Quarter one is over, quarter two has begun, and slowly but surely I'm getting more and more on top of my role as a geometry and pre-calculus teacher. I ended quarter one by making a list of all the things I feel pressured to do; I slashed through some that I decided were not important enough to stress over, I prioritized the rest, and I am allowing myself to be (gasp) less than perfect. This has significantly lessened my stress level. I've been able to avoid bringing work home lately, and I've even been able to leave work by 5:00 pm every day for the past week - sometimes earlier! I'm getting into my groove and firming up a routine that is successfully keeping my head above water. And that means I'm going to school every morning without that awful knot in my stomach. I still struggle with anxiety, but it's lessening somewhat.
But it's amazing how reality never matches up to what I imagine things to be beforehand, and the same holds true for teaching high school math. I imagined I would have the energy and creativity to make lessons exciting and fun every day; instead, I hardly have energy to make it through the day doing the bare minimum. I imagined I would be able to develop meaningful relationships with my students; instead, my daily responsibilities keep me so busy that I feel too rushed to even think about getting to know my students very well. I imagined that being in front of groups of students every day would be an invigorating and fulfilling outlet for my expressive personality; instead, I find myself drained at being forced to do this every day, and some days I wish I could just hide at my desk. I imagined that I was on board with the new ideologies that are taking over education; instead, I realize now that I heartily disagree with many of these changes. I imagined that I wouldn't mind letting my evenings be consumed by grading papers and such; instead, I realize that if my job defines my life then my life is out of balance, and my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health suffers. I imagined that doing math all day every day would be tolerable; instead, I am kind of getting sick of math.
And I am trying not to think about whether or not I will continue teaching after this year. My present goal is to make it through quarter two. Thank God Thanksgiving break is just around the corner!
Friday, November 15, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Stress
We're about to close out our third week of school (has it really been only three weeks?), and I am home sick, coughing, sneezing, achy, and nearly voiceless. It's been a crazy busy and stressful three weeks, and I think my body is protesting all the stress.
For the most part, I like my new job... My colleagues are super supportive and friendly and just a fun bunch to be with every day. My students run the gamut from overachiever to total slacker, but I'm trying my best to make connections with them and develop a good rapport with each one. There are a few who have anxiety issues; I've been able to relate to and support them in a special way since I have had anxiety as well, and that's been a privilege.
But oh my goodness...... I sleep, eat, and drink math education. I wake up, immediately get ready for the day, and leave for work between 7:00 and 7:30. I drive 15 minutes to school. Before school begins at 9:00, I'm doing any number of a million different things teachers have to do. Then I have classes - each 90 minutes - 3 on A days and 2 on B days, plus other duties on B days. School ends at 3:48, but I'm typically there until 6:00 pm or so - sometimes later.
Then I come home, and I spend a few hours in the evening going over what I have to teach the next day. Then I go to bed; and when I get up the next morning, the cycle continues.
*sigh*
I know (well, hope) next year will be better, but oh my word, is this exhausting and stressful. I have to say, though, that week three has been better than week one in terms of my stress level. I am establishing my routine and my organization strategies, and now I feel like the water is only up to my neck instead of just below my nose. It's nice not to be drowning.
I have recently been to a naturopathic doctor who ordered a long list of blood tests for me which revealed that I'm severely anemic. (Thankfully, that's an easy fix.) They also revealed some other things that basically mean that I absolutely must de-stress and continue to exercise regularly if I want to stay healthy and disease-free. (Right. How am I supposed to fit regular exercise into my current schedule? Not sure about that one yet. We'll see.)
Jeff is wonderful throughout it all. He's supportive and understanding, even when his shirts aren't getting ironed as quickly as they used to. :) He's helping me clean and grocery shop on the weekends, and that's a huge help.
Next month we are moving to a bigger apartment in the same building we're in now - on the 18th floor this time. It's a two-bedroom, so we'll have a guest room for visitors. We've decided to sign a year lease on that apartment, and we're really looking forward to the settledness that will bring to our lives. Over the past couple of months we've been weighing purchasing vs. renting, and purchasing just hasn't seemed right to us for a number of reasons. Continuing to rent at the Reston Town Center, on the other hand, does seem right for now. It's a lower-stress lifestyle in that there is minimal upkeep, and we are able to just walk out our door and go out to eat, or shopping, or whatever. So we are going to try it for another year and see how it goes.
