First rejections. :( :( :(

"Hello Diana Nguyen, 

We would like to thank you for submitting your application for the Social Science position as advertised on Edjoin for Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy #7. We were very fortunate to have various applicants interested in our vacancy. After careful consideration, I am sorry to inform you that you have not been chosen for the position.

We thank you again for your interest with our organization and wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Leandro Otero

Recruitment Coordinator

Alliance College-Ready Public Schools"

-------------------------------------------

"Dear Diana Nguyen, 

Thank you for your interest and application for the Social Science teaching position at Granada Hills Charter High School. We appreciate the time you took in preparing your materials and submitting your information.

Once we gathered all the information we needed to plan for our next school year, it turns out that we are no longer in need of a Social Science teacher. If circumstances change that warrant another look at the position, we will be sure to consider all applicants.

Again, thank you for your interest in our school. Best wishes to you in your search for viable employment.

Sincerely,

Karla Diamond
Human Resources Manager
Granada Hills Charter High School"

Instructional Assistant - Special Ed at University High School

After much consideration on what I was to do this next upcoming academic year of 2012-2013, I had a few options:

 

Option #1: Keep applying to Humanities (Social Science and/or English-Language Arts) positions throughout California -- concentrating on the southern California area.

Pros - If I land a full-time teaching position, I would be able to get a full-salary, benefits, and complete my BTSA.

Cons - Probability of landing a full-time teaching position is probably 10-20%.

 

Option #2: Continuing substitute teaching and private tutoring for IUSD and around the Irvine area.

Pros - Some free time if I wanted (will allow me to go to gym in the mornings, etc).

Cons - Unstable, especially cancellations, around holidays, etc.

 

Option #3: Apply to become an Instructional Assistant for Special Education at University High School (I have subbed for the special education classes for almost 2 years now and they told me they would hire me as an Instructional Assistant if I wanted the position). Will probably continue private tutoring, as well.

Pros - Able to complete BTSA as an exception. Somewhat of a stable salary.

Cons - None except that it is not a full-time teaching position or not in my content area.

 

In the end, I decided to go with Option #3 and that was exactly what I did today on Edjoin.org.

 

The position I applied for:

 

Irvine Unified for the position of Instructional Assistant - Special Ed. 2012-13

Friday, May 25th: Observed San Diego MET High School

 

So on Friday, May 25th, I went to observe my sister's school at San Diego MET High School. I became deeply interested in how the school ran, especially the advisor position, after reading the book by Dennis Littky (the founder of MET schools), The Big Picture.

 

School website: http://www.sandi.net/met

 

I mainly observed two wonderful advisors who invited me into their classrooms (gave them Thank You notes and a gift). :)

 

During that day, the students were also holding election campaigns where the candidates made their speech. I went to see how it went and all the candidates were amazing.

 

In the end, I emailed the principal regarding what I thought of my observation and the email went like this:

 

"Dear Ms. Phillips,
I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Thank you once again for the opportunity to observe your school. The experience was absolutely amazing!

 

Ms. Kallsen's class concentrated on writing -- journal writing as well as the college application essay. I thought it was a great activity having the students color-code what makes a good college essay. Ms. Kallsen even had sample essays from previous students to use. It was very enjoyable participating in the color-coding activity with the students, too.

 

Ms. Baker's senior class surprised me the most. They were well-behaved, independent, self-starters. While walking around, I initiated conversations with each student, and they were very well-mannered, on-task, and passionate about what they were working on. Her senior class only reminded me of what Dennis Littky repeatedly mentions in his book, The Big Picture, the main goal of MET schools is to instill the love of learning, and that's what Ms. Baker's class portrayed.

 

In addition, I never knew how diverse the student population was; there were so many students from different cultures and backgrounds. Also, even though it was a small student population, I was amazed at how organized and passionate they were about student body elections. I went to listen to their speeches and all the candidates were great public speakers.  My sister told me they are all great public speakers because they have a lot of practice starting their freshmen year with exhibitions.

 

What I saw during my observation would be even more amazing if I were to see it everyday. It would be wonderful for me to have an opportunity to become an advisor if any advisory positions are open for the next school year.

