Last week in teaching

It's winter vacation now, and I don't have to worry about teaching for a couple of weeks. So now I can catch up on the rest of my life, such as this blog. The big excitement for me was last week, where I taught sixth grade math for the entire week. It was a great experience. To be sure, there were uncooperative students and squirrelly classes and all the other stuff that goes with teaching sixth graders, especially the week before vacation. But there were also a lot of great students, and I think I got the idea across to a lot of them, so that's some progress. I also had a lot of good chats with the other teacher, who works next door, and we coordinated things well. I even had a meeting with him, the math coach, and the principal about what was going on that week (it was the first time the coach had worked with a sub). Overall, at least for that one week, I felt like a real teacher again. And the weather cooperated, too, since it was at the far away school which is the furthest walk away. It was cold, but no snow or ice on the ground, so I just bundled up and walked a little more briskly. Had there been more inclement weather, I may have driven a day or two, but it just seems silly to drive that short a distance.

On the job hunt front, the job I interviewed for and never heard back about is still listed. Go fig. There's also a middle school job listed in a nearby district that I would apply for, but it's only a .6 FTP, for only four hours a day. That would be enough to get me some badly needed benefits, but the lower overall pay and expense of gas (it's not terribly close) does not make it attractive, so I haven't applied yet. If Laura can get a job soon, I will certainly apply, but she hasn't heard back from any of the dozens of places she's applied for.

So, another miserable, poor Christmas for us, just as we thought we'd turned the corner and things were looking up again last spring. Well, not a lot I can do about it right now, so I may as well sign off now, and let's see if the new year brings any improvement.