So that's our life in a nutshell right now... Thanks for visiting! :)
For the most part, I like my new job... My colleagues are super supportive and friendly and just a fun bunch to be with every day. My students run the gamut from overachiever to total slacker, but I'm trying my best to make connections with them and develop a good rapport with each one. There are a few who have anxiety issues; I've been able to relate to and support them in a special way since I have had anxiety as well, and that's been a privilege.
But oh my goodness...... I sleep, eat, and drink math education. I wake up, immediately get ready for the day, and leave for work between 7:00 and 7:30. I drive 15 minutes to school. Before school begins at 9:00, I'm doing any number of a million different things teachers have to do. Then I have classes - each 90 minutes - 3 on A days and 2 on B days, plus other duties on B days. School ends at 3:48, but I'm typically there until 6:00 pm or so - sometimes later.
Then I come home, and I spend a few hours in the evening going over what I have to teach the next day. Then I go to bed; and when I get up the next morning, the cycle continues.
*sigh*
I know (well, hope) next year will be better, but oh my word, is this exhausting and stressful. I have to say, though, that week three has been better than week one in terms of my stress level. I am establishing my routine and my organization strategies, and now I feel like the water is only up to my neck instead of just below my nose. It's nice not to be drowning.
I have recently been to a naturopathic doctor who ordered a long list of blood tests for me which revealed that I'm severely anemic. (Thankfully, that's an easy fix.) They also revealed some other things that basically mean that I absolutely must de-stress and continue to exercise regularly if I want to stay healthy and disease-free. (Right. How am I supposed to fit regular exercise into my current schedule? Not sure about that one yet. We'll see.)
Jeff is wonderful throughout it all. He's supportive and understanding, even when his shirts aren't getting ironed as quickly as they used to. :) He's helping me clean and grocery shop on the weekends, and that's a huge help.
Next month we are moving to a bigger apartment in the same building we're in now - on the 18th floor this time. It's a two-bedroom, so we'll have a guest room for visitors. We've decided to sign a year lease on that apartment, and we're really looking forward to the settledness that will bring to our lives. Over the past couple of months we've been weighing purchasing vs. renting, and purchasing just hasn't seemed right to us for a number of reasons. Continuing to rent at the Reston Town Center, on the other hand, does seem right for now. It's a lower-stress lifestyle in that there is minimal upkeep, and we are able to just walk out our door and go out to eat, or shopping, or whatever. So we are going to try it for another year and see how it goes.
So that's our life in a nutshell right now... Thanks for visiting! :)
Sunday, July 28, 2013
A Six Month Hiatus is Entirely Unacceptable
First, let me just say how sorry I am for having skipped SIX MONTHS on our blog!! The busy-ness of life as a teacher kept me from being regular with my posts, and by the time the summer came I was entirely out of the habit. I'm not sure how regular I'll be in the coming months, but I will try to be!
A quick summation of the last six months:
Jeff and I put our house on the market in February, it sold in May, at which point we had a five week window in which to find a place to move to, have a yard sale, sell other items on Craigslist, pack up, clean the house, and move! What a crazy, exhausting five weeks that was. We decided to rent for a while since we figured it wouldn't be too likely to be able to find a house we wanted and to close on it in five weeks. We chose a fun, temporary, crazy alternative to our 3400 square feet on 3.5 acres in the country: a high-rise 850-square-foot apartment! We are at the Reston Town Center which is a fantastic, urban planned community full of amazing restaurants, great shopping, and free, fun concerts on Saturday nights all summer long! Our apartment building has a beautiful workout facility and a roof top pool (which has amazing views) and other nice amenities. Jeff and I love the easy lifestyle here. We can take the elevator down and walk a block or two and find ourselves among all kinds of options of shops and super good places to eat. We LOVE being in where the action is. The countryside is beautiful, but we find we are well suited to the urban lifestyle. Last weekend we drove out to take a short trip on Skyline Drive, and I loved being out in nature and enjoying the unblemished beauty of what makes Virginia so gorgeous. But when it comes to day-to-day life, we like where we're at. Also, Jeff is much closer to his job here, which is a huge relief to him -- he hated that long drive. We signed a six month lease, which takes us through the end of the year. After that, we are considering our options... Continuing to rent here is one of them! :)
Earlier in the spring, before we received the offer on our home, Jeff received an impressive job offer as well, which left us agonizing for weeks over what was the right decision. The job would have taken us to Bucks County, PA, of all places (where I grew up and where Jeff lived as well back in the 90s); he would have worked in Newtown (at Lockheed Martin) and we probably would have lived in Doylestown. It really was a difficult decision for many reasons. The bottom line that we came to, though, was that if we moved to Pennsylvania, I wouldn't have been able to continue my teaching career. The reason for that is twofold: first, Pennsylvania is overloaded with teachers as it is and it's difficult for even regularly-certified teachers to find a job; second, Pennsylvania doesn't recognize my alternative-route license. I really feel called to teach, and there are other practical reasons why it seems wise for me to continue teaching. Besides that, we didn't really want to move to PA. We like Virginia. We weren't too eager to leave our life here. So we bit the bullet and turned down the offer, which was difficult; but we feel we made the right decision. Jeff has been so supportive of my new career and wants to see me excel in it. I love him for that. :)
