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Hallelujah, Hosanna, Glory!
Despite my atheism, it's DAMN hard to celebrate true joyfulness with other exclamations:
The story is actually even stranger than the one I told in the last entry, about teaching second grade bilingual. Literally as I was driving down the freeway to my pro-forma (apparently it was a mostly foregone conclusion that they wanted to hire me) interview in this new district, my cell phone rang. Like an idiot, I fumbled in my shoulder bag to answer it. It was the principal of the school where I'd actually interviewed -- the middle school that had wanted to hire me, except for the fucking credential issues. But she was very excited and tense on the phone, asking whether I'd signed anything yet with the elementary school. I said no. She said that it was "all fair", then, and that she'd talked with the district's credentialling person and they thought that this middle school could hire me into a new fulltime position teaching FRENCH. She said they wouldn't know until Wednesday evening, but in fact, after my interview with the elementary school, where it was clear they were desperate and ready to take a chance on someone who'd never taught those whom![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raptis calls "tiddlers" before, I had three different messages to call Personnel, where the woman I reached told me she would have a contract typed up by 8 AM this morning, as long as I had some proof that I am pursuing a French credential.
Oh, my fucking christ. I haven't talked about it much in this journal, because most of my seething frustration in this area dates back to being forced to stop getting a single subject French credential in 2001, because Oakland eviscerated the electives program for middle schools. I had taught French 1999-2000, and it was insanely fun. It wasn't much like work, really, as far as I could tell. I loved making curriculum, I loved speaking French all day, I loved getting students turned on to language and watching them fall for French, in particular.
Anyway, once Oakland scrapped electives (drama, art, music, language, and anything else that might once have been taught -- Lowell had rooms that had clearly been intended as home ec and cooking classes), I felt like there were so few job opportunities in foreign language that I might as well accede to the District's demand that I get a multiple subject credential, so I'd be qualified to teach Language Arts/Social Science Core -- HA! given recent events. Not that I didn't worry about that, even back then.
Now... I didn't even APPLY for this job, and it's the job above all others that I would have wanted, had I known it existed and was possible.
So I signed a contract this morning, filled out reams of paperwork, and went to the middle school to look at my classroom. Strangely, for me, this is one of the most important things -- I'll make any classroom I work in beautiful somehow, because I cannot bear to work in ugliness -- but THIS classroom is already gorgeous, even almost empty! The whole back wall is windows, with a long curtain that can be pulled across like an auditorium. The desks are the two-people-at-a-desk-with-undershelf affairs, and those are the ones that I would request if it were in my power to do so, which it never is. The dimensions are good. There are two filing cabinets. It's a blank palette on which I can now begin to work. I can't use most of what I used to have up, though I do have some stuff left from the last time I got to teach French. But I'll accumulate things this year, oh, yes, I will. The first thing I am going to do is get rid of that fucking American flag and put up a French one, a Quebecois one, and a Haitian one. If I can get them. I think I have the first two? I'll have to look.kola and celesteh and nana_b, expect pleading for French realia on a regular basis. Used Carte Oranges, bus tickets, museum entry tickets, advertising posters, ANYTHING!
God, I'm so glad to have a teaching job. I start -- with students -- Monday.
The story is actually even stranger than the one I told in the last entry, about teaching second grade bilingual. Literally as I was driving down the freeway to my pro-forma (apparently it was a mostly foregone conclusion that they wanted to hire me) interview in this new district, my cell phone rang. Like an idiot, I fumbled in my shoulder bag to answer it. It was the principal of the school where I'd actually interviewed -- the middle school that had wanted to hire me, except for the fucking credential issues. But she was very excited and tense on the phone, asking whether I'd signed anything yet with the elementary school. I said no. She said that it was "all fair", then, and that she'd talked with the district's credentialling person and they thought that this middle school could hire me into a new fulltime position teaching FRENCH. She said they wouldn't know until Wednesday evening, but in fact, after my interview with the elementary school, where it was clear they were desperate and ready to take a chance on someone who'd never taught those whom
raptis calls "tiddlers" before, I had three different messages to call Personnel, where the woman I reached told me she would have a contract typed up by 8 AM this morning, as long as I had some proof that I am pursuing a French credential. Oh, my fucking christ. I haven't talked about it much in this journal, because most of my seething frustration in this area dates back to being forced to stop getting a single subject French credential in 2001, because Oakland eviscerated the electives program for middle schools. I had taught French 1999-2000, and it was insanely fun. It wasn't much like work, really, as far as I could tell. I loved making curriculum, I loved speaking French all day, I loved getting students turned on to language and watching them fall for French, in particular.
