Advice for finding a teaching job in the Dallas area? (Houston: find a job, school district)

[Princess81]

Like thousands of others who want to become teachers, I enrolled in alternative certification last fall because I REALLY want to teach middle school language arts. I quit my job as an event coordinator to substitute teach in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD for all of the 2008-2009 school year in order to gain experience and make sure teaching really is the right career for me. I also tutor students during the weekday evenings. I absolutely love being in the classroom and feel that teaching is my calling in life, but I am SO worried about not being able to find a job for next year! I am young, enthusiastic and have a lot of experience working with kids. I am the oldest of NINE children and worked as a summer camp counselor in college. I have completed my certification coursework and passed the TExES generalist 4-8 content area test. I have applied to about 10 districts in the area (including DISD, which I am hoping to avoid), and have e-mailed principals at middle schools in these districts expressing my interest in any available positions. I have not gotten any responses, but I just started sending e-mails this week. Does anyone have any suggestions for what else I should be doing? I'm very confident that if I can land an interview, I will have a job.

[loves2read]

check other threads about teaching--you need to get a job to actually complete your alt-cert certification process...
there are so many teachers looking for jobs who are certified that I think it is really an up-hill climb
don't know if you have been to any job fairs--some of them are by invitation only and I think they are all done by now
there might be some job openings that come up right before the end of the summer--
while you might be a wonderful teacher--you don't have any real proof of that--
did your substituting give you any insight into what admins are looking for in that district--did you make any friends in the ELA depts where you subbed?
Emails are not really what I would consider best option--
I would make cover letter/resume and just mail to principals of schools where you subbed for one thing-and for others
it is just going to be a desparate year for getting a job if you are not math/science/special needs...

[momof2dfw]

I took a peek over at our district to see if there were still any middle school English openings and there are a few. I'd call the principal's directly and let them know you can interview THAT DAY. Go to Garland Independent School District and then these were the schools showing openings for your area:
Sellers Middle School
Coyle Middle School
Sam Houston Middle School

[loves2read]

yes--waiting for personnel to call you is like watching paint dry--they are just overwhelmed with applications
Momof2 is probably right--but you won't get to talk to the principal of the school--you will get the operator or his secretary--so just depends on what his schedule is like, if he has told her he won't talk to any job seekers, if she knows what vacancies are still pending--some secretaries really do a lot for their bosses and some are just not in the loop--but a principal is really busy this time of the year so I don't know how many you can actually get to talk to--but it does not hurt to test the waters...

[loves2read]

talked to guy who works at company my husband works for at the annual company dinner--his daughter just graduated with degree in Spanish--student taught at Northwets but they were not interested in her--got a job teaching middle school Spanish in Sanger ISD--3A district--north of Denton...
that was her first offer and she took it--did not want to take chance looking for bigger/better paying district and not get hired...

[Princess81]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I am aware that I have to teach for one year to be fully certified, but I need someone to hire me for that to happen! I know that positions will open up over the summer, especially right before school starts. I'm remaining confident that I will find something, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything possible to get my name out there so that I can be sure to get interviews once positions start opening up.

[loves2read]

I noticed a trend this year on the web sites of some districts having job fairs--
the people who would be applying as alt-cert initial candidates--those who need to teach a year to complete the certification process-- were not allowed to register for the same job fair as certified applicants could--even those with out of state certifications--
the alt-cert newbies were having to have a separate job fair...
to me that means 1) there are significant numbers of those people or else why need a job fair to handle their applications and 2) because they were done after other certified applicants, they were seen as apps of last resort...
have you directed any of your efforts to smaller ISDs
I know that Dallas and FTW have had a history of hiring alt-certs because basically they had trouble getting certified applicants but think this year--even they will see abundance of people looking for work--keeping them could be another problem however

[Princess81]

I don't think districts are necessarily opposed to hiring alt cert candidates in general. The problem now is that there are thousands of people (including several of my friends) who have lost their jobs, cannot find new ones, and have decided to teach because they think that is the easy way out. They have enrolled in alt cert programs thinking they can just go through the training, pass the test and be hired to teach with NO EXPERIENCE. I went to several job fairs this spring and you would not believe how many applicants have never stepped foot in a classroom since they began working on their certification. Those people are flooding districts with their applications and people like myself are getting drowned out by them. I made a conscious decision to quit my very good job of two years to pursue my teacher certification. I have substitute taught for almost the entire school year, and have tutored during the evenings. I subbed for more than a month before I actually started applying to teach, because I wanted to make sure that I had made the right choice. I have invested too much time in the past year and am too passionate about wanting to teach to give up on my dream now. I have not applied to smaller districts because I live in the middle of Dallas and cannot justify commuting more than 30 minutes. I have applied to ten of the larger districts. I had hoped to avoid DISD, but I realize there are actually some very good schools in the district - they are just few and far between. Fortunately, some of the great DISD schools are very close to where I live, so I'm going to start getting my name out to those principals. Like I said before, I know that jobs WILL open up over the summer, it's just a matter of making sure I get called for an interview once they do. I feel very confident that if I can land an interview, I can land a job.

[loves2read]

YOU have a great attitude and obviously realize that teaching is not just a stop-gap for the next 12 months until the economy turns around--I think you will probably do what it takes to make sure you DO become a good teacher...
I wish more people with alt-certs and college degrees realized that teaching is really a calling not just a job and it asks more than most jobs do ...
I wish you the best--I can understand why traveling to other areas might not work for you--but I think from what I know about driving in Dallas area--that you might be able to go EAST vs West or North...

frankly I would put your info in a cover letter to school principals and take them around in person...maybe you will get lucky...