So, speaking of my new career, I have found a full-time position to which I am transferring this coming year! This is fantastic for a few reasons.... The location is ideal. We moved just outside the other end of the county, far away from Blue Ridge Middle School which is where I was last year. My new school is a 15-minute drive away now -- perfect. Second, I'll be at Potomac Falls High School, and this is exciting to me because I feel like I may be more suited to working with high school students and because the rigor of the higher-level math classes will be more interesting to me. I'll be teaching two sections of Geometry and three sections of Pre-Calculus. And third, it's full-time instead of my part-time, every-other-day position at Blue Ridge. I am grateful for the part-time position I had at Blue Ridge last year because it allowed me a nice, lower-stress-than-usual transition into my new career (God knew what He was doing after all...), but I'm ready for a more consistent schedule and regular workload now. My official first day is August 14, and the first day of school is September 3. I'm preparing, though, and I'm feeling more and more confident!
So that's the run down. Below are a whole bunch of pictures so you can get a taste of what has been going on in our life. Enjoy! And thanks for visiting! :)
A quick summation of the last six months:
Jeff and I put our house on the market in February, it sold in May, at which point we had a five week window in which to find a place to move to, have a yard sale, sell other items on Craigslist, pack up, clean the house, and move! What a crazy, exhausting five weeks that was. We decided to rent for a while since we figured it wouldn't be too likely to be able to find a house we wanted and to close on it in five weeks. We chose a fun, temporary, crazy alternative to our 3400 square feet on 3.5 acres in the country: a high-rise 850-square-foot apartment! We are at the Reston Town Center which is a fantastic, urban planned community full of amazing restaurants, great shopping, and free, fun concerts on Saturday nights all summer long! Our apartment building has a beautiful workout facility and a roof top pool (which has amazing views) and other nice amenities. Jeff and I love the easy lifestyle here. We can take the elevator down and walk a block or two and find ourselves among all kinds of options of shops and super good places to eat. We LOVE being in where the action is. The countryside is beautiful, but we find we are well suited to the urban lifestyle. Last weekend we drove out to take a short trip on Skyline Drive, and I loved being out in nature and enjoying the unblemished beauty of what makes Virginia so gorgeous. But when it comes to day-to-day life, we like where we're at. Also, Jeff is much closer to his job here, which is a huge relief to him -- he hated that long drive. We signed a six month lease, which takes us through the end of the year. After that, we are considering our options... Continuing to rent here is one of them! :)
Earlier in the spring, before we received the offer on our home, Jeff received an impressive job offer as well, which left us agonizing for weeks over what was the right decision. The job would have taken us to Bucks County, PA, of all places (where I grew up and where Jeff lived as well back in the 90s); he would have worked in Newtown (at Lockheed Martin) and we probably would have lived in Doylestown. It really was a difficult decision for many reasons. The bottom line that we came to, though, was that if we moved to Pennsylvania, I wouldn't have been able to continue my teaching career. The reason for that is twofold: first, Pennsylvania is overloaded with teachers as it is and it's difficult for even regularly-certified teachers to find a job; second, Pennsylvania doesn't recognize my alternative-route license. I really feel called to teach, and there are other practical reasons why it seems wise for me to continue teaching. Besides that, we didn't really want to move to PA. We like Virginia. We weren't too eager to leave our life here. So we bit the bullet and turned down the offer, which was difficult; but we feel we made the right decision. Jeff has been so supportive of my new career and wants to see me excel in it. I love him for that. :)
So, speaking of my new career, I have found a full-time position to which I am transferring this coming year! This is fantastic for a few reasons.... The location is ideal. We moved just outside the other end of the county, far away from Blue Ridge Middle School which is where I was last year. My new school is a 15-minute drive away now -- perfect. Second, I'll be at Potomac Falls High School, and this is exciting to me because I feel like I may be more suited to working with high school students and because the rigor of the higher-level math classes will be more interesting to me. I'll be teaching two sections of Geometry and three sections of Pre-Calculus. And third, it's full-time instead of my part-time, every-other-day position at Blue Ridge. I am grateful for the part-time position I had at Blue Ridge last year because it allowed me a nice, lower-stress-than-usual transition into my new career (God knew what He was doing after all...), but I'm ready for a more consistent schedule and regular workload now. My official first day is August 14, and the first day of school is September 3. I'm preparing, though, and I'm feeling more and more confident!
