building network list

[Zoe Girl]

I am in the process of building a network email list and just wondered if anyone else had done this and if there are some polite do's and don't's. I have email addresses of teachers I have worked with, administrators, others who know me and are in the teaching business. Some I have not talked to in a long time and so I was going to send a private e-mail first before I send the group e-mail. My group e-mail will just say what I am doing right now, a little of my qualifications and express my interest in moving forward with career with any help they can offer.

Kinda nervous, as I was talking to my counselor one day she validated my nervousness by saying how many times I had been disappointed. That is true, the one district I worked for years in will not even give me an interview for a teaching job but will seek me out for subsitute jobs that I cannot live on. I am trying to balance the reality of principals getting 100 resumes for every job with the idea I really am qualified and am not early 20's with no experience working with children. Still, seems like more luck than anything else!

[herbgeek]

I will personally say that I'm put off by mass emails like what you're planning. I much prefer a personal note addressed to just me, also asking about how I am. The mass mail sounds so me-me, let me tell you what /I/ need. I prefer a conversation, even if its brief. You can use the same basic email, and cut and paste and add a sentence or two to personalize it. I tend not to respond otherwise, unless I happen to know about something useful at the exact minute I receive the email. When I get a personal email on the other hand, I tend to remember people, and when something comes up several months down the road I'll still think of them.

Your mileage may vary, and not every one is like me, so take that with a grain of salt. All other usual disclaimers.

[Zoe Girl]

Okay that is helpful. I am just years into a job search and trying not to expect too much from one person. But I may adapt my method to make people feel less like a mass mailing.

[kevinw1]

Agree on the mass email vs personal email - you likely won't get as good a response from a mass email.

[fidgiegirl]

I don't envy you this. It's an odd phenomenon in the teaching profession - I have several teacher friends who get a job, keep it for a year or two and are always let go. They are all excellent teachers. I am not sure how the same thing keeps happening to the same individuals.

What is your license area and where are you? I know I've asked you this on the old boards, but it was a while ago, so sorry that I have forgotten!

I haven't had to search for a teaching job in several years, but I wonder if more than e-mails if a handwritten note would be more effective - genuine and individualized even if brief. People will know you are writing them for help but personally, if someone is forthcoming about that and explains why s/he would contact me (assuming some of these contacts, as you said, are people you haven't spoken with in a while), I would be willing to help. In fact, I LOOOOVE passing along tidbits that I see to people I know can use them. You just have to hit on that one person who will remember you and pass things along to you.

Good luck, Zoe Girl!!

[Zoe Girl]

Fidgie,

I am in colorado and my endorsement is in elementary ed (masters level). I earned that in an on-line program because I was also in the middle of a divorce. I don't understand the teaching system at all frankly. With all the talk about standards and acheivement it still feels to me like a huge popularity club. I am about done trying to break through some glass wall that I don't understand no matter how much I want to be in the classroom very honestly.

What baffles me to no end is that I have spent many years running a home daycare, volunteering, substitute teaching, etc etc. and it really doesn't seem to matter one bit. The same people and district who went out of their way to call me in urgent sub situations will not give me an interview for a permanent job when it comes up. It hurts, they have no problem having me run in for $90 a day but when I need a real salary I cannot even get them to answer the phone. The teachers are always nice and wonderful but there is this gap between them and who actually hires. Sorry to sound so bitter, I guess I am after losing my house and watching my kids suffer so badly with that.

gotta run and play with kids!

[fidgiegirl]

Well, I hear ya, and to top it off, from what I hear no one will be honest with prospective hires about why they aren't getting hired.

Elementary ed is very competitive in MN and people who have an additional license (spec. ed., ESL, etc.) tend to have a little better luck getting jobs. But I can see where you wouldn't want to do that if what you already have hasn't panned out.

Are there nearby districts you can work in? Perhaps you need a fresh start.

Again, good luck.

[Zoe Girl]

There are 14 districts in the denver metro area and I have had applications in all of them. I am not current right now with all districts due tothe time and my personal depression over the job prospects. I want to test and add a French endorsement but I need time to really work on my French again. I am not sure about making my license K-12 instead of K-6, it may require additional student teaching and classes. One hopeful idea is that there is a program where you teach special education and earn your degree over 2 years. Since I would be ahead of others by already having a teaching license that may be possible. I am working on building up contacts in this district and moving forward that way. I know that the lead teacher in my program was trying to build some connections but she quit suddenly on Friday which is a blessing in many ways so now I don't have any competition in my school for networking.

Thank you, I know it is hard everywhere. I could almost handle some of this but with all the factors in my life it is just one last thing that apparently I am too much of an outsider to get a teaching job. Most people I know with jobs had some type of mentor who just took them under their wing, told them what to say in interviews, made connections for them, etc.