O the teacher of PE

Today my dear followers went from being a fun and easy day to a "long but fun towards the end" day. At 6:40am Mr. L and I awoke from our slumber. The offender of sleep being the telephone. It was a school wanting to know if I could come in and teach PE today. Now for those of you who don't know I live 30 minutes from this school. They start at 8am and I have to get there before the bell rings because this PE teacher has a class right at 8am. Those who are doing the math have figured out that I now have around 40 minutes (if I want 10 minutes to prep for a full day of classes) to get read, pack a lunch and eat breakfast. Despite the crazy short notice I except. After all, it is PE. I don't have to look nice!

So I somehow make it there with 20 minutes to read my sub notes (thanks to Mr. L for packing my lunch and making me coffee and breakfast!) I start to read my notes. I notice one thing. There are no times listed on my notes. This is the second time I have subbed for this school. Sigh. Guess I'll just skip drinking water for the rest of the day since I have no idea when kids will be coming. Oh and teachers better not expect me to send them kids. Thanks guy!

Well my friends I am not the greatest PE teacher. Today was the first time I had to send a kid to the principal. He just flat out refused to listen. I sat him out twice. Then when he was being waaaay to rough with a girl, I lost my patients. I told him to leave the game and run five laps. He kicked a cone across the court, called me some names and began to walk. I told him that I said the word RUN. Maybe I was being a little too picky but this kid needed to burn off some energy. He did run for a little but then he sat down and started to read a magazine. (OK! I'm not stressing over this kid while I have everyone else armed with dodge balls.) So I called the secretary and had the young man removed. Sad day. I felt so bad about not being able to get this kid to play nice with others, that I found his teacher at lunch. She told me that I shouldn't feel bad. She said she does it all the time and that I did what I was suppose to do. I guess he has some issues with his anger and if you let him stick around he can get pretty bad in a hurry. All I can think is how sad it is that that young man struggles so much. I am thankful that the staff understands him so well.

I have nothing but respect for PE teachers and today just makes me respect them more. PE teachers work so hard and they teach kids more then just how to be physically healthy. Great PE teachers help kids to deal with a lot of emotions and help our students to work well with others. Kudos to you PE teachers! I'll NEVER cut you from my budget!

The results are in

Well folks I heard back from the elementary I interviewed with today. I did not get the job. The good news is that the principal wanted to let me know that they were really considering me and that I was very impressive. This really took the sting out of the news! It is nice to know that I made their decision hard (sounds kind of mean but I hope you know what I saying.)

This interview was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in my interviewing. This makes me feel like I have grown greatly from my first interview. So even though I would have loved to work for this school, I still feel like this was a great experience and I am still positive. :)

Good night dear followers and stay positive!

Easter!

Today was such a fun day for me! As a sub you normally don't get to celebrate the fun holidays with the kidos. Now I still try to sneak some holiday fun in. Like throwing an themed book into my sub kit. (Yeah. You read right. I'm such a geek that I made my own sub kit. It contains vital things like the passwords for the computers, books, time fillers, and important of all candy for when I hit a rough spot.) Today however the kindergarten teacher I was subbing for let me do the fun things! I think I was just as if not more excited than the kids.

The kids were to make Easter baskets in my room, dip eggs in the 2nd grade room, and coloring pages in the 1st grade room. The teacher was so well organized. I was really pumped. While I was reading my plans, the 1st grade teacher walks into the classroom. She tells me that at 9:30 she was going to take the kids out to recess since they didn't have PE that day. A little before 9:30 rolled around the kids were done so I walked with them out to recess. I noticed that the 1st grade teacher was not there yet. So I played with the kids. Then at 9:45 I brought them in. The 2nd grade teacher caught me in the hall and told me that I was suppose to have my kids in the 1st grade room. Turns out they had a change of plans. Oops!

