FIVE OEA MEMBERS OPEN UP AND SHARE THEIR REALITIES. YOU CAN, TOO. [ puoros ay Daniel Wakefield Pasley Telling JOW'S YOUR JOB GOING?” It’s a question you probably ask, and more often, likely answer from friends, family, and no doubt strangers when you share you're a publieschool educator. From the funny quips made by your students, to the mundane struggles you face (I’ve used up my supply of copy paper for the year and it’s only October!) - there has always been a public fas- cination about what happens behind doors of our schools and community colleges. While you might not find your “reality” as aschool employee all that engrossing or unique - others do. Now, as edueation funding, and education jobs, and edu: cation reform take center stage in both state and national conversations (or debates, as the case may be) ~ you've been told that your stories are critically important. Ye are the trusted messenger an significant education issues 24 TODAY'SOEA | OCTOBER 2010 because you live the reality of public schools, day in and day out. Yet, when you're told to “tell your story” to leg- islators or the media or even your own neighbor ~ you ‘draw a blank. What ean I say that hasnt heen said before? Well, asit turns out, quite alot In the following five essays, a small group of OBA ‘members open the curtain and let you in on thelr stories, Through a simple narrative on their day-to-day exper: ences ~ these educators bring light to some of the most issues facing education: classroom funding, com. -munity college retention rates, living wages, the scarety ofjobs for recent graduates, the achievement gaps among ESL populations, You'll read these stories and relate. You'll probably start thinking about your own students; your own school; your own story ‘And take it from these edueators~ after that, al it takes ispaperand a pencil{ ASPIRING ELEMENTARY TEACHER Julia Klaus MY JOURNEY FROM COLLEGE GRADUATION TO CLASSROOM TEACHER y apartment is packed as tight asa sardine ean ‘with picture books, math manipulatives, eray- fons and posters that seem to bend no matter hhow carefully I store them. Like many new teachers this year, I am without a classroom and fighting tooth and nail to get into one. Last spring at the Oregon Professional Educator’s Fair, more than 3000 hopeful teachers lined up in hour-long lines to hand- deliver copies of their résumés to school districts located every ‘where, from Oregon to Texas. will say from experience that there isno better wake-up call than the sight of 3.000 job-bungry teach- cersin professional dress, Portfolios blazing, the teachers atthe job needed to use the skills that [had learned outside of the classroom, toget me into classroom. Enger to go the distance, I sought strategies for standing out in ‘this growing crowd of talented new teachers. got a summer free lance job writing edueation-related articles for a varity of web- sites. It was interesting work, and it was a way for me to publiely demonstrate my understanding of education. also went to great lengths to make my portfolio easily accessible and as convenient as possible to view, by making my own webpage. Using a basic understanding of web design, I constructed juliaklaus.com in two days. It includes letters of recommendation, details about my research thesis and links to my writing. emailed MU “IT WAS CLEAR TO ME THAT IF | WAS GOING TO GET A JOB (AND | WANTED ONE DESPERATELY), | NEEDED TO USE SKILLS THAT I HAD LEARNED OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM TO GET ME INTO A CLASSROOM.” AM fairdemonstrated their patience and management skills simply by navigating the long lines and speedy interviews. By the end of the fair, Thad delivered around 90 résumés and had interviewed once, ‘which seemed likea minor miracle. twas time to step up my game. Having been dravn to teaching for most of my life, I fet like I had a lengthy list of professional accomplishments for a novice teacher. I had just received top-notch training in my Master's program at the University of Portland: I grew up volunteering in ‘my mother’s Spanish immersion classroom in an Oregon public school; I received three scholarships for being a “promising” ed- tucator and was hired as a mentor instructor by the University of Portland; and, Ta worked for aver a year as aparaedueator ina life skills classroom, As talked with my peers, however, realized that ‘my accomplishments were familiar ones. They looked good on my résumé, but they weren't going to grab anyone's attention, Asurvey conducted by The Oregonian found that fewer than 600 new teachers were hired in Oregon for the 2009-2010 school year ‘out of 2,400 graduates, That statistic paints 2 clear picture of what now teachers like miyselfare facing upon graduation. Itwasclearto ime that if [was going to get ajob (and I wanted one desperately), 26 TODAY'S OFA | OCTOSER 2010 TE neue taaeaiiaanasiiatii friends and relatives all over the country, asking them to share my webpage. I publicized it on social networking sites and men= tioned it in cover letters, Lwas able to monitor the website's activ ity, checking daily to see which districts had viewed it and for how long. Restassured, [knew Thad gone the distance in my job search. My apartment is still brimming with curriculum guides and ‘counting jars and the faint smell of Elmer's glue has permeated ev- cerything I own. Shipments of used library books arrive daily and are added to my colleetion in the hopes that someday soon, little ‘hands will excitedly thumb through their pages. With my dream of :my own classroom pushing me forward, I try to keep my hopes up, despite the odds. The reality is, in the current edueator’s job ma ket, going the distance won't always get you to a classroom. Armed ‘with the passion and drive to teach and enough Caldecott Medal ‘books toenchant any child, this edueatorstill hopes to find work. Eprron’s NorE: Ona Friday afternoon in September, Julia Klaus received the phone cal: a long-awaited job offer ~ and her own Kindergarten class at Sitton Elementary in Portland for the 2010-11 school year. She hegan her teaching career the following Monday.= Ss id 2