I survived!

Oh. My. God. The first day of school is hectic!!! But it was fun. I still feel like-this is my job?? Are you kidding me?

It was quite a funny day. I was so organized...then I was so unorganized. I learned many lessons today, even if my students didn't. Tomorrow should go a little better-at least that's what I've heard. It's so funny to hear my name-I almost didn't answer to it several times because it is so weird. I didn't lose any children, none of them cried, they seemed to have fun and they learned a few of our routines. I consider that a success.

PS-Our fish is named "Shark Bait".

I'm the teacher!?!?!

Since my new job (and I'm thankful everyday that I have it) is taking up most of my life (ok-all of it), I thought I'd post on my progress and my thoughts. Here it goes in list format:

1. My classroom is almost set up. I had no idea how tough this was. And time consuming. But hopefully it's a nice place they can come into and feel safe.
2. I have 'Meet the Teacher Night' in 2 days. And I'm the teacher. Oh my god.
3. I have really found out what stress can do to a body. I've never been so stressed in my life-or overwhelmed.
4. I haven't talked to my friends in awhile. That makes me sad.
5. I feel so lucky to have this job!
6. We're getting carpet in the duplex, so that means I don't have to work on staining the concrete floors. Hallelujah!!
7. I have met some wonderful people, most of which I'll be seeing everyday. Again-lucky.
8. I have my class list, along with records on them with their little pookie pictures on them. Adorable.
9. We will have a class pet. A fish. I'm going to let my students decide on the name.
10. I'm going to join our 'Improve the Planet' student organization. Should be fun.
11. Our class theme is a Jungle focusing on Monkeys.
12. As of last Friday, our school doesn't have a principal. What the shit?
13. I'm so excited and so nervous at the same time.
14. I know a handful of my students and they are AWESOME!
15. I'm scared of a bunch of 4th graders.

OVERWHELMED

That's all I have to say.

Am I alone on this?

It seems that I always have a tune in my head. There's always a song in the back of my mind. It just pops up. It may be one I heard earlier, or something that something else reminded me of, or some random song I can't make any relation to. Today's song was some song by Alan Jackson. Does anyone else have this problem?

Crazy busy

Lots of things happening around here. We're in the middle of an extreme home makeover on my grandmother's duplex so that my brother and I can move in. It's a major job. I'm also busy with school stuff trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing. I've started having nightmares about my class and how they are totally running wild and not listening to me. I'm also having nightmares about how I'm a cast member in the Real World Austin house. I only have a few more classes until I'm off in August and then I'll only go 3 times a month instead of 3 times a week. Things are hectic, but good. It's good to be alive in Austin, Texas.

PS-I won $500 at the bar last night. Can you believe it?
Have a safe trip Angela!

Winding down

Tomorrow is my last day of student teaching. Honestly, last week I thought I would welcome this day with open arms and celebrate (last week was rough-on top of being completely exhausted and confused, I had a horrible ear infection and felt like shit for most of the week). This week-whole other story. I've really grown attached to my students and am finally getting the hang of behavior management and teaching my lessons. I can now say with certainty that teaching is it for me. I have had a great class of 4th graders and it was such a wonderful experience. It's amazing how much you can learn in such a short amount of time when you're just thrown into a classroom. That's really the only way to learn this stuff. Tomorrow will be sad for me. But, next year I'll have my own class for the whole year. Oh, the things I will learn next year!

PS-Spurs-please bring your A game.

Guess what?

I got a job!
I got a job!
I got a job!

I'll be teaching 4th grade come August. It just sort of happened yesterday at summer school. PLUS-I'll be working at Chaya's school in her hallway and I'll have some of her kids! And, I know the whole 3rd grade team-so I'll have lots of friends and support my first year. I'm going shopping today for teacher stuff. A huge weight has been lifted off of me, but I can't help but feel nervous too. I am really looking forward to next year and I look forward to waking up not dreading my job.