We sorted our kids into three groups and we were off! It was so much fun making baskets. The kids were great. It also helps that I had candy. Then I had some wonderful students who helped to pick the room up. When everyone had finished, I poked my head out of the door to see if anyone was heading out to recess. No one had a single coat on. So I read Robert Munch's I Got To GO. They loved it. By the time I was finished I noticed that some kids had walked past the door with coats on. So by the time I got my kids ready to go, it was a little late for their recess. Oh well! Good thing they got an extra recess earlier.

As I was walking out the door I stopped into the teachers lounge to tell the kindergarten teacher how wonderful the kids were. The kindergarten teacher and 1st grade teachers told me how they noticed how much the kids like it when I sub. The 1st grade teacher told me that when she had to go to the doctor, her kids asked if I was coming. I feel so loved! Those kids are great.

THE INTERVIEW don don doooooonn

It would have been lovely for me to have a full nights sleep last night but my new neighbor had other plans for me. Now don't get me wrong, I know that toddlers will cry and I'm cool with that. What I am not cool with is my single parent neighbor scream the f-bomb at this toddler every time he started to cry. I know parenting is vary hard at times and it is even harder when you are doing it alone but come on! Do you really need to teach your kid that word? Hello woman! We are sleeping above you. We do not need you adding to the noise. This woman chose to scream the f-bomb until one in the morning! I woke up at Five. That equals four hours of sleep. Needless to say I'm groggy and Mr. L and I are grouchy.

So I was very sleepy for my interview. I hope I did well but I don't know. I don't feel like my thought process was very clear today. Which is a bummer because this school was so nice. The staff was very friendly and I even knew one of the teachers! She is the music teacher for Albin and Pine Bluffs. So she has seen me work before as a sub. Maybe she will know that I'm not so scatter brained.

The school told me that they have five more interviews to perform. On Wednesday I get to find out. Good news is I will be subbing the two days I am waiting so at least I will be busy and not have time to worry. Even if I don't get this job, I will not go into my bath rob of sadness. I still have my subbing job and there will be more jobs to apply for. Plus I feel like I am getting better at interviewing. So I feel positive even if I don't get the job!

Welp! I'm off to go read my book Literacy at a Crossroad. Have a good week dear followers and I'll keep you posted. :)

Surprising!

So I found out that I like teaching PE and going on field trips. Teaching PE was defiantly out of my comfort zone but it was so much fun. Getting to run around with kids was fantastic. The best part about PE was getting to see those kids I normally have to ask a thousand times to sit in their own seat or "please use your inside voice." In PE I didn't have to say any of that to them...well maybe a few times I had to remind them of what they were suppose to be doing. But it was so much fun to let them burn off some energy! PE is sooo important. Respect those PE teachers. They do do a lot for our schools.

I'm not going to lie followers, I was sooo worried about going on this field trip. One I was not in on the planning. Now most of you might not know this but as a teacher I am a HUGE control freak. I like everything planned and organized. It just makes me feel so zen. To go to a new place with students I don't know if I know AND I didn't do any planning. Mrs. L might have a heart attack. Turns out I was subbing for the Tittle I teacher. So she left me notes to check with kindergarten or first grade to see who wanted me. The Kindergarten teacher decided she wanted me. I love her class. They are such sweet kids and they are funny too.

We had such a wonderful time. The kids were great and the dairy was really interesting. The owners gave us a tour. We got to see how they mix the cows' food. The owner actually let the kids lay in the pile of flattened corn. The kids loved it. Then when they took us to show the calves, we got to see one being born! It was fascinating. Although first the calf was not moving (nail bitter!) The kindergarten teacher and I both looked at each other. I could tell she was thinking the same thing, "Please let it move." (No one wants to explain That to a group of kindergartners. Then the little guy moved! (Insert sigh of relief.) Next thought, "now who is going to explain what just happened to these kids." (Insert new sigh of relief.) The own did such a wonderful job handling all the questions the kids came up with! I was truly impressed and so were the kids. After watching the "Mommy Cow" lick her new bundle of joy, we headed off to see the other calves. Then we saw how the cows were milked (really impressive how fast they can milk them!) They tour was capped off with the kids getting goodie bags from the dairy. Who knew it would have been so wonderful?!

