The latest update

Wow, I just looked back on my blog. I knew it had been a while since my last update, but I'd forgotten just how long it had been! So, here's a catch-up and a few thoughts on how the first third (!) of the year has gone.

First off, I'll at least say this for my current district, they're keeping me busy, particularly at the high school. The secretary there knows she can count on me, and keeps recommending me for all kinds of things. This has its good side and its bad side! The bad side is that I got roped into "teaching" welding (!) for three weeks, around Thanksgiving. The school was in a bind, as the guy who actually knew welding who was going to fill in couldn't make it after all, and the next sub only lasted one day! They coaxed me into at least filling in for a day, then another, and finally for the rest of the assignment. However, I couldn't actually supervise welding! So it became a study hall/busywork time, which I'm not wild about, but we got through it and the administration kept offering me profuse thanks. Good thing, too, since I'm going to call in a favor. I should be in the middle of a long-term job right now for a math teacher there, but that got postponed until after school gets back in January. However, that means the job is now two and a half weeks instead of two, and I won't have to deal with the "Is it Christmas yet???" squirrelliness that can lead to wasted days. During that time, I plan to ask the administration for an observation and some general advice on the job hunt.

Speaking of which, sure enough, I've been much more proactive about getting on track with that. I talked to one middle school principal, who offered me some insights and reassurances. I've also lined up a bunch of potential recommendations, from teachers I've worked with and/or for in my current district. I even tracked down my last principal (he's now working in a new district on the far side of the state), and he's reassured me that he will help in any way he can.

Other than what I called zen welding, it's been pretty straightforward, work a day or two here and there, survive it, go on to the next job. It's frustrating, because so often it's little more than glorified babysitting. Dang it, I want to actually teach something, not just say, "Here's your worksheet, good luck!" And of course, to the students I'm not a "real" teacher, so they don't show me much respect at all (but I don't think the regular teachers get much more, at least).

One other complaint: Bait and switch jobs. I don't teach elementary very often any more, but I still occasionally take one if it's otherwise quiet and it looks like something I can handle. So I took a PE job the other day — elementary PE is a lot of fun, and for once, the kids are supposed to be running around and making noise. And this was bowling, even! But when I got in, there was a last-minute swap, and I got placed in a first grade class. I know my strengths as a teacher, and first grade is far from one of them! But I think I managed all right, and I certainly didn't scar anyone for life. But this is now the third time I've gone in thinking I'd teach something else, only to get first grade instead (two last year, this was the first of this year). The previous ones had only been for part of the day, but this was the whole day. Grrr...

I've got eight more teaching days this month, and two of them are already filled (including one day working with the teacher I'm filling in for next month). So now I just have to keep hunting and hoping. Now that Laura's established in her new job, however, there is one plus: Insurance! I've been without since leaving the last district, as I couldn't afford anything, but now my dental is covered under Laura's plan, and we can afford catastrophic medical insurance as well. (Medical under Laura's plan was just way too expensive.) That's one less worry. Now all we have to do is get our debts paid off and save some for the next rainy day, both of which we've already gotten a good start on.

I have no idea when I'll report again, but I hope it won't be quite so long next time!

Busy, busy, busy...

Okay, yeah, this has been a very interesting couple of weeks. First off, the AP exams. Pretty simple and straightforward: Read the directions, enforce the rules (and these kids were already pretty well prepared anyway), everyone goes home when they're done. Let's just say I got a lot of reading done when I wasn't doing something else. There were a few hiccups — particularly on the Spanish test, with a bunch of kids who weren't really familiar with how to use a cassette tape recorder (yes, those are falling further and further out of style) — but for the most part it was a good experience. I had two days with two tests, so those ended up being pretty long days, but the short days the rest of the time was worth it.

While working the AP exams, I lined up another job, for a math teacher at the high school whose wife was about to give birth. I'd worked with his students before, had good experiences with them, and several of his students were even lobbying for me to take over while he was gone. Sure enough, I found the job, and lined up to sub for him for two weeks. Woo-hoo! But, it turned out, there was a wrinkle: The baby came early. And as I was AP testing, I couldn't step in early. So they had another (non-math) sub for a few days, but they're good at working on their own, so I think it went well. I had time after my last AP test to go in and see what was up, and it's a good thing I did, as that's his trigonometry class, and they were a little lost. To be sure, I was rusty, too, but we managed to figure a few things out, and it went well. Friday was my first official day in the class, so I grabbed one of the books, took it home, and got myself up to speed again. I think we're going to do all right. His two geometry classes started a mini-unit on converting measurements, and I think I gave them a good grounding. His one algebra II class had a test, so that was pretty simple. This week looks pretty simple, as trig has a few more assignments and then a test, while the other classes will have practice tests in preparation for the state-mandated year-end exams. So I am at least going to be something like a real teacher for nearly the next two weeks. After that, we'll be getting close to the end of the school year.

