See the elements!

Okay, yeah, I'm back already. I guess this is the first of those little spot posts I talked about. So today, I was back in the same science room I taught in twice last week. This gave me a chance to right a wrong! I had planned to bring in an old Tom Lehrer song and play it for them, since they were studying the periodic table. But I completely forgot about it until the day was almost over. So today, I found an animated version of "The Elements" and started class off with it today. They seemed to enjoy it, especially in the two classes I played it twice. So go on over to http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html and take a look at Tom singing the periodic table to the tune of Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Oh, do, dot agaib

In case you were wondering, the title of this post is my pathetic attempt to say I got another cold this week. This one was a doozy. I seem to be mostly over it now, but my chest is still a bit rattly and I still have a nasty cough, but at least it's not as strong or protracted as it was earlier. It all started very quietly on Sunday, and just kept getting worse as the week progressed until sometime Friday. Still, life goes on, but the mone flow doesn't, so I had to teach and tutor again this week. Monday, junior high math, and the science teacher next door, who I've worked for several times already this year, arranged for me to be there on Friday. Good thing, too, because I ended up subbing for that same science teacher on Tuesday as well. They had a week-long packet on the periodic table they were working on, so I got them started on it on Tuesday and wrapped it up with them on Friday. And Thursday I had another junior high math job.

But what about Wednesday? Now there, I really lucked out. I got one call, and it was late, for a high school PE job. With the way I was feeling, I knew I couldn't handle it and turned it down. So I eventually had no job. That is extremely rare for me any more, but I took it as a good sign. I went back to bed to sleep off the cold (it helped a little, I think, but not enough), and didn't get out again until 1:00 in the afternoon!

I've also come to a big decision this week. I've decided that, if I'm going to get a real teaching job, I have to quit teaching. Subbing and tutoring is just taking too much time and energy, and ultimately getting me nowhere. I have no time to lead any sort of normal life, and what little "free" time I have is spent catching up on sleep, eating, or getting ready for the next week. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. So, with my wife's help, I'm investigating other opportunities for something that will pay decently, give me some badly needed benefits, and not sap all my time. If it works, that will actually give me time to apply for jobs and take the classes I need to keep my certification up, and then I can apply for jobs next spring. Either that, or I'll find some new career. I've given too much to teaching and gotten little in return, so now it's finally time to see what else I can do. I'm scared to death, since I don't really know what else there is out there that I can do, But for my own health, sanity, and peace of mind, I know it's what I need to do.

And on that note, this is going to be my last post, at least for a while. If I have some interesting news to report I'll put it up here, but these regular weekly recounts have come to an end. Since it doesn't look like anyone has been reading them anyway, and I have so little time to devote to it, it's probably just as well. Thanks, you've been terrific.

¡Que mundo pequeño!

This was an odd week of subbing. Well, to be more specific, one assignment was pretty odd, in a good way. It all started out pretty normal, however, with a high school science job. Since it was the first day back for these students after spring vacation, I thought it was a pretty good idea to show videos. The teacher thought so, too, and so I got to watch videos on special relativity (I get it now!) and plate techtonics. Tuesday, the WASL was back, so I spent the first half of the day at another local high school watching students take the test, then I taught some math the rest of the day.

Wednesday is when it all got very interesting. I got a late call to fill in for a Spanish teacher at the third high school in the district. I filled in for her last month — during the last session of the WASL, in fact — so I gladly took the job. I hadn't made the connection last time, but this time around I thought her name sounded familiar. When she came in for a few minutes, before school started, to catch me up on what was going on, I finally made the connection: She was one of my Spanish teachers when I was in high school! Mundo pequeño, ¿no? Since it had been mumble, mumble years since I'd been in her class, she didn't remember me, and I didn't expect her to, but she was still tickled at the connection. "You're now my favorite sub," she told me. When I told her classes, they were also surprised and impressed. I ended up subbing for her for two days, both with the WASL at the start, so it was pretty easy and laid back, thanks to the short classes. Thursday was odd, however, in that after the WASL, I had a period off, as she doesn't teach first period. Then I taught one class, then had the next off, as that was her prep period. Then I had one last class, as this school has an optional seventh period. So it was a long day, but I only taught two classes. Go fig. One fun activity that some classes did was used to study the names of body parts in Spanish. She had preprinted sheets of the names of parts, and the classes broke up into groups of three. Two of them got to cut up the names and tape them to the third, in the right place. I could tell when things were wrapping up when I couldn't see the models' faces any more! Some of the words — those for stomach, bladder, kidney, blood, and bone come to mind — were particularly puzzling, for all of us, but it was definitely an unusual way to learn vocabulary.

The week wrapped up on Friday with junior high English. Because they were also taking the WASL all week, they were getting a break by watching some movies. It made for a nice way to end the week for me as well.

