It's resume time...and I think I am going to be sick...

It's that time of year again. It's the time of year when my palms get all sweaty, my head starts to ache, I get that nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach , and I would much rather hide under the rug... it's resume and cover letter time!

Every spring, schools start posting their open positions for next year. I wade through hundreds of listings for math, language arts and special education to look for that coveted art position. This year, I am starting my search not only in Ohio, but Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia (I think it is time to move some where much warmer than Ohio). Eventually, the search will widen even further when very few opportunities arise. Let's just say, so far, the prospective positions can be counted on one hand with extra fingers to spare. It is still early in the year still, so surely more will pop up.

I don't know what it is about resumes and cover letters; I just freeze up. I don't know what to say or write about myself, even though I have have been me for the past 23 years. I know where I went to school, what I studied, how I learn, what I enjoy doing, how I like to operate, how I like to teach, what I think is important for students to know and learn, and how to help students learn. I know how to paint, draw, sculpt, sew, make jewelry, carve, etch, print, form, shape, and manipulate materials in other ways to create. I know how to display and exhibit student work in interesting ways.

I know all of these things, but to put it down on paper in a formal way that sounds appealing is really hard for me for some reason. It's not like my Etsy shop. Someone can't just mark me as a favorite because they like the way I explained how to use more highlights in a drawing to offset their deep shadowing or because I explained why one shade of purple works better than another in their painting. Instead, I have to sell myself through my resume and cover letter. A daunting task to say the least.

I will  now stop blogging about working on my resume and go work on it...