Still not a lot of progress on the job hunt, as districts are still waiting to see what the legislature is going to do, and therefore what kind of funding they'll have. A few districts in the area aren't even waiting and are issuing RIF notices. There was one new position that I applied for, but the position closed without my getting an interview. Since it was only a .83 FTE in a rather faraway district, I'm not terribly unhappy.

A (mostly) quiet week

Eh, it was teaching this week. Not a lot to say, except for the second week in a row I ended up not teaching at all one day. Also, one day was one of the worst I've had teaching in some time, with a lot of very loud, uncooperative students who just didn't want to do anything I asked or their teacher had planned. I really felt like I dropped the ball, and said so in my follow-up note, but I also laid the blame on the students as well. Of course, these were students I'd had before, and while they were no angels, they weren't this bad for me the last time, nor in other classes in the same school. It just was not a good day at all. Fortunately, the next day was at another school, and a lot better, so I feel better this weekend.

This coming week is going to be short (professional day on Friday), and nothing's lined up yet, but the week after that could be extremely interesting. The head secretary at the high school nominated me to proctor the AP exams for the district. Cool! I'll probably find out more later this week, but it sounds like I get to go to the district office, proctor the exams, maybe get fed a little bit, and once the students are done, so am I. It would be all of the first week of May, plus a couple of days after that. So either the secretary thinks highly of my work ethic and feels I'd be a responsible person who could handle the job, or she wants to make sure I'm in the building for as few days as possible. I really hope it's the former.

Still nothing on the job hunt, I might add.

The week in teaching

Not a whole lot to mention about last week's jobs. I started off with middle school math (at the far middle school, for a teacher and students I'd worked with before) on Monday, middle school social studies (same school) on Tuesday (gave them packets, let them get to work), and middle school science (the other, closer middle school) on Wednesday, where they put seeds on wet paper towels, and they're going to make some observations, I bet. Thursday and Friday proved to be the interesting days. First off, the job was listed as being math at the high school, for both days. Of course I'll snag that! Thursday morning, however, the roads and walks were really badly iced over. Our sloped driveway was so icy, I slid down on my way out to get the paper. (Now I know why those little shoes I wear in the house are called slippers.) Laura and I finally noticed the extremely huge bruise on my left hip this morning. I turned on the news reports, and sure enough, all of the surrounding districts, and the local Christian school, were all on two hour delays — but not the public schools in town. Huh. Oh, well. I decided my best bet would be to walk, anyway, very carefully, since the alternative was to drive on that ice. I made it, and thank goodness for those people who cleared their sidewalks the day before, but there were a few spots I nearly fell again. Once I got to school, the first thing I heard was, "We're on a two hour delay." Yeah, it would have been nice if the district had said it earlier, before so many teachers and students got there. Oh, well, at least I had nearly three hours to get ready.

And I needed that time! It turned out that, first of all, she teaches science, not math. And she'd already been out the first part of the week, with two different subs. Yup, one of a substitute teacher's worst nightmares, being the second (or in this case third) sub, and no plans in sight. So I scrambled and tried to figure out where they were and what I could cobble together, and I did all right, actually, under the circumstances. But the writing was on the wall, and I decided to plan ahead for Friday. Since the teacher had the VCR checked out, but it wasn't in the room, that wasn't a good option, so I thought I would bring my laptop to use as a DVD player and see what I could find. Fortunately, I'd already built up a good relationship with one of the other science teachers, having worked in his room a couple of times during his prep. I found him, told him what was up, and he had a couple of good DVDs on volcanoes handy, which at least kept my students quiet and somewhat entertained for the day. Showing videos is not my ideal way to teach, and I'm not wild about getting videos when I sub, but in this case I figured it was for the best. But that poor teacher is going to have a lot to figure out and get heer students caught up on when she gets back (and I do hope she's back tomorrow — but if not, I at least gave her colleague a heads up that he may want to help).

