New Conclusion

Okay, I combined what I had with a piece from Emily's and Adrienne's intros.

At our presentation on this very subject at the ECCTYC conference, one attendee asked in an overwhelmed and exasperated voice, “How in the world did you do all this?” One of us replied, “You just do it. You can worry about sleep later.” But while that may be true to a large extent, it is important to recognize that all of us didn’t necessarily do all of the above. Or if we did, we did them in varying degrees of intensity. That is, it is likely that the five of us became a package deal; our unique personalities, preparation, teaching methods, education, and experiences provided for a well-rounded hire. Also, as one of our colleagues once mentioned, getting hired is “mostly a matter of serendipity.” And as troubling as that notion might be, it is certainly true that “the harder [we] work, the more luck [we] have,” as Jefferson writes. The point is that you push yourself to stand out from the crowd. Anyone who has a chance of getting the job almost certainly has an MA at least, just like you. So making yourself a student of the hiring process will make you much more prepared for the numerous tests you will take along the way. Every tangible and intangible job-related act you engage in could be the one that helps you rise above the rest. Reading this article is probably a pretty good start.

Introduction: Draft 3

After a rigorous application process and interviewing schedule, Modesto Junior College hired several new faculty members to its English department. And while we share a few characteristics, our unique personalities, preparation, teaching methods, education, and experiences provided for a well-rounded hire. The journey began in graduate school and continues today, and while we cannot claim to have the expertise and insight of a hiring committee, the process and subsequent reflection has taught us a lot about what it takes to get a full-time job at a community college in California. Furthermore, because the application process can be long and complex, we have concentrated on five main areas on which candidates will need to focus: innovative education and curriculum development, CV building, job research, the application packet, and the interview.

Is there anything I missed?
Is there anything we still would like to change?
Are there aspects that are repeated in the conclusion?

Conclusion to article (draft)

At our presentation on this very subject at the ECCTYC conference, one attendee asked in an overwhelmed and befuddled voice, “How in the world did you do all this?” One of us replied, “You just do it. You can worry about sleep later.” But while that may be true to a large extent, it is important to recognize that all of us didn’t necessarily do all of the above. Or if we did, we did them in varying degrees of intensity. The point is that you push yourself to stand out from the crowd. Anyone who has a chance of getting the job has an MA at least, just like you. So making yourself a student of the hiring process will certainly make you much more prepared for the numerous tests you will take along the way. Every tangible and intangible job-related act you engage in could be the one that puts you over the edge. And reading this article is probably a pretty good start.

Ok, here's another one...

I'm not sure which I like better...look forward to your comments.

Documenting our education and experience and facing an interview room full of intelligent and professional professors who might eventually become our colleagues were neither the first steps nor the last steps in a long journey toward a full-time position. The journey began in graduate school and continues today, and while we can claim no profound knowledge or long list of interview experience, the process and subsequent reflection has taught us a lot about what it takes to get hired at a community college in California.

A couple of questions...

Do we want to use the intro to introduce ourselves (literally)?
Do we want to mention our presentation at ECCTYC in the intro?
Do we want to set up the organization of the essay (literally)?

Introduction Draft

Hi folks...

Here's one of my drafts for the introduction...I have several. I'll keep posting them here as I complete them. Take a look and we'll talk on Friday.

After a rigorous application process and interviewing schedule, Modesto Junior College hired several new faculty members to their Literature and Language Division in the Fall of 2005. While we shared a few characteristics, our unique personalities, preparation, teaching methods, education, and experiences provided for a well-rounded hire. Serendipity, it’s been said, is the best summation of the hiring process, and while we claim no expertise or profound knowledge in this arena, we hope our experiences throughout this process will provide some sense of control for those who are still struggling for a position.

PS- Did I say that I'd draft the conclusion, too?

