5.09.2009

the waiting period, part 3

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The good news is that Friday I was contacted for an interview, and I also found out that I got assigned to Lehman. I suppose the assignment itself wasn't good news as I don't know enough about most of the schools in NYC one way or another to have a preference, but this mention in the curriculum description was fun surprise:

Fellows will experience informal science teaching and learning by participating in a required course at the American Museum of Natural History, which culminates in a class trip where Fellows will bring their students to the museum.

The good feelings ended there, however. That same day, new Fellows received some sticky news: the DOE has issued a hiring freeze on all new teachers for the upcoming school year. There are a few exceptions to the rule and NYCTF seems confident, as always, that close to the start of the school year the ban will be lifted and there will be room in the market for the Fellows. I'm as nervous as ever, but my resolve is solid. It's too late to back out now, right?

Even if it wasn't, I still think I'd be taking the risk. I spent the past day at home with my family in Memphis, and as my grandmother put it, "you're young, you're single (are you single? no girlfriends? not dating anyone at all? no love interest?) well like I said, you're single! you're free, you've got nothing tying you down, go live it up." And yes, she used the phrase "love interest." While I'm hesitant to categorize living in an expensive city on a meager stipend in a particularly stressful situation "living it up," I got what she meant. Thanks, Grandma.

5.05.2009

the waiting period, part 2.

This is the phase I'm calling Project Liquidation.

I've secured a room in the city, and I'll be schlepping what's left of my belongings to my new home in 2.5 weeks. It's approaching fast, kids.

In that time frame, I need to figure out exactly what I'll be doing with all of my possessions. I plan on selling most of my furniture and giving away the rest, and I'll be transporting a carload of odds and ends to my parents' house this weekend. Friends have already claimed most of what's in my kitchen, so now I'm making Craigslist ads and putting little dots on claimed items and trying to figure out exactly how much can fit in a Corolla with two people and two cats in tow.

Still no news on a classroom observation--supposedly in years past the Fellows posted a couple of videos for those who weren't able to observe in person, and although that would be a welcome backup plan I'm still hoping I won't have to resort to it. Otherwise, the work is coming along. I'm almost done with my online courses and reading, and I signed my commitment form yesterday. I'm not even sure why I waited over the weekend to do it. I think it was somehow comforting for a few days to at least ponder the idea of changing my mind before I locked myself into the program, even if I know well and good I made up my mind the second I got in.

One bit of information in the commitment letter was unexpected but welcome. After last year's debacle in which a (disputed) number of Fellows weren't able to find teaching positions by the deadline at the start of the fall semester, they've added another period of training, to be accompanied by a stipend, for anyone in the same position this year. It's a bit of a relief to know we have a little bit of a safety net should the worst case scenario happen, especially since the webinar for accepted applicants that I attended recently did nothing to quell my fears. This is to say nothing negative about the folks from NYCTF who put on the webinar -- I'm definitely glad I attended the session. There were some questions I hadn't even really articulated yet that were asked by other attendees and answered by the hosts. What made me nervous was the party line I heard repeatedly throughout the hour-long event, something along the lines of "the right number of the right people in the right burrows." I don't envy the task the Fellows had this year, everything considered, and I'm glad they made the decisions they did to ensure we all have a good chance of getting hired by mid-September. I'm glad that the program was upfront about the forecasted reduced need for new teachers this upcoming school year, I'm just nervous that it's bad enough to neccesitate such a small Cohort this year.

So, my theme of the month is: nerves.

I should know my university assignment sometime soon, which will be useful if only so I can have more fodder for my compulsive google map route making. I'll keep you posted.