So far, no word on the job front from that last district, but the local district I'm currently subbing in has an opening at the high school for the rest of the year! That would be ideal if I could get that one. The year is just about half over (what, already?), so it's possible that something else may come up here soon.

The week in teaching

Back to work this week, although it's a short one as today was a professional day for teachers in the local district. (I think they should have had that on the 3rd, for an extra day of winter break instead. However, starting back with a four day week, and two three-day weekends in a row, isn't bad, either.) I was afraid I wouldn't get much work, but I had a job every day. Monday was high school English, Tuesday was elementary reading, Wednesday was high school humanities, and Thursday was elementary reading and math, so a weird bit of symmetry. I did get a little math in, however, helping a student during a credit retrieval session at the end of the day Wednesday. And that's where I got some interesting insight into the last two years. That student, by coincidence, was one of my former students back in that last district I taught in. She thought I was a good teacher, she told me I'd taught her a lot, and she still had her notes! Wow, I did make an impact there, after all. She still lives down there, but decided to transfer to school up here for a number of reasons. I've encountered a few other students I've taught down there in my new situation, but this was the best insight I've had into what the situation is like there. I have also met some teachers who've told me that that district I worked in doesn't have a terribly good reputation. I wish someone had told me that before I accepted that job!

Another job has opened up in a nearby-ish district, and I'm seriously considering applying. So I'll keep you posted.

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.

An update, and the last fortnight-or-so in teaching

I'm so sorry, to all of my faithful readers, for being so lax in updating you. But there hasn't been that much to update, I'm afraid. It's been a strange couple of weeks, and it looks like parts of it, at least, might be stranger before it starts making some sense (if it ever does). So, going back aways now, my first week of subbing in my new district went great, with a nice job each day. "Hey," I thought to myself, "I'm back in the game!" Well, the week after that (the last week of October) was a big contrast, as I got almost nothing. To be sure, one day was a day off for students, and one day I had to be out of town for a family event, which lessens the opportunities. But two of them? Nothing. No opportunities, no calls, no sick teachers. Finally, I snagged a job for one hour on Thursday. It was still available late in the morning, and I thought at least one hour would be a good reason to get out of the house for a bit. It was fourth grade, which I like, even though I haven't done elementary school in ages. But then, at the last minute, I got shifted to a first grade class instead. Their teacher had to leave suddenly while they were in music, so another teacher filled me in quick, and I picked them up. First graders are cute and fun and enthusiastic, but I know it's not my strength as a teacher. So here's the set-up. They'd been at a play that morning (lots of sitting still and being a good audience), they suddenly had this new teacher for the rest of the day, and their class Halloween party was the next day. Yes, they were excited and squirmy. Not that I blame them at all, but it did make some of the what we needed to accomplish a little challenging. The other teacher next door was a big help, however, and helped me get through it all. But that meant, for the entire week, I taught only two hours.

It didn't improve much last week, partly due to there being no students for two days due to conferences. (And I believe this is the first time I've ever seen a district schedule conferences at all schools at all levels at the same time.) I ended up only teaching Monday (middle school health) and Tuesday (high school math, yay!), as nothing turned up Wednesday, either.

This week, fortunately, seems to be a big improvement already. Yesterday I taught middle school language arts, tomorrow I'm teaching sixth grade something-or-other (for some reason, the sub system here tells you the grade, but not the subject, for middle school teachers), and eighth grade math on Friday. Thursday is a holiday, so no school, of course. I took today off to go to a job fair a few miles down the road. I mean, if I can't sub every day, I'd better find something else that can keep the wolf from the door, right? Not terribly promising — I think my wife is more likely to get something out of it than me — but I did leave behind a few résumés, one for one recruiter's husband who works in one of the local districts. While I was in town, however, I also decided to drop off a couple of letters of interest at another local district, which has a few openings still. So wouldn't you know, on my way out of town, they call to set up an interview next week! They hadn't even had the letter for two hours, which means they're either very interested or very desperate.

So, if I get this job, what will it entail? It's an elementary math intervention specialist position, which actually plays to a lot of my strengths and experiences. We shall see what happens. It sounds like it's full time for the rest of this year, which would be nice, and could get my foot in the door for any positions next year, too. If that doesn't work out, however, I have a few more leads right now, and who knows what else will come up?

