2001-05-15
Cover Letters, posted at 9:16 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Eastern pissed me off today. They made me sub during my planning period. Not only am I doing the full job of a teacher and getting paid about a third of what a teacher gets paid, now they take away my much-needed planning period. I suppose it's karma, because my planning period is after lunch and I often mosey on in five or so minutes after the bell rings every day. But still. Today I had planned lunch out with my grandparents at Emil's, and I had to rush through my spaghetti so I could sit and watch four kids in orchestra. That reminds me. When I become a real teacher, I'm not going to leave something shitty for my kids to do every time I have a sub.I gave a test today over "Great Expectations," and my kids are averaging around an 83% so far. Not too shabby. One kid pissed me off. He is really bright and amusing, but is flaky as hell as well. During the test, he's fidgeting around, sharpening his pencil incessently, and being distracting to everyone else. I ask him to finish the test in the hallway. He gets angry, throws the test on the ground, and says, "Fuck it." Now, I'm thinking I had a pretty good relationship with this kid, so it throws me off. It turns out it's his third time taking this class. He could get an A, easily. I didn't call security, which I think most teachers would have done. I let him have his little tantrum, then had a quiet conversation with him in the hallway. We talked about choices. I don't think I got through to him, though. He ended up not attempting most of the test and failing it. It sucks.
Baltimore City Public Schools called me again today. They want me bad. Which is nice, but also speaks of their utter desperation. (Calling me at home and offering me a phone contract??)
I finally got some applications out, to Charlotte NC and Charles County MD. I also got my ass in gear on the teachers-teachers.com website, sending out cover letters to about 12 places on there.
That website allows you to make up a generic cover letter, and make the necessary changes to it every time you send it. The basic gist of my letter goes: "I've been wanting to relocate to the for some time now, and seems an ideal fit." Well, for one of my letters, to Prince George County, I forgot to change the state name. So, they got a letter saying how much I want to relocate to Georgia, and how Prince George County would be the ideal place. Prince George County is actually right outside of Washington, DC, in Maryland. I got an e-mail back from the woman, and she gave me a bit of a geography lesson. Oops. That was stupid. But Prince George County is so needy for teachers that I'm sure it wouldn't matter either way. I'm not really expecting to get hired from a website, anyway.
If anyone is intensely curious, here is my cover letter. I'm halfway putting it on here just so it's readily available from anywhere I get on the web. But here it is. I'm including the famed Prince George County letter, just for comic effect.
Kathleen Malloy
Prince George County Public Schools
Dear Ms. Malloy:
I am writing to express my interest in the English teaching position listed on the Teachers-Teachers.com website. I have been interested in relocating to the Georgia area for some time. From what I have seen on Prince George County's website, your district offers exactly what I am looking for in terms of my first teaching job. I also spoke with a representative from your county at the April 5 teacher job fair at Michigan State University.
My yearlong internship through MSU (ranked #1 Teacher Education program by "US News & World Report" for the sixth straight year in 2000) has just come to a close, and I could not be happier with the experience. Since the start of the academic year in August, I have been teaching in a large urgan high school with a multi-ethnic, diverse socioeconomic, at-risk student body. My positive student teaching experience has given me the knowledge that teaching in an urban school truly affords me the opportunity to make a lasting difference in the lives of young people.
Since August, I have been the primary teacher in a general 10th grade English classroom, and picked up two 12th-grade Advanced Composition courses during lead teaching times (November, January through April). During this time, I have developed my strengths as an educator: connecting and relating divergent materials to the lives of students, incorporating technology in to the classroom, and creating authentic assessment strategies. In addition, I have been involved in the larger school community as stage manager for both drama productions and as a member of curriculum teams. I am also interested in coaching (baseball and/or softball), student government, and student publications. Upon the completion of my internship, I was hired in my high school as a long-term substitute teacher for four sections of 9th grade English through the rest of the academic year.
I am looking to relocate, and Prince George County seems ideal. Please peruse my on-line teaching portfolio, which contains numerous photos, descriptions of units and activities, my teaching philosophy, my complete resume, and more. The address is http://go.to/MarkMiazga. I look forward to hearing from you, and thank you for your consideration. If possible, I would like to interview before the end of the academic year.
Sincerely,