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Illinois Teachers Chatboard

How did you land your first teaching job?

by Steve

Aug 31, 2011

I'm looking for advice and miracles? I know the market is horrible, but I've been looking for two years now. I'm endorsed in High School Business Ed. and Special Ed. I even considered TA positions but never get called for an interview. I'm working in the corporate world as a temp. I'd sub but it's not consistent enough. Tell me your stories!

hopeless I, too, have been searching for 2 years. I have been a CPS sub during this time and fortunately do get consistent work. It's still not THE job I went to college for, though. I am definitely discouraged and feeling hopeless now that the school year is upon us and I wasn't interviewed for anything I applied for. I feel like I have played by the rules...See More

Aug 31, 2011

Kathy This is so embarrassing, but maybe it will cheer you up. I was living at home after I graduated from college with my degree in sped. I worked as a TA for one year, but got tired of being paid a TA's salary and having my own caseload as a teacher. I couldn't find another job anywhere else, so my mom started calling around and got me an interview at ...See More

Sep 22, 2011

sped On 9/22/11, Kathy wrote: > so my mom started > calling around and got me an interview at a private > residential facility for students with severe disabilities. > They had a school attached. I interviewed for the job and got > it. I was so embarrassed that, at age 24, my "mommy" had to > find me a job.

Sounds like your mo...See More

Sep 25, 2011

Hollywood On 9/25/11, sped wrote: > On 9/22/11, Kathy wrote:

>> Look into private >> schools for students with disabilities. They have a lot more >> freedom to teach using common sense methods. They also have >> more access to funds to get materials. > > Some schools have more access to funds and use common sense &g...See MoreOn 9/25/11, sped wrote: > On 9/22/11, Kathy wrote:

>> Look into private >> schools for students with disabilities. They have a lot more >> freedom to teach using common sense methods. They also have >> more access to funds to get materials. > > Some schools have more access to funds and use common sense > methods, and some don't. It just depends on the situation of the > private school.

My first teaching job was in a private out-of-district placement school (not in Illinois). While it wasn't as bad as the school sped described, it was weird. It was mostly for students who were high-functioning LD and/or ED...we had some Aspergers, kids with school anxiety, smart kids with severe behavior issues, etc. The student-teacher ratio was 2-1 and we had several psychologists and social workers. Each kid had group and individual therapy every week. My largest class had 7 kids, with two teachers in each room. We had a lot of time to work closely with the kids, and could differentiate as much as we wanted. The principal and the faculty were great. We all met twice a week to discuss the kids and compare notes on effective practices. That was the good. The bad was that the director was an odd duck. She did the bare minimum for the school...we had no library, very little equipment or supplies, dial-up internet (in 2005!). She would not allow the principal to have a secretary or any kind of assistant, and would not allow her assistant to do anything to help him. She discouraged any kind of activities or cooperative learning; she wanted kids to sit in rows and work quietly in workbooks. She also forbid us to assign any homework, even to just bring in something from home. Students were not allowed to read in class; we had to read everything out loud to them, regardless of their actual reading ability. Fortunately, she was not in the building very often; she spent most of her time on other business interests. But when she did come in, she would make all kinds of changes and punish random students for the slightest thing. Despite her, I really enjoyed the job. But near the end of the year, she started firing people for no reason. So I began quietly sending out resumes to districts and got a job offer over the summer. I found out later that she fired the principal--who had been at the school for 9 years--by sending a Fed Ex letter to his house on Christmas Eve.

Sep 25, 2011

tyler I agree with thinking outside the box/being creative. My first job was part-time. I earned an undergraduate degree in Spanish and was working as a software translator. One day while browsing the classified ads for a new guitar, I found an advertisement looking for a part-time Spanish teacher. I interviewed and got the job (not surprising considerin...See More

Sep 27, 2011

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