Teaching Practicum

The education course I’m currently taking (ED 949 at Worcester State College) for the permanent teacher certification requires 25 hours of observing classroom teachers.  Hopefully, I will soon be doing these hours at the Melican Middle School in Northborough, MA. 

I’m looking forward to learning from experienced teachers and reporting here on this blog for people interested in teaching careers.

Massachusets Teacher License Number – 442166

I am now  a licensed teacher in Massachusetts.  Hurray!  I’m now available and looking for a permanent teaching position, but am also interested in substitue positions in the MEtrowest area while I search for a full-time opportunity. 

If anyone knows  a community that is looking to fill a teacher position, feel free to forward my name.  Thanks in advance. 

John P. Kreiss

Dear Parent Letter

One of my assignments in a class I’m taking at Worcester State is to draft a mock letter to parents of my students.  Here goes:

Dear Parents,

I would like to welcome your child to my class and communicate some of the goals and objectives I have for the upcoming school year. 

As your child’s teacher, my goal is to help him/her become proficient in seventh grade Mathematics, and develop an appreciation and understanding of the benefits that this subject can bring to their lives.  We will cover basic number theory, fractions, percents, pre-algebra, and elementary geometry.  In addition, I will challenge each student to develop his or her ability to use logic and reasoning to problem solve.

I bring to the classroom the benefit of more than 20 years experience in the business world and a master’s degree in business.  My experience gives me a great perspective as to how to communicate the value of mathematics in all aspects of our everyday life.  Illustrating how the use of mathematical principals and applications can impact and benefit the students will allow us to build a solid foundation on which to expand their knowledge base of the subject matter.

The methods we will use to tackle Math problems will include individual and group work sessions, periodic lectures, and in-class problem solving.   The goal is to keep students interested in learning and mastering the topics presented in class. 

There will also be regular homework assignments given in class.   The purpose of these assignments is to provide each student the opportunity to practice what is learned in class.  It has been my experience that one of the best ways to excel in this subject area is with practice and repetition.   By doing these homework exercises, it is my hope that at the conclusion of the school year, your son/daughter will be capable of solving mathematics problems at or above the seventh grade level.  It is also my hope that the homework will keep you informed on the topics we are discussing each day.  I urge you to review your child’s homework assignments regularly. 

Finally, we will have several quizzes and examinations each quarter of the school year to measure how well information is being retained by each student.  As your child’s teacher, it is my job to make sure that he or she is prepared to transition successfully to the eighth grade math curriculum by the end of the school year.  Both surprise and scheduled exams and quizzes are a useful means of quantifying the progress that a student and I are making toward achieving this objective.  

I welcome any comments or suggestions on how we can help your child learn and retain as much as possible.  I strongly believe that children have a better chance of being successful in school when parents and teachers work together as a team to meet the objectives established in the classroom.  I encourage you to contact me at any time during the school year should you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.  Together, I feel that we will be able to provide your child a great foundation in the subject of Mathematics.

Very truly yours,

John P. Kreiss

The Trip to The Massachusetts Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education

I drove to this agency office today. They’re located in Malden (more than an hour’s drive from my home).  Anyway, today’s weather was awful.  I drove through poring rain.

I must confess that I was anticipating that this visit was going to be  similar to a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles.  Does anyone ever enjoy going there?  It has been a while since I visited a  motor vehicle office, but my past experiences were never pleasant.  I always got the impression that the DMV was one of the worst places to work since the employees were always miserable.  That’s been my perception anyway.

Fortunately, my experience with the Education Department was better than my DMV trips.  The people working for this agency were pleasant and helpful.  I even think the transcript issue  is over,  and I will soon receive a Teacher license.  That’s my hope.

Dear Massachusetts Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education

Dear Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,

I’m hoping you can help me out.  I recently received a packet in the mail from your department.  Enclosed was a Memorandum along with a copy of my undergraduate transcript from Rutgers University.

The memorandum says, “please resubmit a complete Rutgers Transcript.  Page 2 is missing half the transcript.”

