Saturday, December 11, 2010

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

It's snowing out right now, and snowing hard. And this is not like the kind of snow we usually see out here in this part of the state. It's not dry and powdery, which you can easily sweep off your walkway. No, this is the big wet clumpy flakes like we used to get in our old stomping grounds. At least out here there's a lot fewer of both drivers and hills to make getting around in this slop difficult.

So, where were we? Ah, yes, I'd just had an interview. Well, to be honest, I have no idea how it went, as I haven't heard back. Nothing, not a word. Which normally means that someone else got the job. However, the job is still listed on the district website! So I'm not quite sure what to do now. (I tried to figure out the principal's name so that I could e-mail her a polite query, but the school's website is so out of date that there are two different principals listed, and I don't remember which one it was! Maybe I'll write to the district HR department, but this sort of incompetence is not instilling any sense that I'd actually want to work in this district.)

Good news, however, is that I got another interview a couple of weeks ago! This was for a middle school math intervention job that would include computer instruction. Yeah, I know, right up my alley, right? And for once, I felt like the interview was actually going well. I thought I had a shot, but the principal called the next day and told me I hadn't gotten it. (At least he called back! I have great respect for people who call back after an interview, even with bad news.) However, they were still very impressed, so he flagged my file for the district office to keep an eye on me, and told me that there very likely would be more opportunities for me in the district this year, so keep an eye on the website.

In the meantime, subbing is going a lot better now. I'm working just about every day (the only two days I've missed in the past month were days I took off because I had interviews), and a lot of it is math. I'm even getting requests to come back, students are recognizing me and being friendly, and I even have a long-term-ish job for next week. Yes, I'll actually be teaching the same students for a whole week. Yes, it's the week before winter break begins, and these are middle school students, so it may get a little squirrelly, but it should be a good experience. (I really should write to the principal and see about an observation...) There's even a long-term subbing job at the high school, and one teacher and several students said I should take it, so I've put in for it. However, I have yet to hear back.

So the good news is, I'm feeling a lot more confident and competent as a teacher than I have in a long time, and I'm still glad that I've stuck with it. However, I'm still not making the money I should or need, I have no benefits, and if one of us doesn't get a job soon, I will at the very least have to figure out what I'm doing this summer. (Laura keeps applying for all kinds of jobs, but never hears back. Which is too bad, because she has some mad computer skills that would be of benefit to any business.) We're on food stamps, exhausted the savings, and are having to borrow to pay the bills. This is not good, but I'm not sure what else to do. Something has to give soon...

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