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July 01, 2006
day 7
June 30, 2006
day 6
June 29, 2006
day 5
June 28, 2006
day 4
June 27, 2006
day 3

Listening to: Nas - I Can

My life is filled with highs and lows right now. Lets get the negative out of the way so I can end on a good note...

I miss Jim a lot, last night was especially hard. It's funny how you can go from two years apart to spending the last 43 days together and get used to that. Even on nights when he chooses to sleep on the floor I can still reach out and touch him, which I do. Maybe its because I have been having sleeping problems but every night I lie in bed, rubbing his back or touching his hair. So it was tough not being able to do that last night.

Also, as I posted today on the challenge site, I did not do well this past week. Jim and I went out a lot, which is nice in the sense that it's something to do, but damn. I need to get back on track. I really think I am going to start my diet blog.

On to the good stuff...

Going to the job fair this morning was a definite experience. First of all, anything that gets me up at 10 of 6 on a Saturday morning is noteworthy. Fortunately the Beltway God was nice to me and I cruised right into Maryland with no problems. Mapquest had logged my journey at 25 minutes so I gave myself an hour. Therefore, I got there at 7:30, half an hour early. Which was not so bad, because it gave me a head start. I was placed in the first group for elementary interviews, and was fifth in line. Woo!

The cafeteria was filled with principals sitting at tables. Most of them were alone (whew! I have not had a panel interview yet and the idea makes me want to barf) and the whole scenario seemed very non-threatening. The one thing that pissed me off is how my MA certification is brushed off like I got it from some late night TV commercial or something. If there are cracker jack crumbs it just means I had a snack, lady. Geez. :) Seriously though, it frustrates me because it is like, what did I go through all those tests and shit for?

Back to the fair...so there really was no system as far as what principal you sat with. I sat with this older African American woman who sent off serious Jewish grandma vibes. She was the most flamboyant, sweet person ever. I sit down, proceed to ramble a little about myself, and she asks me a few questions, more as conversation than as an interview. She looks over my resume and glances at my reference letters and proceeds to tell me about the school, while I fall in love.

Call me easy, but after my pre-practicum in the ghetto (seriously!), it doesn't take a lot to impress me. As long as it is not an open classroom (no walls), and there is sped support I am yours. She continues to court me anyway, with talk of her two (two? two! omg) computer labs, class size maxed at 25, mentors for first years, etc. I just hope I wasn't drooling. Somehow I managed to find my resolve and told her that I was definitely interested but I would need to come take a look see, you know, check out if Oz really exists. I will be making my trip on Tuesday. I had such a list of things I wanted to ask about that I couldn't even ask everything. I still have two important questions left: requirements regarding duties (do I have to do recess and/or lunch) and whether I can lock in the grade I want. She has two openings for 3rd, and one (which she qualified with a "maybe") for 4th. One thing she said that I did not like was that this year they are changing the hours, instead of starting at 9:30, they would be starting at 7:45 (wilts) I can see her position on this, in the winter it is like pitch dark when school lets out. But still. STARTS at 7:45. (grumble) God only knows how early I will be getting up.

So I signed a letter of intent, to lock in a spot for me in the county. Hee hee, that makes two spots open for me. I think it is safe to say that Baltimore is out of the question/running now. The more I think about it, I think the county I interviewed with on Thursday is out too. As safe as a prepackaged curriculum can be, how freaking boring is that? Besides, I haven't even heard from any principals yet. It did not sound promising, especially since I have not taken the ever important Praxis 2.

The heat is really on for me to take the test though. When I was reading over materials today I learned that me taking and passing the test would be worth over 7 grand to me. Fortunately the test is in September, so I can net that soon. :)

Back to the county I got the offer from today though...it really forced me to step up the rest of my efforts to snag anything else because new teachers start Aug 11, which is only about three weeks away. I had 8 districts on my list, and I was able to knock off three. I have an offer from one, so that leaves 4. The tough thing is that I think one is missing reference forms so I don't think I will get that done in time. So really, that's like 3. Meanwhile, I have an interview for a school nearby on Monday, so that will be interesting. So far the responses to my mass inquiry has been okay. A few have been filled, I have decided that 6th grade position is not worth it, and some declined because of the %$^&*(@$ Praxis. So there it is.

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