This memorandum is confusing because  page two is not missing any of the transcript.  In fact, this  transcript lists every course I took at Rutgers, the grades received, and total number of credits.  There is not one class missing.  It’s also marked as complete and official from Rutgers.  The transcript also confirms graduated.  Isn’t the whole purpose of this exercise to verify that I have a degree?

After speaking with someone from your agency by phone this morning.  She asked me to resend the transcript.  I did ask Rutgers to send another copy and two official copies to me and last week and  received two copies of the same transcript your agency recently sent back to me. 

I understand that you don’t accept faxes so I will physically bring the transcript with me to your office in Malden.  I will also bring my undergraduate degree with the seal. 

In addition, I already sent transcripts of my Master’s degree.  Shouldn’t this be enough proof that I received an undergraduate degree?

The local communities will not allow me to work as a substitute teacher without a license, and the transcript issue is the only thing holding up the license.  I passed the MTEL exams.  I have a degree.  I also paid the license fee.  Can I please receive a license to teach?

Personally, I find this extremely frustrating, but am looking forward to getting a successful resolution sometime soon.

Sincerely,

John P. Kreiss – B.A. from Rutgers University in 1986 and MBA from Bentley University in 2006.

The Career Change Journey

Hello Everybody,

It has been a while since I made a post, but here goes.  Here’s what I’m up to.

SullivanKreiss has closed and I have decided that I would like to become a teacher.  I recently took the MTEL – Massachusetts Tests for Education Licensure (Communication and Literacy, and Business tests).  Fortunately, I passed, but they’re not easy.

For anyone planning on taking the Communication and Literacy test portion of the MTEL, I strongly recommend  the review book offered on Amazon.  There were no surprises on exam day and I attribute this to the book.  It helped a lot. 

I am now scheduled to take the Middle School Math test in March and am currently enrolled in the Post Baccalaureate Education program at Worcester State College and expect to have the Preliminary Teacher’s License in Massachusetts Middle School Math and Business) in the next few weeks and the Initial License in a year or two. 

If anyone has a contact who can help me find substitute and permanent teaching opportunities in the Metrowest area of Massachusetts, feel free to forward my email address (john.kreiss@gmail.com). 

Thanks in advance.

Job Search

It has been a while since my last post, but here goes. 

I recently closed my business after six years.  It was a good run, but the design and construction industries were hit especially hard in this last recession and the recruiting business has dried up to the point where I have decided to make a career change. 

I recently passed the Massachussetts Test for Educator examinations to obtain a licence to teach in Massachussetts.  Ideally, I’m interested in teaching Middle School Mathematics or Business subjects at the high school level. 

That is what I am up to.  In the meantime, if I can do anything for any friends, former employees, bloggers, or business associates, please feel free to contact me.

Long Lost

Tonight, I will be flying back to Boston from Hawaii with my wife and two daughters.  Maui is a nice beach place although I prefer the Carribean where the flight isn’t so brutal.

We take off at about 4:30PM Saturday (Hawaii time), have a connecting flight in Dallas and are scheduled to arrive in Boston around 10:00AM (EST) on Sunday.  The two ye3ar old was pretty good on the way down.  I’m hoping for a similar experience on the way back.

I’m also looking for some new books to add to my Amazon Kindle for the trip.  I just finished the lates Harlan Coben book, Long Lost.  I can’t seem to get enough of the Harlan Coben books with Myron Bolitar, Win, Esperanza, and Big Cindy. 

Anyone have any recommendations?

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Happy Mother’s Day to all Moms

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and I’d like to wish a happy Mother’s Day to my Mom and all the other Mom’s out there.

Attached is a great video by Deb Guttierrez on the trials and tribulations on being a Mom.

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Proud Dad

Last week, I attended a research and science fair at St. Bernadette School in Northborough, MA.  My daughter (Morgan) is a fifth grade student at the school.

Anyway, the students all did a tremendous job on these3 projects.  I was blown away by the talent of these young kids.  I was also excited and proud when Morgan was announced as the winner in the Research division.

She did a project on making Maple Syrup that included a display, sample syrups, and a presentation.  The project will no go on to compete with other schools in the Archdiocese of Worecester.

Congratulation Morgan on a job well done!

Click here to visit Morgan’s blog.

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