A little update

Today was my second day of student teaching. I am exhausted. I have worked more on my one lesson plan than I worked at my old job during one whole week. Throughout the day there is no down time. That's the hard part. It's constant. There is no sitting at my desk writing on my blog. No, no. Today I was responsible for picking up my 4th graders and dropping them off throughout the day. I didn't lose any of them and they didn't kill each other. It was a success. Although one boy did ask me if I was deaf. I was all "Excuuuuuuse me!(in my best teacher voice) That's inappropriate". Behavior management is definitely tough. Tomorrow I'm teaching my first lesson and I will be observed. It's on cause and effect-so if anyone is having trouble with this, I'm your girl.

I'm back in the game

I had my first interview today. For 4th grade. They asked all the questions I was told they would. I had all my answers ready. I should hear in the next few days if I got it or not. I think it went well. If I don't happen to get it, at least I've had the chance to interview and I'll do even better on the next one. But let's just hope this one sticks.

At least we're not going to Game 7

Damn, Spurs! Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Well done, though. You definitely worked hard for the money last night.

A few things...

1. It seems like when I had a job, I had more time to post. Now that's ironic.
2. Looking for a job is a job.
3. In order to get my teaching certificate, I had to order a fingerprint kit to make sure I don't have the crazies. Doesn't that make you feel better about public schools?
4. Went to San Antonio last night to see Kenny Chesney. No, we didn't see Renee. He didn't even talk about it, just kind of jokingly pointed to his wedding band during one song about marriage. He did put on a good show and he really is hot. Cracker Ass Cracker (Uncle Kracker) and Gretchen Wilson opened for him. They were pretty good too. She can sing. It rained. We had seats on the lawn.
5. Saw one of my childhood friends get married on Saturday. It was bittersweet. We're really not friends anymore, we haven't been since middle school. Our families were so close back in the day that of course we were all invited. The actual ceremony was 20 minutes. Now that's what I'm talking about.
6. I'm starting to get nervous about teaching.
7. I think I need a new workout regime. This shit isn't working.

Proofreading

SONUVABITCH. Boys and girls, I have learned a valuable lesson on proofreading. DO IT! DO IT A LOT! HAVE OTHER PEOPLE DO IT ALOT! Especially when you're sending out bulk resumes. I kept changing the wording on my cover letter, and I kept reading it over and over. I missed something. I had one minor little typo. BIG no-no. I know this. But it's especially bad when you're trying to get a teaching job. I think I only sent out about 4-8 resumes like this and I'm sending out 18 tomorrow-so I'm glad I caught it. But FUCK!

Happy Birthday Amber!

I hope you have a great time at the beeeeaaaach!

Maybe I need to tone it down a bit

Is it totally inappropriate that I referenced crack use in a skit about human growth and development in my class tonight? It did get a reaction.

What will they think of next?

This is the craziest thing I've heard in a long time. A friend of mine is pregnant and was doing some research. She came across the option of saving the baby's umbilical cord blood for the stem cells. The stem cells can be used to treat all kinds of things from cancer to blood discorders. It's highly likely that the stem cells will match with a family member, should they ever need them. Crazy huh?

Viacord

Urban sprawl is a beeeaaaaach.

I haven't really posted on this topic because I think everyone knows where I stand on this. My friends and family have to hear it all the time. How I'm boycotting Wal-Mart, what about our land and wildlife?, and the many expletives that fly out when I talk about all of the building going on around me. But, fuck!!!!!! I really can't go anywhere anymore without being in some sort of construction traffic where I'm forced to look at all of the beautiful land they've ruined because God knows we don't have enough Wal-Marts. If I shopped at Wal-Mart, I would be willing to drive a little farther, we don't need one on every corner. And that mall they're building on the land where my brother and I used to play ball? Yeah, I don't want that either. That's the whole point of living in the suburbs. You don't have to deal with the in-the-city bullshit. It's not just about that. I don't think that these big companies realize that once the land is gone, it's gone. Need I remind them that it is limited resource? Maybe I should write them? (I like to write letters to people expressing my concerns. I get this from my mom.) Not their problem, I guess. I know, it's all about money and convenience-I get it. I'm just not very happy about it. When all of it started, I tried to devise a plan that would prevent them from building on the land. For example, Barton Springs has the endangered salamanders. I wanted to transplant some kind of endangered species. That really didn't pan out. And Bush wanted to drill for oil in Alaska? Here's a plan: let's not be do dependent on oil. Okay, I'm off the topic. I'm not preaching because I consume just as much as anybody. I don't drive a hybrid, I don't always buy recycled products, and I let the water run while I'm brushing my teeth. But I'm trying to be better. And I'm not a lipstick liberal that wants all of this shit built, but just not in my neighborhood. I don't want it built at all. I know that's never going to happen and growth is inevitable. I'm just really disappointed in our government, more specifically our president. Now there's the understatement of the year.

