Saturday was the day of my interview with Teach California Charters; it was a lengthy process but, in my opinion, it went pretty well. I arrived at the interview site around eight thirty for check in and found a group of about twenty other people, all looking more nervous than I could possibly have imagined. The age range surprised me a little bit because Teach California Charters tends to target recent graduates. Many of the people interviewing were definitely seasoned teachers, they had either moved from another state or had been laid off from whatever school they had been teaching at in California.
By the time the process began there were about thirty of us, we were split into three groups, and then the day began with our sample lesson plans. I was impressed with most of the lesson plans; our group was full of very qualified candidates. I was interviewing for an English Language Arts position so I taught about plot development. My lesson went well, largely because I'd gone through it with my old English teacher the prior day; she had given me a ton of hints so by the time I got to the actual lesson I was comfortable and confident. After I presented I had a lot of people ask me where I teach right now...ummm....actually I am not a teacher yet. Then we had a problem solving session, personal writing sample, information session, brief break, and then private one on one interviews.
Basically, the day was very drawn out and a little overwhelming. At the information session we found out more about the specifics of the Charter School System. Basically, as a teacher at an inner city charter school I could expect to basically live at my school. The hours are from 6am to about 6pm. There is also an expectation that you will make phone calls to parents, visit and tutor in the homes of your students, sponsor an after school club. As a first year teacher, I would also have to be enrolled in and attending a credentialing program. There are also papers to grade and lessons to plan on top of this.
I was honored to be given the chance to interview; during the information session they told us that we were a part of about one thousand who had been chosen from a pool of around three thousand applicants. From this point they will narrow down the group to about one hundred. If chosen I would have to take the CBEST, CSET, and enroll in a credentialing program. Then my name would be given to charter schools with openings, and I would have to interview at those schools.
When it comes down to it, everything is a little too overwhelming. If my plans were to become a teacher than this would be a great opportunity, but because this is what I was thinking of doing until I make it into a grad program it's not really worth it. It was good to interview though; every interview makes me more comfortable with the process.