Last week in teaching

Well, if I'm back to subbing, I guess I'm back to a weekly wrap-up. Last weekend was busy enough, however, that I didn't get around to it, but so far I don't have a job for this morning, so I can take a moment to get caught up. And last week proved to be surprisingly busy for a brand new sub in the district such as myself. I started off with a middle school science job, which went well. Tuesday I was originally scheduled to be at the high school for math, but they rejigged the job as the teacher was to be out for several days, and they wanted to give them all to one guy so that the students would have that consistency. So I ended up with a history job there instead. Wednesday I finally got a math job, at the other middle school, and that went pretty well. In fact, it went so well that they asked me back the next day, for another math teacher. And finally, Friday I was back at the high school for another math teacher. I did very well there, and helped a lot of students, but I also figured out just how much advanced algebra I've forgotten while trying to help a pre-calculus class with their work. I know I'd done it before, but the details had slipped from my mind through lack of regular use. By the end of class, however, with help from the students and their books and notes, it had come back to me and I think I got the idea.

The nice part about subbing in this district is how it's laid out. There are eight schools. One elementary school is way far out of town. One is all kindergarten, and I don't anticipate going there. The rest — three elementary schools, two middle schools, and the high school — are all within walking distance, although I suspect I'll be driving to the far-away middle school some days during the worst of winter. I've also gotten some good feedback from secretaries and other teachers. But will I stay here? Can I change this to a permanent job somehow? And what am I going to do during the summer? I'm just not sure how long this teaching thing can last.

This past, exhausting week

Normally, I don't blog about what I'm actually teaching anymore, just because it's probably not terribly exciting for you and it's one less thing for me to worry about. Butt his past week was particularly interesting, in an exhaustive way, so I thought I'd share the gory details.

MONDAY: The most normal day of the week. I taught science at the local (within walking distance) high school. This teacher has sixth period prep, and it looked for a while like she had second lunch, which would have been five periods straight before lunch. Fortunately, she had first lunch, so I had that breather, then my final period, and they let me go home early once I was done with everything else. (I almost had to cover another class sixth period, but they managed to fill that job pretty quickly. Good thing, too, as you'll see how the week progressed.)

TUESDAY: My longest day of the week. I was back up at the local high school again, teaching Spanish this time. This was a short day, and the classes had a student teacher, so all I had to do was take roll and run the DVD player. But the moment I was done, I had to head out the door to the local elementary school (just a few blocks from my house, but not so close to the high school) and teach a fifth grade class there. Nice bunch of kids, I might add, even though the teacher warned me that she had some tough ones. No real prep period, a long walk between jobs, and my day ran from 6:30 to 3:30. On the plus side, I think I'm going to get paid for a day and a half.

WEDNESDAY: Science at another local-but-not-within-walking-distance high school. They have a block schedule, so they get a longer prep every other day. Guess what? That wasn't the day I was there. Again, teaching all the way through without a prep period.

THURSDAY: Elementary PE in the morning, then the moment I was done there down the road to a junior high school for math. I knew the timing would be close, but I thought I could make it in time — which I did. I even had a lunch period, which I hadn't quite expected. Again, no prep period.

FRIDAY: This was a teacher professional day in my usual district, so I grabbed a junior high science job in the other district I work in, thinking I'd finally get a break. Wouldn't you know, this guy was a 1.2 FTE, and had six classes and no prep.

By my reckoning, I should be paid for 5.9 days this week. Fortunately, next week is already shaping up to be a lot more normal, so I doubt I'll have a repeat of this past week.

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!

This week in teaching

This was an unusual week for me, since I accepted a weeklong job at a junior high teaching English. I took it mainly because it was a whole week, and the message said it would be easy. No kidding! First off, this teacher is only .8 FTE, so I only had four classes a day instead of the usual five. I didn't have to, but I went ahead and showed up at the usual time anyway each day, just to give me some time before school to get ready, and to have a little down time in case they needed me to fill in somewhere. But that gave me plenty of time to catch up with some reading as well. Furthermore, a lot of the students were out on various days this week due to nature camp for the first three days, and various field trips.