So that's the run down. Below are a whole bunch of pictures so you can get a taste of what has been going on in our life. Enjoy! And thanks for visiting! :)
.JPG) |
| We visited the Beamers in Texas in February. Kallie kept asking for Jeff! She's the cutest. |
.JPG) |
| Wesley watching Pop Pop play his guitar |
 |
| Jeff and I visited Charleston over Spring Break. Despite the chilly weather that week, we greatly enjoyed Charleston's charm and beauty. |
 |
| Mary and Gray came for a visit and we all went to the Udvar Hazy Center - of the Air & Space Museum. Gray was a bit tired. :/ |
 |
| Precious |
 |
| More precious. I love my fun, joyful little Gray. |
 |
| Popcorn for my kids! We watched Moneyball the last few days of school. And yes, I made them answer questions and have discussions about how math has a big role to play in the world of sports! |
 |
| At the entrance to Doukenie Winery, one of our favorites in western Loudoun County. Here I was looking for a lens cap I had inadvertently left on the roof of the car as we drove off...... :) Thankfully I did find it. |
 |
| Golly, but is this man handsome |
 |
| at Crissy and Bryce's wedding! Oxford, PA |
 |
| Our foursome from back in the day... Love and miss these girls. |
  |
| Don't you love those eyes?!? And that smile!? This is Kiff's Wesley, who is turning one next month! |
 |
| Wesley and Pop Pop! |
 |
| Gray's Second Birthday Party! |
 |
| Sweetness |
 |
| More sweetness |
 |
| Sweetness overload |
 |
| Boxes, boxes... |
 |
| and more boxes... |
 |
| Goodbye, country home! |
 |
| Hello, urban living! The view from our balcony. We're on the 14th floor. |
 |
| And here's an inside shot of our little apartment -- "little" being the key word here. But we love it! The bedroom and bathroom are off the to the right. |
 |
| My little kitchen. But I love it! :) We've got a little office off to the left of the kitchen here. And that door you see on the left is our front door. |
 |
| Jeff on the little balcony. But.... go ahead and guess.... he loves it! :) |
 |
| Fourth of July fireworks viewed from our balcony. We could see a handful of fireworks displays across the horizon. Pretty cool. This was zoomed in; we were actually pretty far from them. |
 |
| Our rainy drive along the Blue Ridge last weekend... and some fun with the cam. The background in this pic is the Shenandoah Valley as seen from above on Skyline Drive. |
 |
| Ah... gorgeous. Also along Skyline Drive. |
 |
| Relaxing with some Starbucks one Saturday morning on a bench in the town center. |
 |
| Trip to the National Zoo in DC this past Friday. Jeff took a spontaneous day off. Love that. :) |
 |
| This poor guy kept sort of swaying his trunk and front feet side to side. It seemed like he was really unhappy. Zoos are fun, but at the same time they can be really sad places. |
 |
| Lioness |
 |
| So human-like |
 |
| Jeff was taking my picture, and then sha-ZAM, a big elephant sneaked up behind me to give me a kiss!! ;) |
 |
| My new school... Go Panthers!! |
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Math Teacher or English Teacher?
I am having a wonderful time as a teacher. Some days are better than others, but overall it's great to be using gifts that have been dormant for a long time. I love my students and feel privileged to have the opportunity to invest in their lives. One girl, for example, keeps saying, "I'm terrible at math!" to which I respond, every time, "The more you say that, the more it will be true!" Then I encourage her to tell herself that she can get better at math. She isn't quite convinced yet, but I'm working on her. :) Other students tell me that math lab is making a big difference in how they feel about their regular math class -- and that is half the battle. Making math fun for my students gives them more confidence that they can get better at it.
