And Now I Wait...

So yesterday I had my interview with DC Teaching Fellows. I arrived at about 8:20 am, and only about 5 people were there. By the start of the morning there were about 80 candidates there, and they broke us up into groups of 7-8 after having a brief meeting from 9:00 to 9:20am. Once in our groups we went into a classroom where the DCTF staff assigned to our group introduced themselves and went over the schedule for the day. The two staff members for my group are current teachers with DCPS, and both came through the Fellows program. So, after introducing ourselves to the group each person did a 5 minute teaching sample (my favorite part!). I did my teaching sample on when to use the letters c and k for the 'k' sound (Shout out to Ms. Rice!), and it went really well. I was able to get through all the parts concisely without feeling rushed. There was only one other lesson in my group that I thought really worked in the 5 minute period. *shrug* Next, was the writing sample. We had 20 minutes to read a prompt and respond to it as if we were teachers. Then, there was a group discussion. This part of the interview kinda sucked because there was this one guy in group that dominated the conversation. He was cutting people off and talking over them. Luckily, we were given about 5 minutes at the end of the discussion to write a response to the topic. After the group discussions all the candidates reconvened for a presentation about what will happen if we're picked. There was also a Q & A session. I had to leave the presentation earlier because I was scheduled for the first one-on-one interview. The DCTF staff person I interviewed with was one of the leaders of my group. She was really nice and made me feel very comfortable. I always find it weird/nerve-racking when people take notes the entire time I'm talking during an interview, but she was very good about responding with non-verbal cues like nodding or saying mmhmm. Overall, I think the day went really well.

And now I wait...and anyone who knows me knows patience is something I am truly working on. I will receive notification of whether or I've been selected by February 7th. If I am selected then I will have intensive training this summer and begin teaching in the fall. I'm very excited about this opportunity, and am praying that God's Will be done. I would really love to have any grade between Head Start (3-4 year olds) and 1st grade. Elementary school is the my popular cohort and very competitive. They ask candidates to be open to teaching Special Education, which I am. Last year there were about 2000 applications and 118 people were picked. The best thing about interviewing at the first even is that the chances of being picked are greater. They will notify candidates if they've been picked before they have the next interview event as oppose to having all the interviews and then picking.

By joining DCTF I hope to fulfill my goal of having the chance to save the world. I truly believe that better schools produce better students. Better students mean better people in the world, which in turn creates a better society. I have been told that I have a superman complex (which I think many women have actually), and that I want to save everyone...and everything. I have always been a fixer, so this is something I'm beginning to accept though it can be very challenging at times. One of my favorite quotes states, “There are those who see this world as it is and ask why. I see this world as it never was and ask why not."--Robert Kennedy.