Life as a commodity

Part of my giant stress load will be coming to the bubble tomorrow, as I attend the Northwest Suburban Chicago Teacher Job Fair. The districts like it if the applicants have filled out the online applications, so I have been writing a lot of job-related essays in the past few weeks. And of course each district has its own version of what they want to know: "What is your philosophy of education?" "Why did you become a teacher?" "What four core teaching strategies do you employ most often?" "How will teaching change in the next 5 years?" "How will you address a variety of ability levels in the classroom?" etc. etc. etc.
And my favorite: "How much do you want to know about your students?" Yikes.

I am not sure what to expect at the job fair, but I am told I will be standing around a lot. Nineteen school districts send representatives to meet with potential applicants for a couple of minutes. So basically I will be standing in line with hundreds and hundreds of other people, and then giving my résumé to someone and answering a few questions. Then I move to a new line, stand in line for an hour, give someone my résumé, answer a few questions. Stand in line for an hour . . .

And if someone at one of the tables likes me, I may get called for a real interview in that district.

Saturday is a weird but very important day for me and my future.