pain and debt if I weren’t sure. After four years of having nothing but disappointment in the public schools, I’m sure I’m sure.

Education takes a lot of training and more training. It takes acting like a wench at least 8 hours of the day. Without really knowing the material, the lessons, the school, the requirements of the administration, and the way to be a mean, hard-nosed, no-nonsense teacher, you don’t stand a chance. It sort of makes me ill when I see the motivational quotes about teaching because I’ve never been inspirational or life changing. I would have liked to, but I just wasn’t really cut out for that kind of life, I guess. I liked teaching at the college though because I came in, did my lesson, hung out in my office, mentored students, went home, graded and had a life outside of school. At the public school we’re up before dawn and too exhausted when we come home to do anything but eat and sleep – at least I always am.

It’s humiliating to be called “too nice” and “too soft.” Even at the English school I didn’t have out of control classes like I did in Florida (where one term I had kids who tore apart my outdoor portable classroom, who fell asleep during state exams, who got into physical fights daily.) I was really thinking that here I was getting better, getting them to settle, getting good work out of them, and all those things they want to see happen in the classroom. But since I wasn’t “mean” I wasn’t “good.” It’s an awful feeling.

Anyway, after stewing about this for some time, I’ve let the teaching agencies know I’m available again. I really don’t want to keep beating this dead horse though. I feel like I’m spending my day more productively if I’m writing at home. It’s the only thing I’ve really wanted to do anyway. My ultimate goal is to be a writer/librarian in the future; a really successful one at that. I would love to be able to help teachers and students from the library side of the school or university. I’ve been to schools were the libraries are not utilized in the way I know they could be and I would love to really show the school how important a modern, working media center can be.

If I’m going to schools as a teacher, were I know I’m not going to succeed, it’s just spinning my wheels and wasting my time. Well, I guess it’s not a waste if I keep in mind that I will be working and keeping a steady reference in my teaching agencies so I can keep applying for other jobs. (Not that I am able to get another job.) It’s a weird situation to be in – I don’t want to break ties with any agencies, especially since I need some kind of work history on my resume.

Plus, I get some cash here and there.

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Being a good teacher: Part 1

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Suzanne Schultz Pick

Before I started working at the school last November, I wrote a post about accepting my fate as a self-employed person. I have always had the worst time trying to get a steady job; I’ve had temporary jobs, crappy jobs, horrible jobs, and jobs that I would have liked if the company had laid off everyone. I have sent out more application and resumes that I would even know what to do with (thousands, I tell you.) It’s always made me feel like a lesser person because I’m just not the kind who comes into a job and stays there. I struggle and struggle, look high and low, find something, then either can’t stay if I’m good at the job because of funding (as was with the Space Center) or, with teaching, I just absolutely suck at it (unless it’s at a college.)

As I’ve said before, the only place that would even consider calling me for any type of job was working in the public schools. Once you’ve worked in that field, you get stuck in it. I was never formally trained as a teacher, I was thrown in to try and swim as much as I could with training while I was working more than forty hours as week, plus dealing with administration, parents, grading papers, lesson plans and the like. It’s really not something I’ve ever been good at but that’s the only kind of job I can potentially get over here.

I had the same problem with classroom discipline as I did in Florida. I have been told time and time again to just “be mean, “ but until last term, I didn’t realize that I honestly don’t understand what “being mean” means. When I was first bouncing from public school to public school in Florida, my aim was to survive among my struggling students (who, bless them, were really fun to be around.) At the British school I did everything I thought I should do. I gave orders, acted consistent, moved seats, had good lesson plans, gave detentions, yelled, acted stern, gave “the look”, etc. etc. all like everyone else did at the school. (Incidentally, I was told all the time in Florida not to yell but this school really used that as a form of managing children.)

But I didn’t get asked to come back for this current term because I didn’t get the whole “mean” thing. There’s always been these essential elements that I miss so the way I conduct class is a bit messy. If I had known what I know now I wouldn’t have even considered teaching in public schools after I got my English degree. I would have gone right into my Master’s program and fought tooth and nail until I was able to work part-time at the community college. Then, maybe, started working on my doctorate.

I’ve known hundreds of teachers who are “good.” I’ve known people who are absolute loons, and/or idiots who are “good” teachers. It’s all about this meanness factor, I guess. I’ve been fighting myself the past few weeks about even going back to the school as a substitute/supply teacher because I was told, verbatim, not to do it. I had worked at a really good school last term and I would be setting myself up for major problems if I tried to go into a place with more behaviour issues.

But that’s the only kind of job I can get – so what else can I do?

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