That said, I am not such a math fan! I can do it and I understand it and I can teach it, but it is not my passion. I am also certified in middle school and high school English, and, even though English teaching positions are not so easy to get, a possible opportunity is before me to become a high school English teacher. My instructional coach (assigned to me from the county because I'm a first-year teacher) has connections and said she is pretty sure she can pull some strings and get me an English position in a great high school on the other end of the county. (Since we hope to move this summer, we would aim for a house closer to that school than where we are now, which is where we would have gone anyway.) So... I plan to observe a high school English classroom over the next few weeks (next week, hopefully) and see if it might be a good fit for me. Pray for wisdom!
Not wanting to put all my eggs in one basket, especially since English teachers are plentiful in this area and math teachers are in demand, I still plan to get my high school math certification. I am scheduled to take the Praxis test on February 8. I just took a practice test today and did well enough to pass, but they say the real thing is more difficult, so we'll see! I've got three more weeks to study.
Aside from school, things are great! Jeff and I have been going to a Presbyterian church in Leesburg, and it's a great fit for us. Also, some huge news (to me) is that I have finally found the answer to my migraines. It's funny... In "modern medicine" they say there is no cure for migraines and that they don't know what causes them. Not even true. I've been going to see a QRA practitioner who discovered the underlying cause of my migraines and helped me through a natural process of detoxing and taking supplements. Not only am I migraine-free, I also can eat all those foods that triggered migraines before! It's so incredible to be able to eat chocolate again, and yogurt, and Parmesan cheese, etc... Big wow!!! More than 15 years of migraines... over!!! Yayyyyy and praise God!!
Posted with BlogsyMonday, November 12, 2012
Let's play catch-up
Let's see... What's new in Jeff and Sylvie's world? Well, first of all, we are officially empty nesters and we feel like we're rattling around in our house! It's nice to feel like newlyweds though. :) This is the first time in our married life when we have been alone! We get to see The kids including Kiff and Wesley for Thanksgiving though - they will be here along with some of my family (Mom, Grandmom, and the Granges). Dad will be in India, and the Schneiders opted to be alone this year. We will miss them! Especially because this is the one time of the year the Decker clan gets together! :(
Anyway, we also got a new dog!! This was a kind of whimsical thing we did. We had been talking about getting a dog, but we hadn't settled on what breed we'd get, etc. Then I happened to see one of my friends, Kamila, post on Facebook that she was looking for someone to adopt her Westie. She gave us a good deal... And he is adorable and white with curly hair - just what I had wanted - either white or black curly hair. So we thought about it for 2 or 3 days and said, "Okay, we'll take him!" We knew we were heading into the empty nest stage and thought it might be nice, for me especially, to have a dog to keep me company when I'm home alone. So here he is!
And Gray loves him! :)
Anyway, we also got a new dog!! This was a kind of whimsical thing we did. We had been talking about getting a dog, but we hadn't settled on what breed we'd get, etc. Then I happened to see one of my friends, Kamila, post on Facebook that she was looking for someone to adopt her Westie. She gave us a good deal... And he is adorable and white with curly hair - just what I had wanted - either white or black curly hair. So we thought about it for 2 or 3 days and said, "Okay, we'll take him!" We knew we were heading into the empty nest stage and thought it might be nice, for me especially, to have a dog to keep me company when I'm home alone. So here he is!
We decided to name him Rafa - this was my idea actually, because my favorite tennis player is Rafael Nadal (from Spain), but people call him Rafa. And I thought that would make a great dog's name! So our little dog is Rafa Case. :) He's 1 1/2 years old and really, really energetic sometimes; but he can also relax at our feet too. He doesn't always obey, but we're working on that!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
A Couple Reasons to Celebrate
First of all, we welcomed baby Wesley Adam Case to our lives on Monday, August 27! Kiff had been having contractions for three days -- yes, three days -- and was soooooo ready for him to come! We actually went in to the hospital late Saturday night, but she wasn't dilated enough so they sent us home. :( Then at 3 a.m. on Sunday, she came knocking on our door... "It's time!" So we all got up, quickly got ourselves together, and drove like mad to the birthing center! Her Aunt Alice was staying with us and was with Kiff the entire time. WHAT a blessing she was. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was extremely grateful to have her here. Having never had a baby myself, I didn't really know how to help or what to do... Alice just jumped in there and was beside Kiff the whole time! Kiff's friend Allison was there too. And Jeff and I were actually in the delivery room when Wesley came! I got a video of it (from a discrete angle) and pictures too, of course...
