As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My twenty-third job was 3rd Grade teacher-in-residence at Achievement First Crown Heights Elementary School.
Getting the Job
In 2020, I began applying for full-time teaching positions for the first time since 2014. I was not making enough money working at the after-school program. Secondly, I could not seem to get a full-time job unless it was in the field of education or customer service. Education pays better, but I hate working as a full-time lead teacher. I prefer customer service, but the pay is not enough or consistent enough to make a living.
In February 2020, I interviewed and did a demo lesson at Achievement First Crown Heights Elementary. I was hired as a teacher-in-residence for the fall of 2020. The world shut down in March so by the time I started my job in the fall, we were fully remote.
Pandemic Online Teaching
For the 2020-2021 school year, my co-teacher and I taught a class of 22 third grade students on Zoom every day from late-August until late June. We met online at 8:30 am until 3pm everyday with wiggle breaks and an hour lunch break. This was not what I had in mind as my first real full-time teaching experience. I had never taught math, science or ela. Also, I was enrolled in graduate school online as well.
Achievement First Experience
Achievement First had its’ own curriculum. All of the lessons were pre-planned, but I struggled to teach the material because I did not write the lessons. It is difficult to internalize lessons that you did not create. Also, the point of teaching at charter schools is to put all the thinking on the student. When I was in school, we had to learn the material before we were required have the thinking put on us as students. It is a complex way of teaching especially for a new teacher.
Quitting
During the school year, I had four evaluations that I needed to pass for my graduate school program. On my fourth evaluation, I failed my observation. I got another chance to pass for graduate school. However, the other teachers-in- residence had gotten job offers from Achievement First. I thought I was not going to be rehired by Achievement First so I quit at the end of the school. To date, this is the only full-time teaching position that I completed the entire school year.