Once Upon a Time...

Now don't get confused with the title of this post. My teaching career does not go anywhere near as far back that it requires a "once upon a time." It's meant as a pun because my teaching career just started...get it? Probably not, that's okay.

I started student teaching in January 2016. My first placement was in a second grade inclusion class under the supervision of a special education teacher. The school was in a large district that serviced many, many students below the poverty level. It was my first real, extended time in the classroom. What an experience! Because New York State requires two placements, my second placement was with an inner-city charter school in Buffalo. It had such a unique community and fully supported its staff and students. To me, it was the perfect place to have another successful student teaching experience. 

About a week after student teaching ended, the above charter school called me and hired me as a long-term substitute. In true rookie form, during my interview I asked, "are you sure you want to hire someone who hasn't even graduated yet?" To me it was absurd. My official college graduation ceremony wasn't until the next week. They were employing a college student! To add to this absurdity, the charter school was willing to work with my two-week internship in Spain. So basically I got hired for a week, graduated the following weekend, left for Spain the day after graduation, returned to the US two weeks later, and continued subbing at the charter school until the end of the school year. And friends, let me tell you, I am beyond grateful for the opportunity. I'm forever indebted to the charter school.

After the school year ended I was bored. As much as I loved sleeping in until 10am, I hated myself for it. So I mass applied for about 20 jobs in the span of two days. One day my house phone rang and someone was leaving a message. My mom interrupted the woman and said, "I'm sorry you have the wrong number." She later found out that it was a recruiter from one of the companies I applied to! Obviously my mom felt terrible. I called the company back and we laughed as we scheduled an interview for the next day. The next day I was hired for the summer school session! On top of that they offered me a school year position (which I initially rejected but begged to have a second chance...rookie mistake?)

Let me give you a little background information regarding this new job...it's a private agency, it's a really small school, it's a part of a very large non-profit organization in the Buffalo area, and my school serves students with emotional disturbances and emotional behavioral disorders.

I'll be updating how I survived summer school soon!