So, I've been thinking I need to get the heck outta here this summer -- for the past couple weeks. I mean, I love Minnesota! Don't get me wrong. It's just -- huhhhmmm.....
I'm 26.
I'm single.
I've been in the same apt for 2 years.
I've NEVER gone to a new place by myself to live, (or even go to college, for that matter).
I'm sick of having my life just "happen" to me. I'm ready to actually start making decisions that will impact my quality of life.
So, here are some options I (and others) have come up with:
-Have an aunt who has a H U G E house in California. Could ask to stay with her for the summer and get a job.
-Know of a professor of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing in California. Could email her and ask if she has anything open for the summer, (office assistant; TA; research lab rat; etc.)
-Have a friend who has a friend with a job in Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Education in Hawaii. Could ask if there's any opportunities there.
-Have a former professor who spends 5-6 weeks in Slovakia (sp?) teaching English to kids there. Could see if she would take me along.
-Friends in many other places, (Boston, LA, Phoenix, Virginia, North Carolina) who would love to have me near by, working at a low-paying job, living on my own.
-Could just stay here and teach summer school, (or not), and work at the bar
So.....
What do you think?
What should I do?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
initial eval
So, here I am -- Monday at 10:55 am. No school today, thank you dead presidents.
I'm on the brink of finishing my first initial evaluation report of my career, (which is just part of the job -- but it's a HUGE part....), and realizing I am one of the worst kind of perfectionists ever.
I'm the procrastinator-perfectionist. absolute worst kind......
I want the work I do to be perfect. I'm actually quite fearful every time I have a bit of work to do, because I know it will not be perfect, (how could anything be perfect?). So -- for me -- it's easier to not start something, than to start it and have it not be perfect right from the get-go. It's just downhill as far as output, expectations, and motivation once you start and know it will never be perfect.
See what I mean? The worst kind....
Today I need to finish writing this initial evaluation on a student I spent hours upon hours testing. I have all the data. I have all the tests. I've started the eval. Now, all I need to do is finish it -- but I've saved the toughest parts for last, of course. And I find myself at this most familiar juncture: do I start early, (like now-ish) and get it done with, or do I agonize over it and put it off till after dinner tonight, and then have to stay up waaay to late finishing.
It seems obvious, doesn't it?
I wish the perfectionist-procrastinator in me would see the obvious answer as well.
slay the beast....
start now....
I'm on the brink of finishing my first initial evaluation report of my career, (which is just part of the job -- but it's a HUGE part....), and realizing I am one of the worst kind of perfectionists ever.
I'm the procrastinator-perfectionist. absolute worst kind......
I want the work I do to be perfect. I'm actually quite fearful every time I have a bit of work to do, because I know it will not be perfect, (how could anything be perfect?). So -- for me -- it's easier to not start something, than to start it and have it not be perfect right from the get-go. It's just downhill as far as output, expectations, and motivation once you start and know it will never be perfect.
See what I mean? The worst kind....
Today I need to finish writing this initial evaluation on a student I spent hours upon hours testing. I have all the data. I have all the tests. I've started the eval. Now, all I need to do is finish it -- but I've saved the toughest parts for last, of course. And I find myself at this most familiar juncture: do I start early, (like now-ish) and get it done with, or do I agonize over it and put it off till after dinner tonight, and then have to stay up waaay to late finishing.
It seems obvious, doesn't it?
I wish the perfectionist-procrastinator in me would see the obvious answer as well.
slay the beast....
start now....
Monday, January 12, 2009
Day One
First day as an itinerant is done!
And of course, the weather was.....awesome. :) Lots of snow, and blowing wind to make it a truly fantastic day.
I went from a high school on the north side, to an elementary school in the heart of downtown, up and down two major highways, and around a lake to get to an office where I don't even have a desk yet.
......I guess there's still work to be done!
Overall it was a good day. Much more low key than I anticipated. I think though, that ignorance is bliss and this is just the calm before the storm. (You never knew I had it in me to throw two cliche's into the same sentence...did you?)
We'll see what tomorrow brings!
And of course, the weather was.....awesome. :) Lots of snow, and blowing wind to make it a truly fantastic day.
I went from a high school on the north side, to an elementary school in the heart of downtown, up and down two major highways, and around a lake to get to an office where I don't even have a desk yet.
......I guess there's still work to be done!
Overall it was a good day. Much more low key than I anticipated. I think though, that ignorance is bliss and this is just the calm before the storm. (You never knew I had it in me to throw two cliche's into the same sentence...did you?)
We'll see what tomorrow brings!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
ch-ch-ch-changes
What can I say? It's been a while...
I have been working in a school serving students with hearing loss since September of this year. It's my first year in "the field" as people like to call it....and already I'm being asked to move.
Not because of anything I did! They love me at school, and are so bummed I'm leaving. However -- our enrollment is down, and kids keep moving, so one of the classrooms in our program is closing. And since I'm the youngest and newest teacher in the program, I get to move.
As of tomorrow morning at 8:00 am, I will no longer be a classroom D/HH teacher. No -- I've already spent countless hours packing up my classroom, preparing students for the transition to a new teacher, hauling borders and markers and posters and dixie cups in my small-ish Alero to my even smaller bedroom.... and now I'm on to the next phase: Life as an Itinerant.
The itinerant world is a complete 180 from the classroom world. In the classroom world, we have our students all day, we are the main source of information and instruction. The focus is on content, passing tests, strategies, and lots of contact time with students. In the itinerant world, we travel from school to school, serving one student at a time or small groups of students. We are not the main source of information and instruction for them....their classroom teachers are. The focus is on teaching kids to advocate for themselves, teaching the other adults who work with the child about hearing loss, certain portions of content, due process, and limited contact time with students.
Two completely different jobs under the same title. I'll keep you posted about how it goes, and which setting I find most preferable.
I have been working in a school serving students with hearing loss since September of this year. It's my first year in "the field" as people like to call it....and already I'm being asked to move.
Not because of anything I did! They love me at school, and are so bummed I'm leaving. However -- our enrollment is down, and kids keep moving, so one of the classrooms in our program is closing. And since I'm the youngest and newest teacher in the program, I get to move.
As of tomorrow morning at 8:00 am, I will no longer be a classroom D/HH teacher. No -- I've already spent countless hours packing up my classroom, preparing students for the transition to a new teacher, hauling borders and markers and posters and dixie cups in my small-ish Alero to my even smaller bedroom.... and now I'm on to the next phase: Life as an Itinerant.
The itinerant world is a complete 180 from the classroom world. In the classroom world, we have our students all day, we are the main source of information and instruction. The focus is on content, passing tests, strategies, and lots of contact time with students. In the itinerant world, we travel from school to school, serving one student at a time or small groups of students. We are not the main source of information and instruction for them....their classroom teachers are. The focus is on teaching kids to advocate for themselves, teaching the other adults who work with the child about hearing loss, certain portions of content, due process, and limited contact time with students.
Two completely different jobs under the same title. I'll keep you posted about how it goes, and which setting I find most preferable.
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