3 Things I Learned in My First Year of Teaching
It was the summer of 1975. My first job interview:
“Do you think you can teach kindergarten? We’ve got a half-day opening.”
“I have a kindergarten endorsement and I did student teaching in kindergarten this spring…” I began as I inched my credentials towards the principal.
“Can you start next week?”
No one asked to see my grade point average, my transcripts, or my letters of recommendation. School was to start in two weeks and a last-minute swell in kindergarten enrollment had opened up an additional half-day position. They offered me a job on the spot. The contract confirmed my annual salary for the half-day position would be $3,500. I was elated.
And so my teaching career began.