Movin' On Up!

When John and I first decided to make the move to Germany, I cried a lot of tears and felt frustrated over the fact that the only job available to me was as a Teacher Assistant at the international school. Given my recent efforts to obtain teaching endorsements in English as a second language and special education and my master's degree, it was definitely a blow to the ego to have to take a position that did not require teaching skills. Many of the TA positions are filled by parents and the positions are considered "mini jobs" because they only involve 15 hours of work per week and pay a ridiculously small amount, so small, in fact, that the "salary" is not even subject to being taxed in a country where tax rates are almost 50%! I guess the draw is that you get paid so little, yet you get to keep all of that small amount!

Not to mention, the school originally told me the opening was for a TA in the 3-year-olds class, which made me think I was going to be the resident "bathroom helper/accident cleanerupper." At the time, I told John, " I do NOT want to move to Germany to be a glorified babysitter or even worse, a butt wiper!" But through my tears, he was encouraging and supportive and that is why he is the best husband ever. I never like what he says at the time, but in retrospect, I can always see that he has a worldly wisdom that I should learn to listen to from the get-go, rather than going through the roller coaster charade of emotions that I always do. So instead of the shoe wearing centipede, my animal comparison this time is John as the owl who is wise beyond his years. And if that is the owl from Winnie the Pooh, that makes me the crazy rabbit always running around freaking out about something or getting upset because something is out of place....

Despite my misgivings over taking this position I was overqualified for (I know that sounds all snooty, but I think it's okay that I consider myself overqualified for making copies and laminating which is a good portion of the job), I grudgingly listened to the good advice of my wonderfully intelligent husband who insisted that taking the TA position was a good way to get my foot in the door and get familiar with the important people with hiring power at the school. It wasn't that they didn't want to hire me as a full time teacher, they simply did not have any openings at the time I was applying. They recognized my spectacular teaching talents and appreciated the wonderful feats on my resume as well as the sparkling words of recommendation from colleagues and parents in Oregon, so they scooped me up as a TA in third grade and encouraged me to wait until an opening came up as people are continuously moving throughout the year. So right then, I set out to be the best freakin' TA that FIS ever saw....I would work diligently and amaze them with my competence so in the event of an opening, I would be first choice.

Back in the middle of September, they posted a job opening for a Special Needs teacher. As luck would have it, that job sounded perfect for me. Not quite full time, yet more hours than my TA gig and a little more cheddar to take home each month. Also, it was a "real" teacher job. It was not for an assistant, but the real deal. So naturally, with that stars are aligning kind of feeling, I applied.

Then, I waited....

and waited....

and....

waited!

Two weeks ago, I had a 45-minute long interview with the director of the school, all three school principals (elementary, middle, and high school), as well as one of the support services teachers. After hearing what I had to say in response to their grilling questions, they requested that I undergo two observations so both the middle school and high school principals could see me in action with older students. Given my history of only working with young students, they believed me to be a bit naive to the world of sullen, grumpy, hormonal teenagers and wanted proof that I would be a survivor when thrown into the trenches.

So, the Friday before last, I pushed into a 5th grade English class and a 9th grade Algebra class to show of my skills and work my magic! I have to say, relearning set theory the night before my observation was a bit hectic, but actually quite exhilarating. And working with high school boys? Cake! Well, okay, not super easy, but those were three of the nicest high school boys I have ever met in my life and they were oh so appreciative of my help and thanked me several times throughout the class period.

Anyway, I got positive feedback from both of the principals and it seemed like I was a shoe in. The support services teacher said they would probably let me know their decision on Monday. Well, Monday came and went. Tuesday came and went. I waited. Heard nothing. Waited some more. The director went out of town. The high school principal went out of town. I waited. They came back on Friday. Still no news....

They were quite busy calling all my references, which is good, but I kept wondering...are they still doubting whether or not I can do this job!? Was I not crystal clear about how fabulous I am?? Did they not see my stellar performance as TA of the year?!

Well, turns out, they did...and this morning, the director offered me the job!!!

So I am very pleased to announce that I will be rejoining the ranks of "real" teachers as the new Support Services Teacher at FIS! woot! woot!

Next week is fall break and I will start the following Monday provided I can get a new work permit that allows me to work more than 15 hours per week. Hopefully I don't run into any awful German rules that prevent this from happening because we can only handle one insanely crazy German rigidity issue at a time and our car has taken care of that for the time being...you don't even want to know....

So, after having my "foot in door" for the past two months, I am moving beyond assistantship to do my thing helping struggling learners find their way.

***Stars aligned? You bet!***