It’s been a while…but I’m still alive. I’ve been on an adventure. One I will not soon forget. It was called Student Teaching. Shudder….

I spent many weeks in a sixth grade classroom with an amazing bunch of kids and a super supportive mentor teacher. Many a night I stayed up past my bedtime stressing, grading, laminating and preparing for the next day/week. I did a lot of learning, growing and bluffing. That whole saying, “fake it til you make it”…yeah, that’s what I did. I think I made it…..

Although I have not received that coveted document in the mail that says I am officially done, aka diploma, I think I’m done. I had my last meeting tonight with my supervising teacher and fellow student teachers. There were a total of four of us….including the teacher. Much of my classes for the last year and a half have been online. It was fun to actually be in a room with other people and discuss what we had all been going through. For once, I was the one others were asking advice from and looking at in awe because I was a head of them all. Wait, that happens a lot. Anyway, I withstood the  urge to stand up and do a “neener neener dance” when I realized I was WAAAY ahead of the other two. How did that happen? Oh yeah, I decided it was taking too long, the assignments were to stupid, and that I wanted to not stress any more. It was also because I thought I got a job…..

A few weeks ago I was approached by a ‘professional’ at my school and offered a job teaching third grade at another campus. I thought long and hard before answering . Ten minutes. I spent the next few days tying up my teaching and getting the ‘official paperwork’ needed to be able to teach before I actually got my certification. This involved a trip to Phoenix, $60, and a few pep talks to myself about my abilities. After all MY ducks were in a row, the school informed me they had misplaced a few ‘ducks’ and I didn’t actually have the job. huh. Makes me question a few things I don’t want to go into, but I rolled with it.

I spent a few days observing and meeting teachers and thinking about the importance of communication and serendipity. I went back to my sixth graders and taught a bit more before finally finishing up. Again. It was fine actually. I loved teaching those kids…even when I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes and the ridiculousness of the grammar lessons I had to teach. Seriously? Social studies and science became my new best friends. The weird thing is that those were my least favorite subjects in school. I think I always had boring teachers that didn’t take the time to let me get my hands on learning. I am all about getting my hands into stuff. I came home with my hands died red more than once while teaching.

I’ve moved on from student teaching a have jumped into subbing head first. Substitute teaching is not what it was always portrayed as in ‘those shows.’ Nobody puts tacks on my chair, or pretends to change their name, or leaves huge frogs in my desk. It’s a bit disappointing as I think frogs are cool, but I’m learning to deal with it. So far I’ve subbed in sixth grade, fourth grade and kindergarten. Friday I will dive into second grade. It’s been a total blast. Kinder was…..not as tramatizing as one might think, but certainly not the grade I’d pick to teach first. I get along great with the kids but it is a huge amount of work.

Now that I’ve said all this, I’m fully expecting to be abused on Friday and offered a job teaching kindergarten. But honestly, it’s all good. Serendipity. I could cry and wail about my ‘stolen 3rd grade gig’, but I won’t. I know there is a plan out there for me. I don’t feel any stress to hurry and find a ‘job.’ It’ll come. Even if I just sub for the rest of this school year….that would be fine. Maybe I’ll have time to finish my book or write another. Maybe I’ll have time to clean my house or do laundry. Maybe I’ll landscape my back yard. Maybe, just maybe…..I’ll get some sleep or even read a book that isn’t ‘required.’ I don’t know….I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens. Until then….I’m going to bed. Cause I said so.

Photo credit: http://www.zazzle.com