Many surprises and great experiences this week. Now that I have showered off the smell of the dairy, I shall go make Mr. L his dinner. Good night dear followers!

Uh oh!

Uh oh! I am going to be a PE teacher tomorrow for the elementary AND the high school. Then today I found out that I am going to go on a field trip to a dairy farm this Friday. Expect to hear from me my dear followers on Friday when I hopefully make it home safe and clean. I am going to gain LOTS of new experience this week.

New school!

Today I was making breakfast for my hubby and I as we prepared for work. I was only going to work at the high school for a few hours this morning. Then the phone rang. It was a new school wanting to give me a try! I love going to new schools. It is so much fun to see how different schools handle different things. Being in different classrooms, you get to see the different ways teachers organize and implement the different district programs. I always bring writing material and a folder so I can steal stuff. Beg, barrow and steal!

After the high school teacher came back to her classroom, I headed off to the elementary school. The teacher was still in her classroom. Turns out the poor woman had been toughen it out all morning with flue like symptoms. (What a teacher!) So this poor thing fills me in and shows me her sub plans (this was just her regular planner. Good thing we really weren't doing much and I'm very comfortable with the elementary setting.)

We had a pretty easy day. The kids were well behaved. There was a little "drama" with two students. This led to an afternoon of quizzing being interrupted by the principal bringing students into his office from my classroom. Needless to say some students did not get their quiz done but oh well! Nothing I cannot handle.

As I was walking past the teachers' lounge, I heard the staff talking about me and how much another elementary school recommended me. (SCORE! My rep is getting around.) Then I had a student stick around after school to help put up the chairs on the desks. This student told me that I was doing a real good job and most of the students seem to like me. Best complements ever. Have a good night and great weekend my dear followers.

Impressive Sir.

Today I met a very impressive high school teacher. I subbed for a high school math teacher (yikes!) I was really worried when I was told that I would be in this classroom.

First off, I do not love subbing for math. You never know what you are going to get (and not in a Forest Gump kind of way!) Sometimes I am given instructions to simply follow the teacher's manual in order to teach a brand new concept. Well my friends I do not like doing this. Those things are ridiculous! The scripted ones are the worst. We already know the standardized testing is not that great. Why standardize our instruction? A manual does not know the different ways a student learns. Frankly who wants to watch me read from a manual? How is that helping students relate to their math problems. Standardized instruction is not meaningful. In other words, kids have no idea WHY they need to learn this stuff. This is especially true for high school (quadratic formula any one? When was the last time we used that?!) Plus, I am a sub. Hello! I waltz into your classroom and can sometimes not even pronounce a student's name correctly. Why are we expecting me to know where the student is instructionally (meaning what they are ready to learn.) I digress.

When you walk into a classroom you can also encounter the opposite. Sometimes they give you something to easy for a class. This is normally no problem for me. I am comfortable teaching English, History, and Science. If students misbehave, I simply make up my own homework assignment for them. But with math I don't know how to whip out a high school level math assignment. I have no clue what page they are in and I have no way of making up my own math assignment (again do not ask me to explain the quadratic formula. That I have worked very hard to forget.) So you can see my discomfort.

Luckily I had a very good teacher to sub for. She had two work sheets ready for me for the first class. This period the kids were very well behaved and the TA filled me in on all the juicy gossip. The next period was filled with kids whose names I have learned. (For those of you following along at home, when a sub knows your name it means you have done somethings to make them remember your name, if you catch my drift.) But this teacher had paired students up very well. Everyone stayed on task while working on their class project. I only had a minor technical difficulty for the time I was there.

The really impressive part was when I she returned to the classroom. She asked me about the student who was having technical difficulties. She was concerned that he was trying to get out of his work. (If you have worked with this student, you would know that it is not much of a stretch.) I assured her that the student was truly having difficulties. I informed her of my attempts to get the technology to work and the attempts of another student to get the technology to work as well. The teacher then asked me if I tried to get one of the struggling student's friends to help. I assured he that I would not make that kind of mistake. All in all I was very impressed with this young lady. She was super on top of her game. You go sister!

