School Update

I'm not doing so well on updating on how things are going w/ the new job, but that's mostly because I'm so crazy busy I don't have time. Here's the short of it:

Things are getting better, I'm not dying, but I'm definatly not in a good place yet either. I went in yesterday and will go in tomorrow to organize the room and plan for Thurs/Fri this week. I still have lots of work to do and many other elements, the smaller details, that I need to start looking at once I've got the teaching thing down.

Thank you all for your prayers and please keep them coming. God's the only way I've made it this far, and He's the only way I'll make it thru the rest of the school year.

Week 1: Down

I have officially survived my first week of real teaching. Survived is the most appropriate word I can think of to use here. Unlike in my student teaching, I'm not ahead w/ lesson plans by any stretch of imagination. On the contrary, I still don't know what I'm doing on Monday in my 9th grade classes. Though this is quite stressfull, it's the best I can do, seeing as I've been thrown in mid-year and had no advance warning of what to prepare to teach.

This week has been hard: really hard. I definatly have done the "I don't think I can do this" thing, along with the "I'm so stressed I'm physically sick" thing. To give you an idea, this past Tuesday was the first time in memory that I was actually glad/relieved to go to the U and wanted to be there instead of teaching. As the week has progressed, both of those feelings have subsided somewhat. I'm starting to get the flow of things, I think the students are starting to get the hang of me and my style, and I'm not dead (which is a big plus).

I've been staying at school working until about 7pm and then come home and figure out what's going on. For some reason I plan better at home; maybe because it's familiar and comfortable. But that makes things more complicated as I have to transfer computer files and do last minute preperations the morning of.

All I have to do is get thru one more week like that and then I get 3 days off for mid-winter break. That break is hopefully going to give me the time I need both to survive and to begin to get ahead as far as lesson planning goes, but we shall see.

Whirllwind

This past week has been crazy. Some of you have been in on it and some haven't, so here are some of the details, broken down by day of the week:

Monday: While subbing at Skyview JH I began the online application for the Lake Washington School District. Knowing I wouldn't be certified until mid-March, I left a few forms and such to submit later this week.

Tuesday: While at school at the U, I get a message on my cell from the vice principal of Skyview asking me to call the principal of Kirlkand Junior High School about a job. During the conversation, which took place between classes, the principal told me about a full time science position they needed to fill ASAP and would I interview for it. I agreed and set the interview time for the following day after school.

Wednesday: I subbed all day at Skyview. Several of the faculty there were giving me advice about the school and the interview process; they were all tremendously supportive. My interview was at 3:30 with the principal, vice principal, administrative intern, and two science teachers. It was intimidating and challenging, but I felt I did my best, especially given the short amount of time to prepare.

Thursday: While in the first period class before school began I got a call from the principal offering me the position to begin on Monday. I told her I'd call her that afternoon with a descision. I went through the day waiting for some reason to not accept the job, but none came, so after school I returned her call and accepted the position.

In 70 hours (less than 3 days) I went from application to job offer. Needless to say, I've had to totally rethink and shift my plan for the rest of the year! The job will be from Monday until the end of the school year. There are many details I don't know yet, but will hopefully find out soon. I'm excited and nervous all at once, wanted to get started planning and wanted to have time to breathe before the torrents come.

Thank you to all who have been praying me through this, God has provided so far beyond anything I could have asked or hoped for. Unfortunatly I may seen some of you less than I do now (which itself might not be much), but know it's not because I'm ignoring you, but rather because I don't have time to breath. : ) There are many more details to the story that I'd be happy to share if you're interested, but this post is already long enough.