After the ECCTYC experience

At this point, Op has generously contacted the editor(?) of inside english about the possibility of publishing an article about the material we presented. I hope we are still considering pursuing this option, as it might be helpful information for adjunct faculty and graduate students alike. Let's begin our discussion about how we will formulate said article and what this article should include, what the formatting will look like, and what each of us will contribute individually.

Acknowledgements and Thank Yous

Welcome to our ECCTYC blog: a conglomeration of the voices of Optimism One, Jason Wohlstadter, Deborah Gilbert, Adrienne Peek, and Emily Malsam. The included conversations took place over the course of several weeks (end of September-end of October) and extended discussions on preparation, implementation, and academic interest. While we are currently the only contributing members, we humbly invite all those within ear shot (or computer screen) to contribute. Please feel free to contact us for information on contributing.

We invite you to peruse the posts on this page, as well as the mounting comments that are attached to each individual post.

Finally, we'd all like to acknowledge the hard work of Mr. Patrick Bettencourt who provided the catalyst and inspiration for our participation. In addition, we are very grateful to Dr. Robert for her professional and financial support. On a personal note, I would also thank my fellow colleagues for sharing so much of their personal philosophies, materials, and anecdotes.

Preparation and Travel

After a strenuous hiring process, Op and Adrienne approached Deb, Jason, and I about the possibility of presenting at the ECCTYC conference in October. Prior to starting the Fall semester, Patrick Bettencourt, a full time professor at MJC and board member of ECCTYC, inspired and launched an idea to present a workshop on "How to Get Hired for a Full-Time Gig," tentatively to be presented by new full time faculty hired at MJC in the fall. After agreeing to create and present a workshop on this topic, we focused on getting to know our own strengths/weaknesses, creating materials, and organizing our travel information.

What should we do with all of this information?

All of us agree that there is a seemingly limitless amount of discussing that can occur in conjunction with attending a conference such as this one. During walks to and from the conference, during breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and finally during our many hours of shared travel, we shared snippets of our experiences during the conference. These moments of summation and reflection were both thoughtful and interesting, as they invited new information, new understanding, and new perspective. Therefore, we felt an obligation to share some of these insights with a wider audience.

Favorites?

While everyone agreed that there were excellent sessions held each day of the conference, we all had our personal favorites. Some chose a favorite based on the interesting content presented, and others chose a favorite based on its pedagogical implications. To view a schedule for the conference, we invite you to visit the ECCTYC website.

Obligations

We are all very grateful to Patrick Bettencourt for encouraging and supporting the presentation and trip. Not only was the conference an excellent experience in terms of professional development; it was very exciting to get to know our fellow colleagues. While many conversations revolved around instructional and scholarly aspects of our lives (previous experience, reading and writing interests, academic pursuits, professional opportunities, and future hopes for education and our personal careers), there were also moments when we learned a little about the humanity of the profession, the many things we shared in common outside of work, and the "lives behind the curtain" (so to speak). We hope that faculty, both new and seasoned, have this same opportunity for professional growth.

Certainly, in addition to all of this, we also intend to provide an article for the division newsletter, intellectually stimulating discussion to all those who are interested, and materials/handouts to anyone who seeks more information.

Implementation

Because there was such a variety of presentations and we, as teachers, are a very diverse group, we continued to discuss the possibilities for implementation of presentation materials and theories as we left the conference and throughout our trip home. Several sessions stood out as having instructional value, including material on peer analysis essays and peer review techniques.

More information please...

Because there were so many presentations and workshops taking place throughout the three day workshop, we were unable to attend all of the workshops we were interested in. While we chose presentations that suited our scholarly and instructional pursuits, there were other sections that peaked our interest simply because of their interesting topics or their seemingly impossible implementation.

ECCTYC Sessions, Conversations, and Materials

The ECCTYC conference offered many valuable benefits to those who attended. While some of us pointed to particular sessions that peaked our interests, scholarly and instructional, others pointed to the opportunity to build a sense of collegiality among colleagues, and still others discussed the thoughtful sharing of materials during the sessions in regard to the peer editing process, research paper, and decreasing the work load.