It was an interesting mix of classes. The first class was writing a persuasive essay about skate parks, and whether one should or should not be built in a hypothetical community. We had an interesting discussion on Monday about it, determining the pros and cons of a park. Surprisingly, a lot of them seemed to be leaning against a park. Well, I collected them yesterday, and haven't had a chance to read them, and I doubt I will now. But they were a good bunch who knew what they were doing. The next two classes were advanced learners — at least, the students I had. One of them was particularly hard hit by campers, and I think I only saw three of those students all five days that week. That class had a few others, however, as a social studies teacher at camp sent his students to me with an assignment. Needless to say, I was juggling a few more balls than usual those days, but it went well. The few students I had had a couple of stories to read and answer questions about in their literature book, but once everyone was back, I just had to turn it over to the students to use as a study hall. Good thing, as it seems the math teachers didn't let up at all, and the ones who had been gone were grateful for the extra time to catch up on their math. Then in my last class, they spent the whole week working on a series of projects related to The Outsiders. For some reason, even though they all had a number of ideas to choose from, they all started off by putting together a collage...

I did have one other class this week. The band teacher was out on Wednesday, and no sub was found, so I got to cover his strings class for one period. I knew there was a good reason why I usually don't take band and orchestra classes, as the class was so big, and everyone was so intent on getting their instuments and warming up that it took me a while just to get them in their seats and quiet so I could take roll. After that, however, it got better, as I let students take turns conducting, and they picked some favorite pieces to play. (It did confirm my idea that, if I had my life to live over again, I'd learn to play the cello — after the crying and screaming at having to go through my life again, of course.)

One bit of disappointment this week. I was asked to talk to a junior high math teacher about taking over his classes for the rest of the year, but becasue of the tutoring job and incompatible schedules, I wasn't able to even talk to him before he picked someone else to take it on. Poop.

Most districts around here seem to be taking next week off for spring break, but not the local district I work in the most — and that pays a little better — so I'm going to work this coming week, but then the week after that I'm mostly going to take off. The exception? I've already signed up for a half day job, to make up for the half day I'm taking off Monday. A science teacher I've subbed for quite a bit asked for me for just the afternoon. I almost turned it down, then realized that having time to recover from this weekend's big Emerald City Comic Convention would be a good thing. My wife is there both days, today and tomorrow, but she's going with her sister today, then I'll go tomorrow. Anyway, to get back to spring break, I plan to spend most of the week filling out applications. I just hope I'm not too late already.

This week in teaching

Pretty straightforward week for me, but with a couple of twists. Thanks to the WASL (that's the big state-mandated test) starting up this week, I didn't get as much secondary work as usual. And just by chance, I also ended up teaching most of the time in the slightly-further-away back-up district, instead of my nearby main district. I started the week off there, however, with an elementary PE job. As they were between units, the regular teacher encouraged me to do something with scooterboards. Kids like scotterboards! So after the safety talk (and sure enough, despite everything I said, one kid ran over her own fingers iin the last class), we played scooterboard soccer. Lots of fun, lots of rolling around, and only one major accident (a misplaced arm resulting in a cut lip, with some blood, but everything turned out fine). Tuesday it was off to fill in for one of my tutoring colleagues again, and I lucked out there. He teaches junior high Language Arts/Social Studies, and the English classes were all about the counselors coming in to get them set to register for next year, mostly going over the courses and catalog and stuff. I helped out, but didn't have any actual teaching, so all I had to worry about were the two social studies classes. One was honors and all I had to do was give them the assignment and turn them loose, and the other was…well, not quite so easy. Oh, well, it was only one period. Wednesday was elementary music, and I realy lucked out there! Wednesdays are short days anyway in this district, and this was her light day, so I only had four classes. In all of them, I got to show the Disney version of Peter and the Wolf, which worked out very well. (There was one kindergarten student who kept telling me about how he'd already seen Peter Pan, even though I explained to him a few times that that was a different movie. I think he got it once it started, however.) Thursday and Friday was high school math, and thanks to the WASL, it was anything but business as usual. Thursday started with the WASL (I got to proctor, which basically meant that I sat around and read my magazine while the students took the test and the other teacher kept an eye on things, not that he didn't do some of his own work on the computer as well), then two long block classes, and a long planning period. I made up for it on Friday, however, which meant long block classes all three periods, an extended advisory, and a pep assembly, all without a break beyond lunch. Whew!

