LANDING THE TEACHING JOB OF YOUR DREAMS SERIES: PART 3 Social Media and Communication

Welcome to Part 3 of the "Landing the Teaching Job of Your Dreams Series." In the series, I will use my experience interviewing for and interviewing to hire to help you land the job you want!  The series will focus on how to ace the interview, how to set yourself apart from the other candidates, and how to share all of the ideas that you have to make learning fun for your students. 

There are so many minor details to think about when applying for a teaching job or really any job for that matter. Use the list below to make sure you stand out in a crowd for a good reason. 

• Social Media: Check all your accounts and delete any pictures or posts that could offend someone or people would gossip about. My rule is if I would stand up in church and say it or show it, then it shouldn't be online. The best route is to set everything to private. 

• Cell Phone Message: Set up your cell phone message with a message that includes your first and last name. Also, make sure you have plenty of space for someone to leave a message. Just imagine a possible employer calling to set up an interview and they can't leave you a message. 

• iPhone User: Please make sure your Apple ID and nickname are appropriate. When someone is texting or calling someone with another iPhone the phone will offer a "maybe so and so" when the number isn't in that person's contact list. Please do not have your "maybe so and so" show up as sexylady22. 

• Google: Google yourself! See what comes up and if it is something you'd be proud of. I would suggest creating a Linkedin account. If you have one that is public, that will show first and would be a great foot forward. You can view mine here for ideas.  Once you've looked at the all results, take a look at the image results. My Twitter picture comes up first, so you may want to make sure your Twitter picture is professional. 

Find more tips from this series: 

• Part 1: INTERVIEW TIPS
• Part 2: WHAT TO WEAR TO THE INTERVIEW AND TO TURN IN YOUR APPLICATION

Please comment below with questions for a future job hunting Q&A. 

Landing the Teaching Job of Your Dreams Series: Part 2 What to Wear to the Interview and To Turn in Your Application

Welcome to Part 2 of the "Landing the Teaching Job of Your Dreams Series." In the series, I will use my experience interviewing for and interviewing to hire to help you land the job you want!  The series will focus on how to ace the interview, how to set yourself apart from the other candidates, and how to share all of the ideas that you have to make learning fun for your students. 

Unfortunately, first impressions are often based on what you look like when you enter the door. Let's rock the first impression, so you can share what you are going to do for the students in the classroom. 

Turning in your application: 

    You never know who'll you'll meet when you turn in your application, so dress accordingly. Ladies wear a dress or slacks with a nice blouse. Gentlemen wear slacks with a polo or button-up. Do not turn in your application wearing jeans or athleisure wear.  If you wear makeup, keep it natural and limit accessories. Also, be sure to turn your cellphone on silent. Lastly, do not put your application in a folder or report cover. Many districts make copies for the rest of the interview committee, and it adds an annoying step for that person.

Interview: 

 Research the school and see if you can find out the teachers' dress code. Some schools are more laid back than others. You want to make sure you do not break the dress code. For example, I have burgundy hair, which is often against the dress code, and I will change it for interviews. That way, it does not distract the interview committee. Then later find out what my principal's or director's preference is on hair color. The same goes for clothing and shoes.    When choosing your outfit and accessories follow these guidelines: 

• Suits are always a good choice, but not mandatory. A nice dress, slacks, and a blouse, or slacks a button-up and tie are a good choice too. 

• No perfume or cologne: Someone may be sensitive to your choice of perfume or cologne

• Be sure your shoes are clean and reasonable. Stay away from open-toed shoes and stiletto heels.

• Pick accessories that don't make noise. Leave the Apple watch or bangles in the car or at home.

• Get a hair cut before interviewing, and if you color your hair, make sure you do not have roots showing. You do not want your grown-out roots to distract from how amazing you are! 

• Iron...Iron...Iron (Do it, don't skip this) 
• Make sure your nails are trimmed for both men and women. If you wear polish, make sure it is fresh or take it off completely. 

If you have any questions, please comment below. Also, be sure to come back for the series post to help you land your dream teaching job! 

More interview tips: 

Part 1: INTERVIEW TIPS

Part 3:SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

Landing the Teaching Job of Your Dreams Series: Part 1: Interview Tips

Welcome to Part 1 of the "Landing the Teaching Job of Your Dreams Series." In the series, I will use my experience interviewing for and interviewing to hire to help you land the job you want!  The series will focus on how to ace the interview, how to set yourself apart from the other candidates, and how to share all of the ideas that you have to make learning fun for your students. 

Follow the following tips to leave a great impression on the interview committee: 

1. Address your interviewers as Mrs./Mr/Dr.; never use their first name alone when addressing the interviewers. 
2. Make eye contact with all of the individuals on your interview committee as you answer questions. 
3. Bring several copies of your resume to share with the committee. Please do not put them in folders. Print on nice paper with clear, easy to read font. 
4. Prepare questions to ask at the end of the interview. Some suggestions are: 
1. What is the best part of working at ______ school? 
2. What are the goals for _____ school for the upcoming school year? 
5. When answering a question, do not ramble on. Practice answering questions on camera, so you can practice answering questions to the fullest without getting off-topic. 
6. Be prepared with examples. If they ask you to explain how you will handle a disruptive student, explain from the beginning to end. Such as: 
1. To gain parents' support and limit the number of disruptive students, I will reach out to parents/families at the beginning of the year with a welcome back letter and phone call. Then each week, I will call two students' parents for a positive call about something they did well that week. That way, when I run into a problem, and I call home, my first call is a negative one. Once I have a disruptive student, I will move towards them, place my hand on their desk. If that does work, I'll give the class a task and ask the student to see them in the hall. I ask them if something is bothering them and how we can help them focus on learning. If the behavior continues, I will call home to seek the parents'/families' guidance on what may be happening at home. If the behavior continues, I will seek help from the guidance counselor or a mentor teacher.

If you have any questions, please comment below. Also, be sure to come back for the series post to help you land your dream teaching job! 

Part 2: WHAT TO WEAR TO THE INTERVIEW AND TO TURN IN YOUR APPLICATION

Part 3: SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

Free Roll-A-Dice Pre-K Dolch Words Set

I hope this post finds you well! I have a new type of free classroom resource for you to download and use with your students or to share with your families to practice at home. All you need to do is print and some dice. A student rolls the die and read the words in the column that matches the number on their die. The set has three different versions of the Pre-K Dolch words list. More sets are on their way! 

Free Roll-A-Dice Pre-K Dolch Words Set (Click here to download)

Elapsed Time Practice and Telling Time Game (Free downloads)

  I hope this post finds you well. I reached out to my followers on Facebook about what their current needs are, and elapsed time and time resources were one of the requested resources. Click on the images below to download each resource. If you need a specific type of resource, please comment below.

Comparing Fractions Practice

A blog subscriber reached out and requested a quick practice for comparing fractions. Click on the image below to download. Also, please feel free to reach out with resource requests. 

Click on the image to download

MORE PRE-FACTORING PRACTICE

Build your students factoring skills by having students practice finding two numbers which would produce a certain product and a certain sum.

Click the link for the free download

Teachers who have used the worksheets say they have made a difference in students' confidence and competence with factoring. You can find the first worksheet I created here and the second set here.  All sets have student worksheet and answer key. 

Let me know in the comments what you are working on with your students! I'd love to create something for you to use in your classroom.