And so it ends...

The school year is now officially over, and frankly, not a moment too soon. I am incredibly burned out, after subbing all day just about every day and tutoring four nights a week, just to keep my head above financial water (and even then not always quite). There wasn't a lot of actual teaching to do this past week, as I showed a couple of videos, gave some high school science students time to cram for the final, and helped preside over two different field days. But now that that's done, I can (I hope) get into high gear with the applications. Of course, I've now heard back from one district that basically said, "Thanks but no thanks." This is not helping my self-esteem here, people! Oh, well, I still have a couple active applications out right now, lots of other districts to apply in, and time to deal with it all, I hope. But if I don't get something for the fall, I will have to investigate other options, I'm afraid, because I simply can't keep this grind up for another school year.

Soon, I hope to tell you all about the highlights and lowlights of the year, and I also have a couple of books I've read recently and want to review here. And there's also the always entertaining and enjoyable application process to keep you posted on. So I won't be completely silent this summer. But I may not be posting quite so regularly, either.

Into the home stretch

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I just hope it's not an oncoming train. There's only one more week left of school, in both districts that I work in, and everyone is getting a little antsy about it. Since everything that needs to get done is done, it's now a little looser, but a lot of people — students and teachers — don't quite have their head completely in the game. The best example was a two-day elementary PE job I had this past week. It's a large school, so they have two PE teachers, which was a nice incentive for me to take the job, as I knew someone else would be in charge and I'd foller her lead. There were a few classes out for field trips, and the second graders used their time to rehearse for the end-of-the-year music performance, but otherwise it was pretty good. Much of the equipment, however, was already tied up for Field Day this week, so they weren't able to use it in the gym. to further complicate matters, the music teacher was out and couldn't get a sub. They've done this before, however, and combined the PE and music classes for some exercises. The kids are used to it, and did a good job. It is quite a sight to see about eighty first graders all doing Tae Bo in a dimly lit gym, but they did great.

Good news on the job hunt: I got another application in, and this time it only took me two days. This was a district I'd already applied in before, and they still had my electronic application, so all I had to do was update things, make copies of my paperwork, and write a new cover letter. As this was a district that contacted me last month and encouraged me to apply, I think I have a decent shot. But no, I won't rest on my laurels here, as I have a list of about two dozen other districts. I'd better get started, then...

A week's worth of work

I've had an interesting job this past week: Elementary school librarian. Since the end of the school year is coming up, it's been interesting because nobody's allowed to check out books (although renewals are fine), and all of the books need to be back soon. So I've been getting a lot of books and, thanks to some wonderful student and parent volunteers, shelving very few of them (although I do my part). And I've shown the DVD of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi about twenty times, so I am really tired of it. The soundtrack is still going through my head! I'm there one more day tomorrow, and then there's only nine days left in the school year.

The best part of teaching elementary this week, however, has been the late start. I thought about sleeping in, but decided to use the time instead to work on job applications at last. And do you know how many applications I was able to fill in, at the rate of an hour a day? One! Oy, there has got to be a better system! Fortunately, I already have two more days of elementary school (PE this time) coming up later this week, so at least I should be able to get a good start on my next application going this week.

Occupational hazard

Yesterday, I was teaching junior high PE. Okay, all I was really doing was timing them during their weekly run, but at least I was doing something (unlike those days that are nothing but the same video over and over). The weather was warm, sunny, and gorgeous. So naturally, I got sunburned on my arms and legs, and even a little on the back of my neck. Fortunately I thought to wear a baseball cap and sunglasses, so my face is fine.