Oakland is generally poorer, and therefore faces more of a challenge than SF, and is therefore more in need of your mad teaching skillz?

My favorite new animation: 'Animator vs Animation'

Bloody brilliant.

Emily, my dad does a shitload of volunteer work with the Oakland school board and knows many, many of the teachers and principals; I could ask him about keywords they like to hear or the kinds of teachers that get them all excited and eager or whatnot. And if you have any specific questions, ping me at my profile addy.

Oakland is generally poorer, and therefore faces more of a challenge than SF, and is therefore more in need of your mad teaching skillz?

Hmm. Sounds good, but I don't want to be all, "Because, clearly, you need me!" Although of course...

I could ask him about keywords they like to hear or the kinds of teachers that get them all excited and eager or whatnot. And if you have any specific questions, ping me at my profile addy.

Oh damn, that's really nice. If only I'd thought to ask about this earlier than the day before my statement is due. I'm such a slacker. But if I get invited for an interview, I'll totally hit you up for that!

Hmm. How would one describe Oakland in comparison to San Francisco, in a way that's complimentary to Oakland?

For teaching that's tough to to do. Oakland's under a State mandated takeover of the school district. SF's only caught between lapsed Federal desegration orders and State laws and local lawsuits.

But does that sound too much like, "Well, I wanted a place that was near SF but cheaper, and hey, there you are!"?

You ought to try the Albany school district that Emmett's in. It's basically a chunk of Berkeley that got split off to make a better school district. One HS, one middle school, three elementary schools - all top rated. Or Berkeley. I think you might actually like Berkeley more than Oakland, though JZ's fourth generation Oaklander.

Except that Oakland does need you more than Albany. Berkeley does, too.

Possibly you could say something about being drawn to the Bay Area, needing to live someplace that's manageable on a teacher's salary, and wanting to be fully rooted, both home and career, in whatever community you end up teaching in, to better understand specific local issues, community problems and challenges the kids may be facing, etc. etc.?

Which is such a complete and utter asspull I can hardly believe I'm daring to post it. It's probably way too bullshitty to use, but it's the first thing I could think of.

And yes, please, tap the Zahas hivemind if you get called for an interview!

Oakland's under a State mandated takeover of the school district. SF's only caught between lapsed Federal desegration orders and State laws and local lawsuits.

I was going with being interested in "the prospect of working in a school system committed to major change."

Ooh, JZ, you're good. Wonder if I can stay awake long enough to make this halfway decent. On the other hand, how good does it have to be? Really. I'm applying to teach math. I've seen how some other math teachers write.

Ack! Quick question. They want a personal statement in a Word document. Any suggestions about formatting? Double space or single? Indent? I've been writing papers for school for so long I can't remember what normal people write like!

Eh, never mind. Went ahead and submitted. Must grade tests before bed.