So far this week, I'm back in my element, with two junior high math jobs lined up, both teachers I've subbed for before. Nothing else yet, but something is sure to come up. However, I also seem to have caught yet another cold. which is not going to make me happy. But I've also done what I could to keep the next few weekends clear, so perhaps I can get some rest and fill in some applications before long.

Not much going on this week

It was spring break for me this week, so I didn't do much teaching. I did, however, take a half day in the other district that already had break, to make up for that half day I took the week before (which turned into get-there-and-pretty-much-turn-around-and-go-back-home-due-to-an-upset-stomach day). It was junior high math, and I just had to get three classes going on their probability projects. The rest of the week, I meant to get going on appplications, but with tutoring and all the normal stuff at home, I never found the time or motivation. I am seriously starting to think that I need to get into some other field entirely for a while, just so that I can have time to evaluate why I'm still trying to get into teaching, and to have time to fill in applications and take classes and such. It's ridiculous, isn't it?

This weird week in teaching

Last week proved to be extremely interesting for me. Last weekend I was at the Emerald City Comic Convention, so I was happy to take a half day job at the junior high up the road, filling in for a teacher I'd subbed for many times before. That gave me a little more resting time Monday morning. But something wasn't right. I was so wiped out that I actually went back to sleep for a while before heading out there, and it didn't seem to help. I knew something was up, but I thought I could handle it. Walking up there, I nearly turned around and went home at least three times, but stupid pride and poverty kept me going. Once I got there, I was quickly whisked into a social studies room, where they needed me to supervise for a few minutes, before I took the science classes. Since the science teacher I was subbing for had her prep then and my students knew what they were doing, she came in and told me what I'd be doing. Several times, however, she asked me, "Are you all right?" I honestly told her no, but I can manage it. Soon after she left, I did something I'd never done before: I left a class. I zipped outside, afraid that I was going to throw up. I didn't, but it was close. When I got back in, I called the secretary and told her I'd made a big mistake in coming. She told me not to worry, as she would get me a sub. I made it through the rest of social studies and the first science class, but barely. My substitute came in and I was able to get her up to speed (I hope), and then I got out of there. And that is the first time I can ever recall leaving a job before the day was out. Fortunately, Laura was able to pick me up. She'd also already called my tutoring job and told them I wasn't coming in, so I could just relax the rest of the night. Good thing, too, as it really hit me bad later that night, and I had to go talk to the toilet for a while, if you know what I mean. Fortunately that was the worst of it, but I decided to take Tuesday off as well just to recover and build up my strength. Since a lot of kids were on spring vacation last week, the tutoring job could spare me.

Nothing else happened on Tuesday, so I decided to try again on Wednesday, especially since a high school math teacher I filled in for earlier this year asked for me. My stomach was still a bit queasy, but I felt much better, and figured I could handle it. What I didn't know, however, was that she had taken on a temporary seventh period class, prepping for the WASL (which starts up again next week). And because of the funky block schedule this school has, I had all of her classes with no break. So I pretty much taught math, in one way or another, from 7:10 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon. Then I headed down to tutor from 4:00 to 8:00. YARGH! My sub notes said I could at least get paid extra for the extra class, but the secretary didn't know what I was talking about, and the regular teacher would have to deal with it. ??? Oh, well. Thursday I was back at the same school, this time teaching Spanish, and still no break period. However, since there is no Spanish WASL, I only had four classes, and was done around 2:10 and could actually go home for a while before tutoring. (I do wish, however, that teachers would leave extra stuff to do, in case their plans for a seventy-five minute class barely take them through thirty of them, as happened here. What a day for me not to bring one of my Disney Canta Con Nosotros videos, which I've often found to help.)

Friday it all came full circle, with a math job up at the local junior high again. This was the day before spring break, so I was expecting trouble, but as I've subbed in this class before, these kids knew and respected me, and actually paid attention when I told them we had work to do. Fortunately it was pretty low key and low stress, and they seemed to get into it. And it's going to help them get ready for the WASL once they're back. However, because my stomach still wasn't cooperating, I decided to drive, even though it was a gorgeous day and looked to only get better. Then again, since temperatures hit a new high for the day — almost 80 — maybe it's just as well. We don't take well to heat here in the Northwest!

So what's coming up? I've decided that this week is my spring break, even though my other district is back in session and I could probably work all week if I needed to. But I need the time off to assess what's going on, and to fill in some applications. I still have tutoring in the evenings, and because last Monday was a half day, I accepted a half day morning job on Wednesday to balance things out. But no, I'm not now going to make up last Tuesday or my missed tutoring. Then it's a long stretch until the end of June with little more than Memorial Day to break things up. Yeesh!