Planning

Last Friday, I drove to Modesto for a job interview at a charter school. The school itself is great--I love a lot of their philosophies. The kids and the teachers wear uniforms. The staff eats lunch with the kids. The kids have jobs and create businesses and are responsible for cleaning the school (to a certain extent, of course--I'm sure they don't use harsh chemicals and such).

Anyway, they need a music teacher, and I need a job. I was selected for an interview, so I made the 40-minute drive to Modesto and gave it my best.

I walked out feeling like a jerk.

Doesn't everyone hate interviews? It's like being on display wearing nothing but a bathing suit after three weeks of not shaving your legs. I always feel awkward and slightly crazy when I walk into one.

Anyway, this particular interview involved a lot of long, clumsy silences. The panel would ask a question and I would give my best answer, drawing on previous teaching experiences and showcasing the good things about my resume. When I finished, I would smile pleasantly...and there was silence. Some nodding of heads, but also total silence. Where I thought a question would come, there was a gaping hole of complete silence. It was so excrutiating!

At the end, they told me the next step would be to select candidates to come teach a lesson for them. I smiled and nodded and thought, "Oh, dear. I just know I won't be selected." This feeling got stronger when I arrived home and realized that there is some kind of crap dried onto the back of my suit jacket...and I could only hope that the panel hadn't noticed it as I walked out of the room. Oy vey!

Anyway, I was sure I wouldn't get invited back to teach a lesson...but I did! So tomorrow, I'm teaching a 20 minute lesson to a group of 15-20 kids. It's been a while since I've put my teacher hat on, and I was excited to pull out my Visual and Performing Arts Standards book and dust it off this week. I'm doing a lesson on rhythmic notation that involves "soda rhythms" (Sprite is a quarter note, Pepsi is two eighth notes, etc.). Past students have enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to seeing how these kids do.

In addition to this, I have another interview in SoCal on Monday--this time Salinas, just east and slightly south of Monterey and Carmel. Because I'll be in the neighborhood, I'm making plans to visit Mission Carmel, which I hear is beautiful. I haven't been to Carmel in years so I'll probably explore a bit before heading back to Stockton.

So that's where I'm at. I've been busy the last couple of weeks, doing some volunteer stuff for Chorale, going on all these interviews, and applying for every possible job I can find. I'm hopeful.

Hopeful is good.