Got any good pesticide?

Enough with the freakin worms. Driving my car has now become a full blown war. They are everywhere. They're hanging from the trees when I'm walking to the car. They are hanging on the outside of the window slowly crawling up. They are on the inside of the windows taunting me. They are hanging on their webs by my head. Needless to say, it's hard to drive when you're fighting off worms.

This weekend we went to the Poteet Strawberry Festival. There were no worms there. But, oh my god, the people. It was crazy. We did get to listen to some Roger Creager without fighting a huge mob and the beer and bathroom lines were short. That's really all I ask for. We had so much fun. We also consumed everything strawberry. Strawberry shortcake, strawberry wine, strawberry ice cream, chocolate covered strawberries, and some Bud Light (not strawberry). I had to hit the treadmill pretty hard this morning. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

My experience with the Unemployment Office

Apparently I was selected to receive "priority assistance in my job search". What they really mean is you have to come to this meeting or we won't send you your unemployment check. I went to this meeting this morning. I didn't have any idea of what to expect. In the parking lot, a girl flags me down and asks if I'm going to the class and asks if we can walk in together. I'm like-ok. Come to find out, my new friend (Yolanda is her name) was convicted of assault and is having a hard time finding a new job. She was really nice. She was hired for a new job in her field and quit her old job. After her new job found out about her record, they told her they couldn't employ her. And there she was-no job. I told her how my services were no longer needed at the law firm and how I was in a program to teach. We laughed and cried together. Just kidding. In our meeting they encouraged us to use all of their services that they provide at no cost to us. They also encouraged us to apply for food stamps. I think I'm going to leave the food stamps to the people that really need it, but thanks for the offer. We also watched a video on a motivational speaker who told us to go out and get our dream job. He told us to let go of our anger for our previous employer. Ha! The whole experience was funny. It was a crazy mix of people. There were teenage, tough looking boys and girls, older people, and Yolanda and I. If I don't post for a while, I'm looking for my dream job-ok?

PS-If anyone knows of a Medical Assistant position-Yolanda would really appreciate a good lead.

Does anyone else's food taste like metal?

Let me tell you what really sucks about not having a job. Not being able to shop. Sure, I can fill my days until normal people get off work. Sure, I can pay the bills from the unemployment checks. Sure, I get to concentrate on school. But I don't get to buy things that I don't necessarily need. Shopping makes me happy. A lot of other things make me happy, too. But I really didn't realize how much shit I bought until I had to seriously analyze each and every purchase. New shirt? Nope, can't get it. Don't know when my next check is coming in. New DVD? (Season 1 of Las Vegas, perhaps?) Nope, don't need it. Jeans? (Since every day is jeans day for me, this would actually be a sensible purchase) Nope. Jeans can wait. I just might have a problem and losing my job has made me realize that I definitely need to marry up.

On yet another note, I'm on some medication that seriously tastes like poison. I've never tasted poison, but I'm pretty sure that it tastes like the pills that I have to take 3x a day for 7 days. It should have one of those green, yucky stickers on it we got in health class in elementary school. Also, there's no drinking on this medication. Not the "we suggest you don't drink on these meds" but the "you absolutely can't drink while taking this or you'll get violently sick". They obviously weren't there for my 21st birthday. Now that was violently sick. One side effect of this medicine-a metallic taste. So help me God, after I read that, I started tasting metal. "If they continue or are bothersome, check with your doctor." Um, yeah. I'm pretty sure that a metallic taste is bothersome.

Whoa

I have been having some seriously weird dreams lately. I think it's because I'm eating dinner so late. I must stop that. Today I woke up feeling a little off. I can't remember my dream, but I remember that it was disturbing. The night before that, I had some Dawn of the Dead dream where there were zombies everywhere and I was surprisingly calm about it. I kicked some zombie ass. But all these dreams have left me feeling upset in the morning. I'm eating dinner at 5 p.m. today.