Kiff's first real chance to cuddle with her 6 lb 9 oz perfect baby boy
Congrats, Pop Pop!
Mommy and Wesley are soooooo tired...
Chilling on Pop Pop's lap
Kiff with her little buddy
In other news, I am recently employed! I am the newest staff member at Blue Ridge Middle School (in Purcellville - 10 minutes from my house - amazing) as their Math Lab Teacher and I am THRILLED to have this opportunity!! It is an amazing opportunity for me because Purcellville schools are much desired by teachers and difficult to get into. This position opened up after the school year began, and I was still available! They would have preferred that I be high school certified, but I will acquire that certification during this year and will be ready to go next year for a regular full-time teaching position. This position is part-time; I will be there every other day to work with 6th and 7th grade students who are struggling in their regular math class. Math scores on their SOLs (standardized tests) was dismally low this past year (which was expected because of a new test format) and they need extra help getting their kids up to speed and ready for higher levels of math. Yesterday was my first day. The staff is terrific and the kids are too! I am beyond grateful to be there. Working every other day will be ideal too because it eases me into the teaching profession and gives me time to take care of things at home. I know God had this orchestrated from the beginning and I am so grateful to see His hand at work in my life!!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Oh Goodness Gracious
It has been two months since I've posted anything on here!! My apologies... I just kind of got out of the habit. Well, let me update you all on some things....
Okay, so the first is that Kiff's baby is due in a week and a half - on Labor Day of all days. :) She is doing just fine. She's a little small (she really does not look 9 months pregnant) and hasn't gained as much weight as might be normal, I guess, but the doctors say there is nothing to worry about. Wesley will just be on the small side. So that's his name - Wesley Adam Case. Wesley is just cause she likes the name, and Adam is after her mom whose maiden name was Adams. She has had two baby showers (one here and one in NJ) and has nearly everything that she will need. She really has been blessed by so many generous people in her life. And I must say, watching her during this time has been really neat because I'm seeing her become so much more mature. She's making great decisions and is getting her little nest ready and is more responsible around the house... She's going to be a great mom. A month or so after Wesley makes his appearance is when they will move to NJ to live with Kiff's Aunt Alice (who is her mom's sister). She is also going to be Jeff's parents' caretakers. They just need someone to help transport Jeff's mom (who can't walk) and to cook and clean for them. This will be a source of income for Kiff (Jeff and I are paying her a stipend for this service) and a wonderful answer to prayer since Jeff's parents are at the point where they really need daily help. Plus they live within walking distance of Alice's house, so all in all it's a perfect fit. We are so grateful for God's leading in this and for his provision.
That leads me to a prayer request!! I had thought that I would be working as a full-time middle school math teacher this fall, from which Kiff's stipend would come. Things have not gone as planned, however...
Over the summer, after I had distributed my teaching portfolio and applied for all posted middle school math jobs, I found out why I wasn't getting any calls for interviews. Apparently, middle schools in Loudoun County prefer that their middle school math teachers have an additional Algebra endorsement - which I do not have. Algebra is being taught more and more in grades 7-8, and a regular old Middle School Math 6-8 endorsement just isn't enough in their eyes. The problem is that to gain this additional endorsement, I would need to take the Praxis test for math grades 6-12... which includes trigonometry, calculus, probability and statistics, linear algebra... all that higher end math that I either haven't ever studied or would need to study for a long time before I could pass that Praxis test. It simply wasn't going to happen by the beginning of this school year.
I finally was able to interview for a 6th grade position but did not get the job.
So. Basically, even though this program I've been in all but promised that I would get a math teaching job, I am stuck with a certification that is almost useless in this area of Virginia. It has been a lesson in the wonderfully efficient and sensible world of the public school system.
I have decided to become certified in English for grades 6-12 as well, which they say is a also critical need area. I am taking that Praxis test three weeks from today. I've already taken the practice test and passed it with flying colors, so I'm feeling confident about it. Unfortunately, however, the first day of school is on Monday, and all English teaching jobs have been filled. And although they say that jobs can open up even on into October, I would think the chances of that are pretty slim.
