Unforseen Connections! ...The Plot Thickens

I've been very productive! As you know, I've been trying to fill out as many applications for sub jobs as possible. Yesterday, I finished one application before our session and then I completed another online after our session.

This morning I went to visit the Wordsworth school-- a meeting I had set up 2 weeks ago. They gave me a tour, I got to observe to classrooms, and meet with 3 different administrators. Frankly, I felt like a foreign dignitary the way they had set up this elaborate schedule for me. But that's what you get when you're the headmaster's former student. They clearly admire him a lot.

When I finally got to talk to Mr. Luga, the headmaster, it was after two and a half hours of whirlwind tours and interviews/conversations regarding my history and career path. It was refreshing to hear the headmaster of the school reveal that he struggled with some of the same questions and issues that I did as an educator: i.e. Do I teach the poor or do I teach the privileged?

I asked him how parents at private schools were different than those at public schools. At first he launched into verbose and academic discussion of the fact that all parents have the same hopes and aspirations. Then he said, " Some of the parents are assholes, but I manage to deal with them anyway." And then he revealed his subversive goal as headmaster was not just to make sure students followed in their parents' footsteps but they would gain the "autonomy to choose their own destiny."

The icing on the cake? Not only are they looking for occasional substitute teachers but they are looking for a building sub as well. The difference? I would still get paid my standard rate of $120 a day but I would get full healthcare benefits and would be guaranteed work under contract. So, whether somebody got sick or was at a conference, I would be working in some capacity at one of Wordworth's 4 campuses. Best of all, I would still have zero take home work, zero burden of the responsibilities of a classroom teacher, would get to see a broad spectrum of life at a private school and still have the flexibility via personal days to continue visiting Waldorf and other schools.

I don't have the job yet. They're still interviewing candidates. But even just knowing about the possibility makes me happy. And I'm proud of myself for having the eclectic teaching experience that I've had and the wisdom to know when to use the connections that come with that to get me a job.

Incidentally, when I visited the Briver School last week I ran into a colleague that now teaches Chinese over there.

Life is full of pleasant surprises and encouraging connections, if only one knows to look for them.

Tomorrow morning I have a half-day sub job. In the afternoon the folks at Wordsworth invited me to a workshop they're presenting on the Regio Amelia method which is similar to Montessori.