Stresses and concerns...

I was a little stressed and overwhelmed tonight, so I decided to update the old blog. I am sure that most of the followers have long since given up on updates...but I still need to vent now and then; so I will continue to post.

I have been teaching the fourth grade for about five months now. It has been a very difficult year. I tell people that I am in boot camp. It feels like I got the toughest class possible for my first year of teaching. I just have to make it to the first week of June. I have low readers, low math, resource students, and a ton of behavior problems in the class. I just try to get through it. I look forward to my second year of teaching, which others tell me is a lot easier.

Life has been difficult in other areas as well. I am experiencing a lot of firsts this year. My first permanent job (in my chosen career), my first car (that I own myself), my first apartment (that is not on a college campus and that I am paying for myself), and my first experience with actual bills. When you add to that the fact that I didn't know a soul when I moved to this new state; it seems a little overwhelming. Then you can add the fact that moving isn't as easy as packing up and leaving the state. You have to declare residency in the new state, tell the old state that you have left, register your car, get a new licence, and tell the old state that you are registered in the new state. I failed to do a few of the above and am now praying that the form that I am putting in the mail tomorrow gets there quickly. I also pray that I won't have to pay penalties.

So this brings us to tomorrow...Tomorrow someone from the district is coming to watch me teach a guided reading lesson. I am not looking forward to this. I am perfectly comfortable being in front of my class; when you add an another adult to the mix, I tend to get VERY nervous. Plus, I get to experience this all over again when my principal observes me teach in a few weeks.

As you can see, I have lots of things on my mind right now. I need a mental break!!! I updated my blog in the hopes that writing down some of my stresses might help me sleep tonight. I am sorry if the spelling and grammar are not perfect. This is supposed to be stress relieving, so I don't want to have to worry about the little things. In the meantime, I will keep telling myself that I cannot change the things that are out of my control. All that I can do is work with the things that I can change.

As a final request, if any of my former followers are still out there...pray for me. I need it!

Welcome to Utah...

I finally had a few minutes to spare, so I thought I would make a long over due update to the blog. For the few of you that are still reading this thing, and who haven't yet heard...I got a teaching job! YEAH!! I am teaching the fourth grade in West Jordan, UT! The only downside of this whole thing is that I had to leave my hometown of Corona, CA. I came up here knowing no one, and my lovely lack of any sense of direction. I have been teaching for just over a week now. We had two days of class, during which that students were introduced to the classroom rules and routines, and then there was a weekend break. After that, we had a full week of school. I tried to stick to the schedule that they would be following for the rest of the year. But, of course, things always come up. I think it went alright thought.

I LOVE my co-workers and the principal. I think that I really lucked out! They are all so nice and supportive. It makes a huge difference! Especially since I am on my own up here. These next few months are going to be very stressful and crazy; so don't count on completely regular updates. I will try to feed my blog some FiberOne and get it back on track once things settle down a little. Right now I am just trying to focus on staying calm, and attempting to go with the flow, in an effort to avoid a complete stress overload. Something that would have helped is me not getting sick during the first week. Yes, true, I am sick with a cold. I have been coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose raw, and all the other lovely things that come with a really bad cold. All while trying to get through my first week of teaching. Great.

I will try to find time to post...even if it only a one sentence update here and there. Hmmmm...maybe you should check Facebook for those. ;P

Confusing Times!

I am currently waiting for a load of laundry to finish drying; so I thought I would update the blog. I am frustrated! I have sooooo many teaching applications out there right now. I have heard NOTHING. That's not entirely true...I got a rejection letter yesterday. It basically said that I passed the application screening process. Then it said that I was not being included in the candidate pool because I did not pass the "reference check." I have been thinking about this non-stop since I got the letter. I have no idea how my references could not be great! I gave them a list of all the schools I attended and all of the jobs that I have worked at (both educational and non-educational). They did not ask for any contact information (phone numbers or anything).

The only phone numbers I gave were for those individuals (people who had seen me teach) that I had personal recommendation letters from. The references I included all gave me amazing letters of recommendation, which I included with my application. So, where is this "reference check" problem coming from? I really hope it is a mistake. The letter said I could call with any questions. I left a message on the answering machine and emailed the human resources department. They have to tell what the problem is, right? I would hate to think that I have some random problem with my application that I don't know about. What if this is why I haven't heard anything. I hope they get back to me soon (like now)! I really can't figure it out. I have never been fired, had a bad review, given less than two weeks notice before quitting, and all of my master teachers seemed to enjoy my lessons. WHAT IS THE DEAL!?!?!!

So, here I am...updating the blog and wondering what tomorrow will bring. I think I may need the collective prayers of all of my friends. Please pray that I get a job offer soon! I know that I do every night...it just doesn't seem to be working. :( It has been a year since I received my credential. I still don't have a teaching job (thank you very much to the California economy for that one). I am working as a part-time long-term sub; but that ends on June 24, and then I have nothing. I am ready to move forward in my life. I want to start preparing. I can't do that until I have something to prepare for.

This was a fairly depressing post for me...so I will end with a funny work story. One of my second grade girls came up to me the other day and asked if she could call home. I asked her why. She told me that she had a hole in her pants in the "privates" and was "uncomfortable." I let her call home to see if she could get a new pair (in the meantime, I had her tie her jacket around her waist. She called home and told her Dad what had happened. She asked if he could bring her a new pair of pants. He told her that he was working and couldn't bring her anything. She asked him what she should do. This was his response: "Just put some tape on it." Can you believe that? What would be more noticeable, the hole or this big wad of tape? See, it is not just the students who say the darnedest things...parents can do it too!

Running

In my effort to get into shape, I have started running. I thought it would be awful! I hate that feeling of claustrophobia when you have trouble breathing. However, it wasn't that bad. It is a hassle to get into the workout clothes after a long day of work, but I have been doing it! It has been about two weeks now. It turns out that I am fairly competitive...with myself. I like to beat my own records. I push myself to run a little further each day. Unfortunately, I really haven't been taking the time to build up my muscle and endurance like I should.

First, I twisted my ankle. Now, both of my knees (one more than the other) are killing me! I can barely walk! And stairs!?! Forget it! They are getting a little better, but it has thrown off the habit of running every day that I was getting into. Add this week of unexpected rain and you get very little outside exercise! I hope that I can get back into it once the knees get better and the weather clears up!

Busy!

Okay, this will be a fairly short post. I received an email last week from a charter school in Utah. They looked at my application and now want me to answer some interview questions, via email. You would think that this wouldn't take very long, however...in order to answer the questions I have to read these two books about education. I need to get this done by tomorrow (that is when they are having a state budget meeting that tells them how many teachers they can hire). So, for the last few days I have been trying to make it through these books. I have finished one, and am about half way through the other one. I will post again as soon as I have finished the book and sent off my answers. Wish me luck!