It's quite so far for the coming week. In fact, except for a high school math teacher I've already worked for on Thursday and Friday, I have nothing else lined up for the rest of the school year, which is unusual. But I know something will turn up. It always does. And if it doesn't, I have plenty to do to apply for jobs for the fall.

A shout out to all those school secretaries out there! I haven't seen this much with high school secretaries, since they see so many teachers in a day, week, or year, but there have been a lot of junior high and elementary secretaries out there who have recognized me and greeted me by name, many after not having seen me for months or even years. I've always said that the two most important people to make friends with at a school are the secretary and the custodian, as they are the nerve center of a school that can really make things work for you.

Three and a half dwarves

Right now, I'm sleepy, dopey, and grumpy, with some remnants of sneezy as a result of last week's cold. I'm getting really tired of the grind again, as I'm also having to slip in what little I can do about hunting for a new job next year. I have several requests for letters out, and I need to get things ready to go. But with two jobs, I have so little time during the week and so many other things going on weekends, that I'm not sure when or how to do it all. Still, I'll keep trying...

So, how was the past week, at least? Not so bad, but with some twists. Monday I filled in for a high school technology teacher I've subbed for before. All went well except for the kid in welding class who took his goggles off too soon and had to go home early and see a doctor. I had to fill out an incident report, but I got the impression that nobody was blaming me, at least. Tuesday was high school PE, which basically meant tell kids what to do, then watch them do it. I also had a preliminary interview in a nearby district that afternoon, and I think that went well. Of course, I still need to actually apply. Wednesday I took a half day elementary library job so that I could write a lesson plan that afternoon — more on that in a little bit. Thursday I went to a junior high computer lab. It's far enough away that I left earlier than I normally would, as I've had traffic problems there before. This proved to be a good thing, as traffic was just fine, but the turnoff road was blocked due to construction! Fortunately, I had enough time to find a way there, and I got there just in time. Friday was fun because it was a junior high math class I've subbed in before, and the teacher was kind enough to let me write up a lesson plan and teach them in the hopes that an administrator could observe me. No administrators showed up, sad to say, nor was a video camera (my back-up plan) available, but it was at least a good opportunity, and the kids responded well (I think the change of pace was good for them).

So far, things are pretty quiet for the coming weeks. I have a single day as a junior high language arts/social studies teacher on Tuesday, filling in for one of my tutoring colleagues, on Tuesday (I've subbed for him before, and they're great), two days of high school math coming up in a couple of weeks, and that's about it. But I'm confident something will turn up. It usually does.

The week in teaching

Wow, what a weird week, even for me. Monday, a friend of mine who teaches elementary PE asked for me. This was the first day back after midwinter break, and I guess she has been really sick, since she was out the week before break as well! The original plan was that I would take her classes through Wednesday, and see what happens after that. It went well, except for my own health. Yup, Tuesday was the day I caught it full force, and decided it wasn't worth the effort. So I cancelled the job, e-mailed my friend to apologize, and spent the rest of the morning sleeping. My wife also insisted that I not go in to tutor, either, which was probably a wise move. Fortunately, the day's rest seems to have been enough, even though I'm still not quite up to 100% yet. Since the PE job was originally scheduled to go through Wednesday, but I'd cancelled it all, I was free on Wednesday to teach for a junior high school science teacher I've been in for a few times this year. Soon after I got there, the snow started to fall! No, not again! We've had enough this year! Oh, well. Things were fine at the tutoring center, however, so I went in — except it had picked up and gotten thick again during the evening, and so for the third time this year I had a horrendous drive home among a bunch of people who don't really seem to know (or learn!) how to drive in snow. At least this time it only took me about forty minutes to get home.

Now, Thursday was the really weird day. I knew there would be some schedule changes because of the weather, so as soon as I got up I headed toward my computer to check the reports. But before I could get to any reports, I got a call to sub in the local district. Great, science at the nearby high school, call the teacher, fine. Then I immediately got a call from my other district offering me another job. I told their machine I wasn't available, however, as I already had a job. Then I finally got online to see what was up — and the local district was completely closed! So, I'd accepted a job that no longer existed. (I did call the teacher anyway, just to say, "Yeah, I took it," and we had a bit of a laugh over the situation.) Oh, well, no problem. The other district was open, but late, so I got on their website to see what was not only available, but close, as I didn't want to go too far in the snow. Sure enough, one of the elementary schools had both a music and PE position. I thought about the PE job, but realized I still wasn't quite up to it, so I took the music job instead. Good choice! All I had to do was show the first three segments of Fantasia 2000 to each class! Plus, I didn't have any students until 10:30, and an hour and a half break in the middle of the day for lunch! Surprisingly, nobody took the PE job (I guess a lot of people were not willing to drive in the snow), so since school started an hour and a half late, the PE teacher came in himself. It was a short day, he figured he could handle it. By the time school got out, most of the snow was gone, or at least a lot slushier, so driving was fine.

