Thursday, May 19, 2016

Teach for America Post-Interview, Pre-Hire Decision

You've filled out your online application, had your interview, done your 5 minute practice lesson, and have heard back that you have been hired by Teach for America. Now what?!?

Since I applied through the early application deadline, I had a LOT of time to make my decision about whether I wanted to sign with Teach for America. Like...almost 6 months. Not everyone is so fortunate.

Regional Placement:
Before you actually sign your name on the dotted line, you will know what region you are placed in. That is a very important factor in making your decision. Again, since I applied through early-admissions, I had no problem being placed in the region that I wanted: Phoenix. Your region gets very excited that you could possibly be going to work with them and you'll shift from being contacted by national recruiters to regional representatives.

Initial Grade Level/Subject Placement:
You'll fill out another survey sent out by your region about what subject and grade level you want to be teaching. A few weeks or months later (depending on the application cycle you applied in), you'll hear back. I was NOT assigned to the grade level that I felt I had referenced at all--I was assigned to elementary school. I remember when one of the Phoenix office staff called about three days before my deadline to make a decision about Teach for America. I probably did not sound very happy at all on the phone. Alas, I felt that TFA was the right decision for me and what would best help me get to where I wanted to go. And I felt good about it. So, despite the fact that I thought I would be teaching the wee ones (nothing wrong with that, just wasn't what I initially had in mind), I made the decision to sign the dotted line.

Signing the Dotted Line:
You will have an eventual deadline in which you must give TFA a firm commitment. You'll be able to read over the TFA Handbook before making your decision, which is the big handbook of all of the official policies and what you'll actually legally be getting yourself into. I encourage everyone to 1) actually read this and 2) download and save it for future reference. Then, you'll sign your life away and officially become a Teach for America corps member!

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