Things Are Starting to Pick Up Around Here

Right before Christmas, I interviewed for a long-term sub position (7th grade reading) at a local middle school. The district interviewer thought I was a perfect fit for the job and passed my name along to the principal of the middle school. I waited and waited to hear from him. Finally, he called and I interviewed last week. I am set to start March 9 for 8 weeks. In the meantime, I will sub as much as my schedule allows so I can get an idea of how the school operates. My first day as a sub was last week ... 7/8 Spanish. Considering that the last time I took Spanish I was in 7th grade, the day went smoothly. It was good to be back in the classroom! I was a little nervous at first, but the butterflies left as soon as the first students sauntered through the door. The last minute early morning phone call threw Mark and I for a loop, but we got everyone ready and out the door. Unfortunately, I had class that night so I saw the girls just briefly in the morning. I missed them terribly, but they didn't seem any worse for the wear.

I have an interview with another district in a couple of weeks, this one for a possible permanent position. I keep trolling the school web sites for job openings. The hiring season should start to heat up within the next couple of months. I'm a little concerned about how this crappy economy may effect my search. I keep reading about district's who are under a hiring freeze or who are considering cutting positions. If worse comes to worse, I can always sub next school year.

My second grad class starts pretty much the same time as my long-term sub assignment. Normally, this double-load wouldn't concern me, but I've seen the syllabus for the class and it's appears to be a heavy workload, especially for a 3-credit, 8-week course. We'll see. I'm committed to earning my master's so I'll figure out a way to get it all done and done well.

Lastly, I had a sobering realization about the girls the other night. Audrey wakes up yelling in the middle of the night several nights a week. All it takes to calm her down is a hug and some gentle words of reassurance. She goes right back to sleep. If Ruthie wakes up crying, it's because she's pitched Larry and Bob, her loveys, overboard. She, too, goes right back to sleep after Larry and Bob are back in her hands. Simple solutions. But I realized the other night, that some day I won't be able to solve their problems by handing them a lovey or hugging them. That makes me sad.