 

Thank you,
Diana Nguyen"

 

Sadly, I never got a response from her. :(

Students First Member Action Dinner (May 24th, 2012)

On Thursday, May 24th, 2012, I attended a Students First Member Action Dinner from 6-8pm at Maria's Italian Kitchen in Downtown Los Angeles.

The objective of the action dinner was to meet everyone, hear stories, and talk about solutions on how to deal with the challenges facing Los Angeles students and schools throughout California in general.

Some notes I took during the dinner:
- California ranks 47th out of the 50 states in academic achievement.
- CA only spends $6,000 per student in the state compared to other states like New York and New Jersey who spend $18,000-$21,000 per student.
- According to a California survey on education, 97.6% of LAUSD teachers meet expectations, but at the same time only a small percentage of LAUSD students pass the standardized tests at proficient. The numbers don't match up.
- LIFO = Last In, First Out (seniority-based layoffs)

• Quality-blind = it eliminates great teachers.
• Disproportionately affects students in low-income areas.
• Have to let go 45% more teachers not due to performance, but because they have less experience. Also note that younger teachers are paid less, which would save the district money (but these are the teachers who are let go first).

Stories I have heard at the dinner from colleagues:
- Because of LIFO, some teachers in certain schools turn against each other. There was a teacher at the dinner who had the same qualifications as another teacher at her school, but one of them had to be let go. How did they choose? They had to choose popsicle sticks. The person who drew the shortest one had to be let go.
- A student who came to the dinner, complained about how her school had to let go 1-2 PE teachers. As a result, each PE class had up to 52 students or more. Due to that amount, none of them are able to use the pool due to safety regulations (a max of only 35-40 can use the pool).
- A community college professor talked about how her husband brought his school to the state championships and won (forgot for what sport/activity though). During that year, all his senior students graduated from high school. At the end of the school year, he was let go. The next academic school year, the students who would have been his students if he were to have kept his jobs... 30% of them got incarcerated and 19% of them dropped out.

Our course of action is to contact our state legislators and inform them about how LIFO is ruining California's education system and is a disservice to all our students. Our main goal right now is to get rid of LIFO!!!

Please write to your representatives!

"Dear ________________________,

My name is _____________________, I am a ____________________________ (parent, teacher, student, business person, concerned citizen) in district ___________.

I'm writing to you because I believe EVERY child in EVERY classroom deserves to have a great teacher. I urge you to end California's "last in, first out" (LIFO) layoff policy to make sure that we keep our most effective teachers in the classroom.

Teachers have a tremendous impact on student success. To give every California child the education they deserve, we need to make sure every child -- in every school -- has a great teacher. Inside the school building, the teacher is the single most important factor to student success.

[Write your own experiences and thoughts].

No one wants teacher layoffs. But if they are necessitated by budget shortfalls, our most effective teachers must be protected. Currently, California is one of only 11 states that still mandates that teacher layoffs, when necessary, be based on years of employment, rather than effectiveness. This is harmful to students, teachers, and schools.

In fact, a recent report from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office said that California's current layoff policies 'lower the quality of the overall teacher workforce.' In addition, this law is hurting our low-income communities the hardest, where many junior teachers want to teach. Our kids deserve change now.

Please give our students the best possible chance at success by making sure they have the best possible teachers. End these outdated bureaucratic policies now and make sure that all of our kids have access to the great teachers they deserve.

Sincerely,
_______________________________

[Address]"

It begins... Edjoin Applications

Schools and teaching positions I have applied to thus far:

• Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools for the position of World/ US History Teacher - Alliance Technoloogy & Math Science High School

• Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools for the position of US History Teacher - Alliance Cindy and Bill Simon Tech High School.

• Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools for the position of World History Teacher - Alliance Cindy and Bill Simon Tech High School

• William S. Hart Union High for the position of Social Studies (AP History)

• Environmental Charter Schools for the position of High School US History Teacher

• Magnolia Educational & Research Foundation for the position of MSA-6, HISTORY TEACHER

• Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools for the position of Social Science Teacher (US History/Geography) - Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy #7

• Watts Learning Center for the position of Teacher -- History 8th Grade

• PUC Schools (Partnerships to Uplift Communities) for the position of HS Social Studies - U.S. History

• Granada Hills Charter High School for the position of Social Science Teacher

• Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools for the position of Social Science Teacher (7th Grade) - Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy #5

• Environmental Charter Schools for the position of MS Social Science Teacher

• Magnolia Educational & Research Foundation for the position of MSA-2 Social Studies Teacher

• Magnolia Educational & Research Foundation for the position of MSA1, Reseda -- Middle/High School Social Studies Teacher

And so it continues... WISH ME LUCK!