Thursday night, Laura kept getting lots of offers for half day jobs for yeaterday, but she knows I like full day jobs, and kept turning them down. Finally, I got a full day offer — French, of all things, at the local high school. Well, I don't know French, but I do know enough Spanish to get by, and I've done other languages before, so I decided to not worry, Good thing, as this teacher also taught a section of Spanish. More importantly, he knew that I probably wouldn't speak French, and set things up real nice so that most of the classes had some vocabulary activities that didn't require me to speak the language. Piece of cake! And both my health and the weather had improved enough that I was able to walk, getting some badly needed exercise in.

The coming week is already shaping up. I have high school PE on Tuesday and junior high math (in two different schools) on Thursday and Friday. But the really interesting event comes Tuesday afternoon. I'm finally taking advantage of my university's career center to get the inside scoop on jobs, and it's already paying off. One local district is having interest interviews that day, and I managed to get one of the last two openings. Sure, it's preliminary, and all I need to bring is my résumé (which I will be updating tomorrow, not that it should need a lot), but it's a start! So I also need to get on the stick and get letters from teachers, perhaps talk to a principal or two...

This Past Week Fortnight in Teaching

Sorry, sorry, yeah, I haven't had a chance to post for a while. Now that school is pretty much going full-time again, and there have been no cancellations from wind, snow, or plague of locusts, I'm just as busy as ever. How bad is it? I've had this whole week off due to mid-winter break, and now here it is that I finally get around to updating things on Friday!

The good news is that I feel I'm getting somewhere on the job hunt. I talked to someone in human resources at the local district I work in the most, and got a very good idea of what I need to do to being considered. I've already got that ball rolling. I also met another teacher who was working in the same district I was in during the strike a few years ago, and we had a good long commiseration. Since she's also a math teacher I've subbed for before, and I did a good job, she has offered to write a letter for me. I've gotten a few other offers of letters, and I know a few more I can ask, so that's my next step.

Okay, getting back to teaching... I got a few math jobs (including the one for my fellow striker above), but I seem to be carving out a niche as a science sub as well. I don't have a lot of background or training as a science teacher, but I can hold my own. Most teacher wouldn't trust a sub to run a lab, but showing a video or giving them a reading or worksheet isn't so tough, and that's a lot of what I've had. There were also two PE jobs (yay, comfortable clothes!) — one of which consisted of taking roll, then watching them square dance the whole time — and an interesting day covering technology, which was a class of welding (!), a class of stained glass (!!), and a class of computer animation. I also filled in for one of my tutoring colleagues who is a junior high language arts/social studies teacher, which was a nice break. He taught his students how to say my name, so it was a bit of a shock to have students walk in and say, "Good morning, Mr. Gjovaag" correctly! (Even when I had my own classes in that year of the strike, I don't think any of them got it quite right. Of course, I let them call me "Mr. G" which probably didn't help.)

One other trend I've seen this month is that there aren't enough subs right now! The flu has finally hit (one local private school actually closed for two days just to keep it from spreading and give students time to recover), and both teachers and subs are out. I've had to cover a few extra classes, like the stained glass class and a junior high history class the day I otherwise watched square dancing. Long, tiring days, especially those with tutoring in the evening, but at least I had this week off to look forward to. (Too bad it's almost over.)

The week in teaching

This has been a really, really tough week for me. No, the actual teaching itself has been fine — better than usual, in fact. No, it's just that the stress is getting to me worse than usual. I'm barely holding it together, to be honest, trying to juggle two jobs and the rest of my life. And now, thanks to winter break and the days missed due to snow and the storm, my paychecks are not enough to cover the bills right now, either. This is not going well at all, and something's got to give soon. I just hope it's me. I almost had a breakdown while I was tutoring the other night, and apparently scared a sensitive student at another table. Fortunately, the staff there has my back, and has given me some outs if it gets to me again. And midwinter break is coming up in a couple of weeks, that ought to help. I've never quite seen the point of taking a week off in February — right after the start of the semester — but I've always taken the time off anyway when I've been offered it!

