Thread: Graduating in the Fall

Most mid-year openings tend to be interim positions, so you would be getting one that you might not get to keep. Sometimes it leads to a job, sometimes not. I would think you might do better if you took a mid-year position if it is available, because it shows you are serious about being a teacher, not to mention whatever practical experience you might get.

eblair:
I also graduated in December. Right before graduation, I had 3 or 4 interviews for jobs starting in January, but didn't really fit into those positions very well. I started to sub in January and got a call on Valentine's Day asking if I'd be interested in two different positions. On Friday, I was hired for a 5th grade position and taught for the remainder of the year. I worked harder than I've ever worked before because I wanted the teachers around me, the administration and the board of education to know that I was serious about my job. It was almost like a second shot at student teaching; everyone was watching to see how I performed. I will be going back to the same school, same grade in the fall.
I encourage you to take a job in for the spring semester if one is open. It gives you a door for the fall and makes you visible for other schools. Believe me, word gets around as to how a new teacher is doing. My mom works at a school on the complete opposite side of the county from where I work and people at her school we talking about how I was doing (thank goodness they thought I was doing a good job!! haha). However, do what's best for you. There are pros and cons to both situations.
Good luck and happy teaching!

In general, I think it's a lot easier for a novice instructor to fill an interim position rather than start a new year. As Johnboy indicated, an interim position would have the advantage of giving you some valuable classroom experience. You'd also be coming into an established classroom. Assuming your predecessor was doing his or her job, the grade book would be set up. You'd also have lesson plans dating back to the start of the year so you could see what was taught and how these lessons were organized and implemented.

This is not to say that you couldn't make changes in the way class was conducted, but again - assuming your predecessor was halfway competent, it'd be easier to simply "pick up the reins" and move on with the school year instead of having to start a school year from scratch. In other words, you could learn from your predecessor ... and if this person turned out to be incompetent, you could still learn from this teacher by avoiding his or her mistakes.

Come the end of the year, you'd have a jump on your classmates in terms of experience. Even if you couldn't keep the position, if you did a good job, you'd have a positive letter of recommendation from the building administrator. With the support of the administrator, you'd have a leg up on getting a job elsewhere in the district.

I say, grab any job that comes along. First-year teachers have a rough year anyway, so it doesn't really matter if you jump in early.
How large is job pool in your area? Over here it is very small.
btw I don't see any regularity in *real* job openings here. It is usually a tenured teacher getting really sick and somebody getting a long-sub position, and then the tenured teacher retires and the second person remains at the job, just changing the contract.

e blair:
If you decide to start mid-year be sure you check the district's policy on salary. Here in Las Vegas if you begin after the official start of the year your salary is calibrated to the number of days you were contracted for. For example, if the year is 180 days but you start on the 90th, your biweekly paychecks would only be half what they would had you signed for the whole year. (i.e., Instead of getting 2 grand every two weeks like those who signed for 180 days, someone who signed for 90 would only get 1 grand every two weeks. Unfair? Yes!)I ran into this problem my first year. Fortunately, I started in early October so it wasn't too much to bear. Please be vary wary of this, e blair.

I agree with the above... you should grab any job when its available. I just mentored a teacher that took over a class in January... She did an excellent job. There are 2 ways to look at it... if its a bad situation.. you only have half a year of it. Or you could run with, do a smashing good job and hopefully make a name so that you can keep the job or at least get a good reference for the following year. Either way i don't see any reason in waiting.

BTW - in many counties in Florida (where I'm at) they are searching high a low for quality teachers to enter a classroom. Last year they recruited by paying $500-1500 for moving to the county and signing a year contract.

Originally Posted by mbfenner

If you decide to start mid-year be sure you check the district's policy on salary. Here in Las Vegas if you begin after the official start of the year your salary is calibrated to the number of days you were contracted for. For example, if the year is 180 days but you start on the 90th, your biweekly paychecks would only be half what they would had you signed for the whole year. (i.e., Instead of getting 2 grand every two weeks like those who signed for 180 days, someone who signed for 90 would only get 1 grand every two weeks. Unfair? Yes!)

They'd pay a quarter for half of the work? That's seriously screwed up.