Anyway, once Oakland scrapped electives (drama, art, music, language, and anything else that might once have been taught -- Lowell had rooms that had clearly been intended as home ec and cooking classes), I felt like there were so few job opportunities in foreign language that I might as well accede to the District's demand that I get a multiple subject credential, so I'd be qualified to teach Language Arts/Social Science Core -- HA! given recent events. Not that I didn't worry about that, even back then.
Now... I didn't even APPLY for this job, and it's the job above all others that I would have wanted, had I known it existed and was possible.
So I signed a contract this morning, filled out reams of paperwork, and went to the middle school to look at my classroom. Strangely, for me, this is one of the most important things -- I'll make any classroom I work in beautiful somehow, because I cannot bear to work in ugliness -- but THIS classroom is already gorgeous, even almost empty! The whole back wall is windows, with a long curtain that can be pulled across like an auditorium. The desks are the two-people-at-a-desk-with-undershelf affairs, and those are the ones that I would request if it were in my power to do so, which it never is. The dimensions are good. There are two filing cabinets. It's a blank palette on which I can now begin to work. I can't use most of what I used to have up, though I do have some stuff left from the last time I got to teach French. But I'll accumulate things this year, oh, yes, I will. The first thing I am going to do is get rid of that fucking American flag and put up a French one, a Quebecois one, and a Haitian one. If I can get them. I think I have the first two? I'll have to look.
kola and celesteh and nana_b, expect pleading for French realia on a regular basis. Used Carte Oranges, bus tickets, museum entry tickets, advertising posters, ANYTHING!God, I'm so glad to have a teaching job. I start -- with students -- Monday.
!!
Re: !!
Have you written an entry yet? And I know I owe you an e-mail. A long, juicy one, except there's not so much juice, really, at the moment. Still.
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It's funny to go from utter (and mostly highly enjoyable sloth) to hyperactivity of the employed variety. Especially since I am teaching an online college history course at the same time, which began today. When it rains it pours, and all that.
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V. pleased, as Bridget Jones might say!
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i find it ironic that i am actually french, and cannot be relied upon for french realia. well, ironic and vaguely tragic, but that's for my own reasons. it kicks ass that you get to teach french! it's awesome to see that someone is so keen to teach it, as well --
why a haitian flag? well, i mean, obviously you mean francophonic countries -- is french the only language of haiti? (i was just thinking about other former french colonies, like senegal and ivory coast and tunisia/algeria and so forth, but realized that perhaps haitians mostly speak french, while the other countries mentioned mostly speak their native languages)
oo the swiss and the belgians speak french! and monaco! eek, sorry, now i'm just thinking about flags of french-speaking countries.
congrats again!
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Haitian and Quebecois just 'cuz they're, like, the equivalent of Canadian and Mexican flags, here in North America; kids are more likely to meet Francophones from there than elsewhere, and it's important that they know this language is used right close to us.
Anyway, I'm happy. I love teaching this stuff. I also think it's terribly important that kids at some point get a language teacher who isn't a native speaker, just to give them proof that it's possible to get good at it.
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and you're right, i think (i mean about not always having a native speaker). (obviously i'm referring to native speakers who speak excellent french, which i have it on good authority you do ;-) it's good also in terms of understanding how to teach children the language in question - to natives things seem obvious that don't to non-natives. like, i could see a french native speaker having a lot of trouble explaining l'imparfait - i had a latin teacher once who had a /lot/ of trouble explaining it, even though he obviously understood it himself.
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Congratulations! What a wonderful thing!
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goddamn!
And I will gladly send you french things while in Paris. Um. I dunno what french things yet. But something. Current popular music, maybe? Cute little books? Used Metro passes? Yay!
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mots d'heures, gousses rames
Re: mots d'heures, gousses rames
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HUGS and all good things!!
J
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I hated my high school french teacher, but I do really like the French language. And for random geneaology, I've got both French-speaking Germans and German-speaking French in my ancestry. All that's neither here nor there, but again,
CONGRATS!
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Yay!
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Puis-je rentrer a l'ecole "middle" pour etudier francais chez toi?
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You know, this island (Guernsey) is very proud of its French roots. If you would be interested, I could put together a pack of (hopefully) interesting bits'n'bobs and send them to you?
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sacre veinare
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