No, I’m not leaving my job as a web developer. I’m still working there. What I have done is applied and gotten a job as a part-time tutor at Sylvan Learning Center. I could use the extra money, especially with the holidays coming up, so I decided to take the job. I originally applied last April when I was working at a school but they didn’t call me until recently. I’ll tutor for a couple hours a night a few times a week. It will suck giving up my free time but it’s only for a couple hours and I could use the money. It will also feel good to help the kids and interacting with them, something I’ve missed since I started the web development job. They want to start me out on reading and math and then train me for accelerated reading, speed reading, and ACT prep. So, if I’m not around as much, that’s the reason why. I start my training tomorrow.
There are two things that are special about this post. First, it is my 600th post. I’ve been posting for four years now and it just amazes me that I’ve posted 599 posts before this. Thank you to all that read my site. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing. Second, it’s the last day of school. Now that the school year is (almost) over, let me sum up my thoughts.
ISS teachers have to have the toughest jobs (besides SpEd teachers). Besides dealing with the worst kids (behavioral-wise), you have to jump in where their regular teachers left off. When you’re dealing with three grades this makes it even more difficult.
Breaks are nice. During MAP testing I actually got a couple breaks. Other than that, I didn’t have a break all year long. I don’t even have a lunch break. I’m with the kids for 7 hours straight, from 7:15 until 2:15. I do believe I lost some sanity.
If silence is golden, I want platinum. Being in a setting as restrictive as this means no talking. I talk to explain homework to students one-on-one, but other than that, no talking. I’m someone who likes to develop a rapport with students. You can’t do that easily in this job. The silence really is deafening. What little sanity was left after not having any breaks, I lost due to the silence. Of course, once the school day was over you couldn’t get me to shut up. I feel bad for the other teachers.
I would never do this job again. It’s true. This job sucked so bad that I could not fathom doing it again. There are no breaks, dealing with the troublemakers everyday tends to kill your passion for teaching, and hearing one thing from district office about what I can and should do and something totally different from building administration tends to lead to a lot of gray area.
Luckily there were a few teachers who helped me keep my sanity over the year. These were the ones I shared many a happy hour with on Friday afternoons. For those wonderful people, I will forever be grateful.
So what is in store for me? Well, if you didn’t catch one of my previous posts, I’m going to go work for a company that creates, manages, and hosts websites for churches, organizations, and small businesses. It should be a fun time and I’m looking forward to the change in scenery.
So there you have it. It’s been a long year and I’m glad it is over. At the same time, looking back, though this year has been slow, it’s amazing to me that I’ve written 600 posts now. I hope you keep reading.
Today I turned in my letter of resignation. I will not be working for this school district next year. In fact, I won’t be working for any school district next year. I am leaving the education field to work for a website design company. I think it’s a great opportunity for me and I’m looking forward to hopping on board.
As I look back, I realize this school year passed relatively quickly. Yeah, during most of the year it seemed like the days crept by, after all, I do deal with the troublemakers. It has gone by fast though. Time is running out for next school year and next thing I know, school will be starting again. I needed to start looking elsewhere because of the lack of opportunity in the district and my desire to never do this job again, now was the perfect time to move on. Will I come back to education? Maybe some day down the line I’ll come back to the field, but for the immediate future I’m going to be putting all my time in energy into this new job.
I’m so looking forward to spring break. It begins on Friday. I need this break so much. I’m getting worn out by some of these kids. I look forward to staying up late, sleeping in, playing Super Smash Brothers on the Wii. I look forward to relaxing and catching up on some movies, friends, and sleep. Oh man, I’m looking forward to sleeping. They say you can’t play catch-up with sleep, but I’m sure going to try. After today, three more days this week until a week of pure bliss. I better enjoy it while it lasts though. MAP testing begins the Tuesday after we come back. Yay for standardized tests! (sarcasm)
At what point in your life do you develop common sense because it sure isn’t in middle school. Three things happened today, each with a different kid, that made me come to this conclusion and oddly enough they all happened at lunch time. Maybe low blood sugar is to blame.
The first incident is as we were leaving the room to grab our lunches a kid starts walking in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. Now, this is February 29th. This kid has been at this school all year. He knows where the cafeteria is. He’s even been in my class before. Yet for a moment he forgot where the cafeteria was.
The second was a kid getting his lunch. The choices today were pizza, ham and cheese sandwich, pasta, or fish sticks. This kid was dumbfounded by fish sticks. He looked at the lunch lady like she was an alien. He then asked her if they had chicken inside. Yes, they are called fish sticks because chicken is inside. Talk about a Jessica Simpson moment.
The last incident was a kid dropped his pasta all over the floor. He just stood there staring at it. He then asks what he should do and of course the answer was to clean it up. That confused him even more. When you drop something, you clean it up. Get some napkins and wipe up the mess, then go get another lunch.
Kids are funny. Days like these bring a smile to my face.