The bottom line right now is that I kind of need to find a job; it would just really help with our financial obligations right now. I did apply for a study hall monitor position at a middle school in Ashburn. That would get my foot in the door and provide an opportunity to familiarize myself with the school system without actually being a contracted teacher; but I honestly don't know what my chances are of getting even that. I'm discouraged but trying to keep my chin up. (And yes, I realize that I just ended a sentence with a preposition. Don't worry... I won't do that on the exam.) :)
I know God will provide.
Oh, one more thing: our house. We had put it on the market in late May, and although we've had a lot of traffic, we haven't received any offers. Lately traffic has really dropped off. (Oops... another preposition at the end of a sentence.) We are probably going to take it a month at a time; then, come November, if it's not sold we'll likely take it off the market and maybe try again in the spring.
Okay, so the first is that Kiff's baby is due in a week and a half - on Labor Day of all days. :) She is doing just fine. She's a little small (she really does not look 9 months pregnant) and hasn't gained as much weight as might be normal, I guess, but the doctors say there is nothing to worry about. Wesley will just be on the small side. So that's his name - Wesley Adam Case. Wesley is just cause she likes the name, and Adam is after her mom whose maiden name was Adams. She has had two baby showers (one here and one in NJ) and has nearly everything that she will need. She really has been blessed by so many generous people in her life. And I must say, watching her during this time has been really neat because I'm seeing her become so much more mature. She's making great decisions and is getting her little nest ready and is more responsible around the house... She's going to be a great mom. A month or so after Wesley makes his appearance is when they will move to NJ to live with Kiff's Aunt Alice (who is her mom's sister). She is also going to be Jeff's parents' caretakers. They just need someone to help transport Jeff's mom (who can't walk) and to cook and clean for them. This will be a source of income for Kiff (Jeff and I are paying her a stipend for this service) and a wonderful answer to prayer since Jeff's parents are at the point where they really need daily help. Plus they live within walking distance of Alice's house, so all in all it's a perfect fit. We are so grateful for God's leading in this and for his provision.
That leads me to a prayer request!! I had thought that I would be working as a full-time middle school math teacher this fall, from which Kiff's stipend would come. Things have not gone as planned, however...
Over the summer, after I had distributed my teaching portfolio and applied for all posted middle school math jobs, I found out why I wasn't getting any calls for interviews. Apparently, middle schools in Loudoun County prefer that their middle school math teachers have an additional Algebra endorsement - which I do not have. Algebra is being taught more and more in grades 7-8, and a regular old Middle School Math 6-8 endorsement just isn't enough in their eyes. The problem is that to gain this additional endorsement, I would need to take the Praxis test for math grades 6-12... which includes trigonometry, calculus, probability and statistics, linear algebra... all that higher end math that I either haven't ever studied or would need to study for a long time before I could pass that Praxis test. It simply wasn't going to happen by the beginning of this school year.
I finally was able to interview for a 6th grade position but did not get the job.
So. Basically, even though this program I've been in all but promised that I would get a math teaching job, I am stuck with a certification that is almost useless in this area of Virginia. It has been a lesson in the wonderfully efficient and sensible world of the public school system.
I have decided to become certified in English for grades 6-12 as well, which they say is a also critical need area. I am taking that Praxis test three weeks from today. I've already taken the practice test and passed it with flying colors, so I'm feeling confident about it. Unfortunately, however, the first day of school is on Monday, and all English teaching jobs have been filled. And although they say that jobs can open up even on into October, I would think the chances of that are pretty slim.
The bottom line right now is that I kind of need to find a job; it would just really help with our financial obligations right now. I did apply for a study hall monitor position at a middle school in Ashburn. That would get my foot in the door and provide an opportunity to familiarize myself with the school system without actually being a contracted teacher; but I honestly don't know what my chances are of getting even that. I'm discouraged but trying to keep my chin up. (And yes, I realize that I just ended a sentence with a preposition. Don't worry... I won't do that on the exam.) :)
I know God will provide.
Oh, one more thing: our house. We had put it on the market in late May, and although we've had a lot of traffic, we haven't received any offers. Lately traffic has really dropped off. (Oops... another preposition at the end of a sentence.) We are probably going to take it a month at a time; then, come November, if it's not sold we'll likely take it off the market and maybe try again in the spring.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)