1st Official Day at Theo Lacy Facility

It was my first day as a Literacy Instructor at the Theo Lacy Facility yesterday. I was a little nervous at first (there were so many deputies around); I was afraid I was going to get lost and forget my way to the Programs Building. I was escorted there in the beginning, but after the tutoring session, I had to find my way back alone to the front (which I was able to do thank goodness).

 

In the end, it wasn't so bad. The inmate I was assigned to tutor was very easy to talk to and seemed to have his head on straight. In the back of my mind though, I still know to be cautious of inmate manipulation. We'll see how things will go from there.

 

 

During our session, we concentrated on what the reading/writing goals would be:

 

READING GOALS:

- Reading comprehension

- Vocabulary

 

WRITING GOALS:

- Complete sentences (first)

- Paragraphs (second)

- Essays (third)

 

OTHER:

- We'll also be concentrating on writing letters.

- Will concentrate on math (addition/subtraction/multiplication/division) if needed.

- The inmate will be offered homework to complete.

 

From then on, I'll be instructing him one-on-one in an enclosed classroom (with no deputy inside - they're available outside) every Tuesday evening from 5:30-7pm as a volunteer Literacy Instructor.

 

Some deputies at the facility still can't believe I'm doing it as a volunteer. I believe it'll be a good experience for me--not many people get the chance to walk into a prison and help an inmate out one-on-one.

UCI Department of Education Alumni Event

Attended the annual UCI Department of Education Alumni Event.

 

Workshop #1: Learning in Practice - Presented by Dr. Jody Guarino

Learning to learn from teaching supports ongoing professional development as teachers gain critical information to improve their practice now and over time. Treating lessons as experiments, one can analyze instruction in productive ways. Presenter will discuss strategies for planning, enacting, and reflecting on teaching in ways that generate knowledge for future improvement.

• Listen to students and be flexible with your lesson plan. If the students end up not learning, then we end up not teaching.
• Smarter-Balanced Assessments: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/smarter-balanced-assessments/
• Workshop Activity: Create an learning goal/objective for the following task...
  "My son's birthday is coming up and I want to bake him a cake. The recipe calls for one and a half cups of flour. I lost my one cup and my half cup. I have a fourth cup, a third cup, a sixth cup, a fifth cup, twelfths, an eighth of a cup and tenths. What are some different ways you can come up with one and a half cups?"
• Lesson Analysis Framework: Lesson Learning Goal --> Analysis of Student Learning --> Hypothesizing --> Proposing Alternatives

Workshop #2: Should K-12 teachers be teaching morality? If so, HOW?! - Presented by Jeff Johnston

In a recent survey of parents, the number one concern they had regarding their child's education was "are schools helping us develop good people"? Yet, many teachers are afraid to discuss such sensitive topics. What if it upsets some parents? What if it should be left for families, or religions, or other private spheres? The great majority of students, who have had teachers that are willing to "go there" while teaching academics, have expressed that such moral discussions have been the most meaningful and engaging. We will discuss why and why not we should do it, and explore methods of how a teacher can responsibly address moral issues for the entire classroom of students.

• Morality: Right v. Wrong (if it affects someone's welfare/personal decisions).
• Moral issues are fascinating to students (have purpose/value).
• Be aware that you have moral biases.
• Jeff Johnston's Top 5: 1.) Create the right atmosphere 2.) Create the proper conversations 3.) Relationship building 4.) Throw caution to the wind: Raise those moral questions and facilitate and 5.) As Aristotle put it, just "Do."
• Cycle of Virtue (Character Education): Born --> (INCULCATE good habits - intentional, proactive approach to instill virtue into the students) --> Sponge --> (DISPOSITION - Trial/error, critical thinking) --> Character --> Be a PHRONEMOS (wise, virtuous person who inspires a younger person) --> (INFLUENCE another person who is born).