Man, it has been a really long time since my last post. I think of new blog posts daily, usually when I’m in the bathroom, driving in the car, or falling asleep. By the time I sit down in front of a computer with internet access, I’m either working, looking for a teaching job, or working on the budget and blog posts are the furthest thing from my mind.
I do not like my job anymore. I am not proud of the company for which I work. I absolutely adore the people on my team, though. There are some other friends that I’ve made at work that completely make it worth having gotten that job at all. I appreciate my team and my boss being so supportive of me trying to switch careers and allowing me to adjust my work schedule. There is just not a better group of people with which I could hope to work. Even so, I feel like all of our hard work is for naught and that we’re all just biding our time until we are let go. I feel like the only reason to stay in a situation like that is if you really believe in your work and what it contributes to the company as a whole. I do not feel this way at all.
That’s why I decided to switch gears and get into teaching. I see all of these ads encouraging people to become teachers. I read article after article of how in demand good teachers are in Texas. I have known people who are in teaching for all the wrong reasons and cannot understood how they were ever hired in the first place. I figured that if I was going to have to deal with the difficulties that come with any job, I would also like to have the feeling, at least once a year, that I may have actually made a difference to at least one person – one child.
Becoming a teacher, especially if you are switching careers and cannot afford to work for free for a year is extremely difficult. I’ve learned that I just have to to bide my time, and wait to jump on every tiny little crack in the door that I find. I have never pursued a career so aggressively in my life. I am SPAMming people with my applications. I am updating my online applications weekly. I am reading articles and literature, trying to find advice for teachers, for their struggles, for their successes, for teaching methods, for all things education (especially in Texas).
I did get accepting as a substitute into a local school district. It’s actually a really top notch school district and I consider myself lucky that my first foray into teaching will be in such a great school district with wonderful support staff and eager students. Because of my primary job, my family obligations, and my health, I will only be able to sub on Mondays and maybe the occasional Friday. I wish I could sub more, get to know the schools, employees, teachers, and students in the district more, but I’m lucky that I get to have a full-time job and still sub. Tonight, I signed up for my first job subbing at an elementary school!
I. AM. SO. EXCITED!!!
I’m sick, feel like crud, running on fumes, and filled with cold meds, asthma meds, allergy meds, and steroids. It’s going to be a struggle to get through this week, and I’m not completely sure how I’m going to get through Monday. It’s important that I kick this teaching dream into gear, though. Part of the reason I’m on all of these meds is because we have our kids this weekend and have to spend all of Saturday in Nowheresville, TX for the boys’ football games. (I’m not going to rant about that right now.) Why am I spending Saturday in towns that I hate watching the only sport that I hate? Because I love my kids to the moon and back.
I almost didn’t accept the subbing gig on Monday because I thought maybe I’ll still be sick, maybe I should use that time to rest, maybe I should wait until a better time, blah, blah, blah. Then, I slapped myself, realizing that if I want to teach, then I need to teach. I’m lucky that my first exposure to this is as a sub because I have minimal responsibility and can follow in the express guidance of an experienced teacher. I can get the feel of teaching, get the feel of this school district, and get the feel of this school without putting my entire career on the line. That’s purty danged cool. Plus, Monday is the last day that I’ll have the steroids and antibiotics. So, if my health doesn’t improve after I’m done with this round of meds, then I’m going to be sick awhile and will need to go back to the doctor, which will delay teaching even more. Instead of looking for reasons to delay my dreams of teaching, I have to find ways to make it frippin’ happy.
This weekends plans: Work. Cook a buncha pancakes for brunch on Saturday. Spend the rest of Saturday in Nowheresville, TX and Other Nowheresville, TX for small town elementary school football games. Go to church. Work on the budget. Get family photos done. Laundry. Clean. Prepare to teach. Get healthy.
That’s not so bad, right?
The Scarlet Loser 