If you've been following me at all on Facebook in the last few weeks you may have read some posts about a potential teaching job that I have been interviewing for. Let me take a moment to fill you all in:
There is a new, Christian-based childcare center opening about 6 houses down the block from where we live that is hiring new teachers. The undergrad Teacher Education secretary emailed me a few weeks ago about the center and that they were looking for teachers for the preschool classroom starting in September. Now, I wasn't originally going to apply for a teaching position anywhere while working on my masters, but hey, this place is literally right down the road, it's Preschool, it's daycare, so why not check it out, right?? So I did.
The center is still being built (the dry wall just went in at the end of last week), but it will have 2 infant rooms, 2 toddler rooms, 2 preschool rooms, and one school-aged room (for before and after school care). It has a kitchen, play yard, and main office. Pretty much a mini-school minus the gymnasium. And did I mention it's within walking distance? yeah...just saying it would be crazy NOT to apply at this point, right?
So I did. I filled out the application, updated the resume, and wrote a cover letter. Two days later I got an email from Leslie, the owner, asking for a phone interview the following week. So last Wednesday I went to Tim Hortons, ordered a cup of hazelnut coffee with two sugars (my regular, in case anyone wants to order me coffee in the future), and sat down at a table. A few moments later Leslie calls and we talk about the center, the position they are considering me for, and my educational/childcare background. The interview went really well and after 15 minutes they scheduled a face-to-face with me for the following week.
Today was the face-to-face interview. I drove to a church in Hilton, about 15 minutes away, where they are conducting their interviews until the center is available to use (hopefully next week). I stopped for a cup of Tim Horton's coffee-hazelnut with two sugars (in case you missed it last time), waited in line at the lift-bridge over the canal which is under construction (why didn't I know they were doing construction today? there weren't any signs anywhere...grrr), and still arrived early. Quickly checking my hair in the rear view mirror, I chewed a breath mint (to counteract the coffee), grabbed my portfolio off the passenger seat, and walked inside. After introducing myself to Leslie, the owner, and Nancy, the director of education, I set my portfolio down on the table, sat down, and the interview started. Almost immediately Nancy starts flipping through my portfolio and seemed very impressed. Inwardly I'm thinking to myself "So glad I spent all that time keeping that thing up to date and organized." (Note: My portfolio barely fits into a 3"binder, is looks like it was organized by someone who is anal-retentive, and is full of pictures, school papers relating to education, lesson plans, observations, etc. etc. It's been a work in progress for almost 6 years, so I'm very proud of it and most places don't even look through them anymore.) The three of us discussed the job, planning lessons, childcare values, working with co-teachers, etc. I got to ask a number of questions about the room I will be in, the center security system (which is very cool--everyone gets in the building via a touch screen computer system with personalized ID numbers and a thumb scanner), the curriculum, and state policy changes since the last time I worked in a day care 2 years ago.
All in all, this interview went even better than the phone interview, if that was even possible. I will return to Hilton tomorrow morning to do a working interview with two other candidates in the other classrooms. We will have time to plan out a week-long unit and then teach mini-lessons to 4 children. This will be the last step in the interview process and then they will check my references and hopefully give me the job. Oh yeah, did I tell you what I officially am being considered for? The Lead Teacher for the first Preschool room!!! Perfect, right??
While my heart's desire is still to work in a self-contained or inclusive preschool for children with special needs, this daycare is a close second when it comes to dream jobs. I love the daycare setting, the age of my students, and having my own classroom. If I get the position, which I am fairly confident that I will, I will be co-teaching with one other person in a classroom of 14-16 three and four year olds.
I'm very excited and am glad that I didn't overlook this great opportunity. Stay tuned for how tomorrow's working interview goes!!
For more information on the center, check out: www.jluchildcare.com
And if you live in the Spencerport area, they are still taking applications child care!!
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