So, besides that, here's how it went:

• Monday: Junior high math, in a room I've worked in before. I got to show them how to solve a pair of linear equations through elimination.
  
• Tuesday: The day I lucked out! I took an elementary music job in which I was promised an easy day, and yes, it was. This teacher only has five classes on this day, and one of them is a twenty minute kindergarten class. So she has about two and a half hours of break in there. But wait, there's more! She needed to be there for her first class to tape it for her national certification. If I'd been in the room and made it on camera, we would have had to both sign a lot of forms, so I decided to hang out in the teacher's lounge instead (hey, it's not like she actually needed me there). Let's just say that I got a lot of reading done that day.
  
• Wednesday and Thursday turned out interesting. I was called in to sub for a science teacher at the junior high up the road, so I got to walk. But his classes were scheduled to take a field trip that day. Since the teacher next door, who I'd subbed for before, had already done the trip and knew what to expect, she went ahead and went while I stayed behind and took her classes. This worked out fine, as I'd subbed for her before and her students and I knew each other well enough to have a successful day. It was a video — admittedly not my favorite thing to do, but this was a good one. It was a news special from a local station profiling the Seattle police department's new Crime Scene Investigation unit. So naturally the name of the special was CSI: Seattle. This was one of the very few times I didn't mind watching a video five times in one day. (The only other one I can recall was in a high school Spanish class: Two episodes of The Simpsons taped off Mexican television!) The teacher I subbed for was out again the next day, so I finally got to work with his students, but it wasn't too hard. The classes were starting a gardening project which should result in a salad party in June. These sessions were led by a master gardener, so I had to play back-up, but not disappear totally into the background.
  
• Finally, on Friday, more junior high math, for a teacher I've worked with before the last couple of years, and who knows I will actually teach the math. All they had was a basic solve-for-the-variable algebra worksheet (and she apologized, saying she'd have given me something more to teach them if she'd known I was going to be her sub), but it proved to be just the right length for the short classes I had that day. This school had it's snow-delayed Martin Luther King, Jr. Day yesterday. The most enlightening part of it for me was a video on the Children's March in Birmingham in 1963, which included interviews with many of the marchers. I really need to read up on that some more, and other major events of the Civil Rights movement.
  

I have two upcoming jobs lined up this week, and three next week already, believe it or not, so I'm going to stay busy, at least. Now if I can just hold it all together...

The week in teaching

Well, the holidays are all over, the weather isn't interrupting school, so I had my first full week of teaching in quite some time this week. I was exhausted by the end of it, but I also at least feel like I'm accomplishing something. So, here's the rundown:

• Monday: Junior high Spanish/ELL. Nothing too tough here, and (as usual) everyone was surprised that I knew enough Spanish to help out.
  
• Tuesday and Wednesday: Junior high computers and art. This was interesting, as they needed me because the regular teacher was helping to set up the new lab. The students even slipped out and helped here and there. But this also meant that the teacher was able to come in and get class started, and all I had to do was supervise from there. I also spent one of my prep periods helping to unpack computers as well.
  
• Thursday: Junior high health and senior high PE. Again, nothing too tough, but it was intersting to see a whole bunch of weightlifting students disappear, a few of them brought back by both the principal and vice-principal. and the large number of students who are going to find themselves with unexcused absences for the class for cutting. Yes, I was smart enough to take roll again before dismissing the class.
  
• Friday: Something I haven't done for a long while now: Older elementary students. I saw a good job in a 5/6 split class and decided to take it. They were a nice bunch who knew what they were doing, so I didn't have a lot of trouble. Furthermore, they had both art and library that day, so there were some unexpectedly long stretches when I didn't have to worry about them. They were terrific, and I hope I get the chance to teach at that level some more this year.
  

I already have two jobs lined up for the coming week as well, both returns to previous posts (and one I was even requested for!). And let's not forget the big holiday coming up this week:



I have got to wonder why more schools don't recognize this as a holiday. It would be so much more successful if students could take some time off from their studies and proudly go around town in their gorilla suits. Think of the pride and joy on their parents' faces. Think of the sense of well-being the students would have. Oh, well, perhaps someday soon.