there are reasons i don't go to bed early on a work night like most people -- waking up at sometime after midnight but before six is one of them. and last night, no matter how much i needed to crash when i did, was no exception. i woke up at 12:30, it's almost 2 now. i should be in bed sleeping -- i do have to be up at 6:45. instead, i'm awake. groggy, but awake. i just hope i can get back to sleep when i go back to bed in about a half hour or so.
if not, i suppose i can read another book to keep me awake all night. :P
i seriously planned to write an entry last weekend. heck, i had planned to write before that, but there really wasn't much to say. the first week of school was quiet for me, which wasn't unexpected. i used the time to unwind from summer and to write. everything got settled from the mess with taz's transfer into his new school and he's been doing well. we're still seeing more twitchiness here at home, but the attitude has chilled quite a bit. we've still got a few "restlessness" concerns, but he's sleeping at night again and the tantrums have stopped. i think what's left may be adolescence coming on, with a touch of the adhd issues needing a new approach. froggy has done very well at the new school, despite my concerns about ehr beign there. so far anyway. her previous teachers have done a good job of getting her where she needs to be, and her grades so far are excellent. even if part of that is because the school has on shakey ground in terms of education level, i think she needed the successes. there's an interesting boost of confidence happening there that i hope sticks with her. maybe she can get back on track and into the gifted program (which is where she should be).
and in the quiet, i did a lot of sleeping, a lot of writing, and just kicked back. it was nice, and i think really needed.
the etheridge concert was good -- i enjoyed the music and the way she conversed with the crowd like they were old friends and we were all sitting in her living room just talking. i did think her emphases on politics went into overkill, but i think i had heard before that she tended to do that. and, really, it was no surprise anyway, all things considered. she did have some beautiful songs i hadn't heard before, and, of course, her hits -- they pretty much made the concert a good one for me. i don't think we'll do an open venue concert again any time soon, though. it sprinkled frequently through the evening and i did end up with a mild cold by the weekend. there was one moment though that was gorgeous. the sky had been rather gray, but right around sun down it lightened all of a sudden as the sunset covered the sky in an orange and pink sherbet glow. really, it was absolutely gorgeous. made me wish we had a camera that was worth a damn.
monday of this week i got called for a 2 week position at froggy's old school and i took it even though it's in a second language class. i needed the work and my phone has yet to be ringing off the hook. i am getting a sprinkling of bookings from the teachers i know at this school -- one even complimented be by saying she didn't really like being out of her classroom unless she knew i was in there taking care of things. considering the way the district has treated me in terms of employment, that made me feel good. for the esol class, i'm not planning, per se, but i have been trying to modify the plans so the kids aren't stuck doing nothing but desk work. the kids are advanced speakers, so the problems i've had in esol classes in the past haven't been apparent. still, i've found going back to work a lot more exhausting than i expected, and i haven't been doing much else, except maybe sleeping. i manage to read a litle on most days, but i'm not doing much in the way of writing or anything else. i graded some papers, but probably won't grade much since it's a second language class and i'm lost when it comes to making the necessary adjustments for them. this is good though -- it means i'm not bringing my work home with me the way i usually do when i'm in a class for longer than a day or two. even so, it keeps my busy literally all day, and wipes out my evenings by wiping me out.
not that i'm sure i really want to go that extra mile for the district much any more anyway. 1400 teachers hired last year, 1200 hired this year and i didn't even get called for one interview. one principle told me he had language arts openings coming up; a few months later, he suddenly didn't. i can almost forgive him -- i'm on their sub list but wasn't called to the school all that often (that may have been because of the monopoly that 3 or 4 other schools seemed to manage to make on my time . . . ). i'm pretty irritated. i'm great to call for the worst classrooms in the district for subbing, long or short, but i'm not good enough to even call for an interview. i don't who i managed to piss off, but i'm getting sick of it. apparently i'm not the only one they've done this kind of crap to, but i've been jumping through their hoops for 2 years now. i'm tired of it.
i've been planning to go back to school. i was originally going to go once i had a job to get my sertification finished. now? screw that. then i was going to go and either major in math or science to increase my desirability as a job candidate, but i'm not really interested in either. and, really, why bother? if i could be guarenteed a job, maybe i'd do that, but if i'm going to put more time in school without a job waiting for me at the end of it, it's going to be in what i want to do. saxy and i have kicked this around quite a bit since the consolidation came through, but i've been hemming on hawing on what to do: certificate or new subject degree. after seeing all the new faces at the school i'm subbing in, and thinking about how frustrated i've been with the district, i began to lean back to getting my masters in writing. then one of the other teachers told me that a masters, even if it's not in education, might actually help me get certified anyway.
so, it's official. this winter, i'm applying for loans and trying to get into the masters program i've been thinking about for a long time. in the mean time, i'll keep subbing since that will work best with my schedule for the school. if i get ofered a job, i don't think there's any way i could really turn it down and then i'd reconsider the certification, but, at this point, i highly doubt any such offer will come. once i complete the masters, i would probably update my resume again and get back out, but i'd also look into possible college positions. apparently there are at least 2 universities/colleges out here that are always looking for writing teachers.
either way, it's time for me to get out of the holding pattern i've been in and move on. i'll be busier than i am now, but at least i'll be busy with something i really want to do.
word of the moment: creativity
imaginative ability: the ability to use the imagination to develop new and original ideas or things, especially in an artistic context