Positive thinking pays off

Hello dear dear followers! If you haven't noticed from the title, I am a little more positive today. I have received some great news. The phone rang around eight this morning. The caller ID read PB Elementary School. My assumption was that it was Pine Bluffs Elementary School asking me to finally sub for them. I was excited. To my surprise it was the school principle (normally sub are handled by the person who runs the school: the secretary.)

The Principle wanted to ask me... (drum roll please) if I was interested in interviewing for a kindergarten teaching position. Let me repeat: they want me to interview for a KINDERGARTEN TEACHING POSITION! I am sooo excited!

Now for me to climb down off the ceiling. There is a lot of competition for this position. A LOT. So in order for me to protect myself from putting on the rob of sadness I will tell myself the following.

If I go back to bed, will things go away?

Normally I am a look-at-the-bright-side kind of gal but today has just been a downer day. My husband took on free lance work to help us financially. Turns out the company he made the video for has decided to pay us late. (Hurray! Do you think my land lord will take monopoly money?) So Charles and I have taken turns being depressed and whinny. (I know. We have been so lovely to spend time with.) In order to alleviate this annoying back and forth we decided to go to the library. (I think Mr. L realized I was reaching for my sad robe and he wanted to cheer me up quick.) At the library I discovered two great books (hoping they will help me with my interview skills) and I found out that I can check out up to 100 books. (What were they thinking telling me that?! I am going to be there every week.)

After the library it was time for us to head to the store. (Remember that we were not given a paycheck for Charles' work.) So guess how we paid? That's right we did the We-are-so-poor-we-are-paying-with-nothing-but-coins bit. That's always so fun. We bought eight dollars worth of groceries for one week. YUUUP. We paid eight dollars in pennies, nickles, and dimes. Thank goodness for self checkout!

Last night while I was talking to my mom on skype, my older brother joined the conversation. I was telling my mom how little money we had. My older brother told me to "just get a job!" He told me that I don't HAVE to be a teacher. I could just get a job and pay my bills. (This is coming from my brother who drives home every weekend to get money from my parents.) Now while the source isn't that great, today makes me wonder if I should give up. Some of my family members have told me that I should go back to working in the nursing home. They say that I was good at that.

I don't know if I could quit trying to be a teacher. I have never loved something so much (Mr. L not included). You get such an amazing feeling when a student has an "Ah HA" moment or when you see a student has grown in fantastic ways. Sigh. I'm hooked and cannot give up (even if I cause my family to have to eat off of eight dollars worth of food for one week). Good things I'm creative in the kitchen.

Ugh! Icing on the cake. My beans that I was boiling for dinner burnt. I think I'll go back to bed and see if food has prepared itself for me. Good night!

I want to be a teacher

I have noticed that more of my loved ones are blogging and I just read an amazing book that started from a blog, so I thought I would join the fun. This blog will probably only be read by those who love me (Thanks Mr. L!) but I will tell my invisible readers a little about myself. I am working HARD to become a teacher. I graduated last year with my B.S. in Elementary Education and was unsuccessful in finding a full time teaching job. Currently I am a substitute teacher (kinda like 3 time substitute teacher of the year Peggy Hill only without the trophies).

I love the days I get to be a substitute teacher. You will never find me frowning on a day I get to hang out at a school. The best part is when I have a student run up, hug me and ask if I am their sub. (Makes you feel soooo loved.) My personal teaching philosophy is that everyone will learn and everyone will learn in their own way. I'm a big fan of differentiated instruction (for the two people who will read this that means instruction that is designed for the individuals in your classroom). The coolest moment of my career was when I saw Howard Gardner speak in person. For those of you who don't know who that is, he is like My Chemical Romance for teachers. He is the rockstar who created the Multiple Intelligence Theory.

In my free time I love hanging out with Mr. L (my hubby) and friends/family. You will find me reading, fishing/camping, or baking/cooking. Oh yeah! You will also find me relentlessly searching for a full time job. (Hince the blog.) Have a happy weekend my dear followers.