The lack of research might be a factor too. As far as I'm aware, most, if any, CCs don't do research. Most universities (or at least at my alma mater) Professors are brought in primarily to research, and teaching is kind of an afterthought.
It depends on the school and your role. There are adjunct instructors as well, and there are professors who research science education, so their teaching directly feeds into their research. Honestly, the issue with the community college model is how they delineate full and part time positions. In my department there were 2 "full time" positions, and 8 "part time" positions. Full time meant you were guaranteed classes and that you were given benefits. Part timers had to fight over classes, and could teach no more than 24 units in a year (not counting summer which had even fewer offerings). It's a scam. It's horrible because as a PhD I was fighting with people who had Master's degrees and getting passed up by them. Unfortunately, even though I taught all 5 years in grad school, they didn't see that as experience. However, someone who quit a PhD program and left with a masters might spend the same amount of time teaching, but he/she is considered more experienced. It's a broken model, and that makes me really sad. I got my life back together in a community college, and I sort of wanted to pay it forward. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE industry. Not just for the pay, but because I'm constantly tackling a new problem daily. I just miss interacting with really social people. I'm starting to crack my coworkers here though.
Out of curiosity, which school district is paying $5,000 for masters? Every school district I have seen in the area is $1,100, maybe one at $2000. If $5000 was the stipend I'd go back to school.
In Los Angeles, the stipend is $500 a year more. That's it. So the masters will definitely take a while to pay for itself here. OP, congrats on finishing the year. I still have until June 9th for the students to be done, and then I have to come in on the 12th.
Thanks. Seems like my district pays pretty well for a masters. I think a PhD pays an additional 2k as well. My district is one that came in a week earlier this year, so last summer was cut short. This year, I should have my full summer, and all the surrounding schools are still in class for about another week.
That's nice. Getting out early while other schools are still in is definitely nice. The first 4-5 days of summer, I'm usually just decompressing as much as possible and doing as close to nothing as I can. I catch up on sleep in a huge way. Because I'm a slob these last days are a rush of oganizing, throwing out, getting all of the lists checked off, and that type of thing. So it's pretty jam-packed. This year, I think I'm a little ahead of where I normally am in regards to getting stuff thrown out and setting aside the beginning of the year materials. Hopefully it will be smooth. I'm definitely envoius of your position. Also, congrats on winning the district!
This was definitely my wife's toughest year in the 3 she's been teaching. She had a class full of kids that just were not going to succeed in testing no matter what methods she employed. Granted, she's in a school where a fair amount of her kids don't have running water and/or electricity in their homes and very very little parent interaction...still she takes it hard. She's happy that she'll get to move to 2nd grade next year (no testing) and then keep the same class for 3rd grade. Conroe ISD doesn't get out until next Thursday. We leave for a 8 day vacation in Costa Rica next Sunday. She's already packed.
I've been trying to get into the teaching field the last 2 years. Completed an alternative certification with two certifications for elementary and history. Still not having much luck. Demand seems to be extremely high in Houston with job fairs hosting thousands of people for very few positions. I've even worked for HISD as a sub just to gain classroom experience. Anyone have any advice for someone looking to get a foot in the door?
Do you have any friends from your certification classes that found teaching jobs? If so, ask them to let you know if they know of any openings coming up at their school. Ask them the kinds of things the principal/hiring committee are looking for in teachers. A lot of it is about timing. If there is no opening at a school it won't matter what you do. It's hard to know how many teachers are retiring, transferring etc. If you can't get any inside information on the school keep substituting. You might learn something that way. You might also make a good impression on the administration and other staff at the school. In addition, pick several schools that you like. Read their website, try and get a feel for the school. Drop off a resume once, then call to check up. Then drop off a resume again a month or two later. Let them know that you are interested in the school because you've done your research and really like their educational philosophy, what you've seen on their website, and heard about their school. But you still need to work that hard should they initially hire you. If possible find out when schools start, when they do most of their hiring, etc. Time your resume drop-offs and follow-ups with that. It's really a huge help if you have a way of knowing when schools will need new teachers. I wish you the best of luck. It's nerve-wracking looking for a job.
Originally 2 years ago i became certified in History. It's very hard to find a position in that field due to the subject area. I went to one district job fair that had 30 schools but only 2 were looking for history teachers. I recently became certified at the elementary level to increase my opportunities. Teachers i've talked to recommended going that route for that very reason. Most of the hiring for the next school year has taken place. Contracts are renewed in April. From that point to now i've applied for numerous jobs, emailed numerous principals, Assistant Principals and even directors of instruction. I've gotten a few interviews but nothing has stuck yet. Now they are all on break for the next month. The subbing was good to gain some experience but its not maintainable. I currently work a full time job in another field and I simply don't have the time to do both. I'm just not sure at this point how to move forward. I've invested a lot of time, money and work into making the change and it is starting to look like another disappointing summer.
Are you just US History or SS composite? I see tons of openings in Katy and Fort Bend. I know at my school Marshall there are Social Studies and English openings. I did alternative certification through ACT Houston last summer and they pretty much placed me at their job fair. There are no shortage of jobs I promise you. Might not be the perfect school (some schools are tough for 1st time teachers) but I promise you the jobs are out there. If you can coach a sport, that is also a plus because then you can sometimes bypass the principals and the Athletic coordinators will rubber stamp the people that they want. There are literally 100's of coaching jobs with teaching positions attached to them currently open in the Houston area.
I am certified in History 7-12 which just covers U.S. History and World History. I do not have the social studies composite certification. I do also have the elementary certification that covers 6th grade as well for History or any other subject for that matter. I coached 3 years of basketball at the middle school and high school level. The coaching has always been the counter to having little experience. . I'm sure the jobs available look much different for an internal employee. I have an application with Ft. Bend ISD. Every recent job listing posted is the general 2017-2018 vacancies. I got my ACP through Region 4 and they have a similar job fair which i have attended. I was almost placed at that job fair last year. I interviewed with a director of instruction for a cy fair isd school. The interview went great, he had me come to his office later that afternoon to make sure all the paperwork was in order. He told me he would give me a call by the end of the day. Two days later he called me back saying he was going in a different direction. HISD, Spring and Klein ISD seem to have the most open vacancies at any given time for external candidates. I was talking to an administrator who told me the principal gets an average of 50 to 70 applications for any given job they post. I think that falls in line with a lot of what i've seen at these job fairs.
You need to get the SS composite certification, most schools now require it regardless of you teaching just history. There is so much moving around even inside a school from year to year, you need to be able to teach 11th grade US History one year and then 9th grade World Geography the next. If you don't have it, many won't even bother setting up an interview. Quick look shows me in the Houston area you're looking at no earlier than the 1st week of August to take the test. I highly suggest you putting on your resume that you have the composite certification pending and register to take the test, it'll open the door for interviews.
