Musical Chairs

It's the Thursday before school starts, and I still haven't found a job. I feel like the music started playing, people scrambled for seats [mostly by hearing things word of mouth by people in "the know"], and I was left standing.

A glimmer of hope that didn't happen: On Tuesday I went to a school where a friend of mine finally got a job. It's a one year position teaching Kindergarten [bitch!] in this really small "arty" school. Half-heartly, I went to see her freak out while cleaning her new room. I helped her move some furniture, shared things that Miles did in his Kindergarten classroom that I think I will do when I get my own room, and slowly seethed with jealousy. The Principal of the school popped her head in to see how my friend was doing and I was introduced. "Oh, you're Eric Barbus. I was given your name as a suggestion for this Kindergarten position [!!!] but I couldn't find a phone number for you." You mean, I could've been in contention for this room that I'm now standing in, AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT?? Why didn't you contact the district?? They have my info?? Why didn't you look in the PHONEBOOK?? I'm in there!! Anyway, she then said, "Well, as of right now we have too many students on our roster, so we may reopen the classroom next door. It would be a Kindergarten/1st grade split class with 12-15 students. Bring your resume by and we'll consider you for the job. We should know by Friday if we'll need someone." I started freaking out. I wasn't all that thrilled at the prospect of having to set up a classroom in 2 days, or at having 2 different sets of kids to teach [Kinders are just learning letters and numbers while 1st graders are learning to read and add/subtract...], but it would be a job in a great school, NEXT DOOR to a good friend and fellow new teacher. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but of course I did. I stopped by the school yesterday to drop of my resume/letters of recommendation/etc. and was told by the Principal that she had just found out that they WEREN'T going to be openning that room, but may need to NEXT YEAR. Blah.

Today I got a call from a woman who apparently trains Principals. She said that she talked to the Principal from the above school, and had a couple of tips for me. One is a Site Support Sub job at a school nearby {I called them immediately and they took my name and number and said they would get back to me]. The other is a long-term sub job in a 1st Grade class at a school that I didn't have the best sub experience in, but would take anyway. Apparently, a teacher is going on maternity leave, and they want someone to take over. The downside? The job starts in JANUARY. When I called that school to inquire, the woman on the other end said, "Can I ask how you heard about this position?" I mentioned the name of the woman who told me about it and the woman on the phone said, "Wow. That's a GREAT recommendation!" So, apparently this tip woman has some clout in the district. I'm going to go down to the school tomorrow to drop off some paperwork. The more I think about it, the more I really want this job. First off, it's a 1st Grade. Perfect. Second, it wouldn't start until January. I figure that I could just sub here and there until Christmas break, while at the same time taking a couple of days here and there to visit the 1st Grade classroom, talking/planning with the teacher who is leaving, and getting to know the kids. Funny thing is that I subbed in a Kindergarten class at that school last year, and some/most/all of those kids could, then, be in this 1st Grade class now. I may have mentioned this at that time, but, there was a kid named "BOSS" in this class. No kidding.

I got a call from a friend this afternoon saying, "ALICE radio station is giving away tickets to the Now & Zen show in Golden Gate Park next month." I was so excited when I first heard about it: Morrissey and TEARS FOR FEARS together!! In Golden Gate Park!!! Dream show. I turned the radio on, heard them announce that they were giving tickets to the first caller who could tell them what Elvis's parents' names were [Gladys & Vernon, fyi], tried calling, and kept getting a busy signal. I thought, "Well, they are giving tickets away every hour all day. I'll take a break and tune in a little later." An hour later, my friend called again and screamed, "CALL NOW CALL NOW CALL NOW!" I hung up, dialed, it rang, and the DJ said, "Who is this?" I gave my name and she said that I WON TICKETS!! With everything she said, I tried to reply with a good soundbite because I knew that they would probably use some of that call on the radio. NO WAY! You are kidding me! I exclaimed. Morrissey and Tears For Fears are 2 of my absolute favorites! I wanted to get tickets for this show, but I'm totally broke, so this is wonderful! Wonderful wonderful wonderful! I'm a dork, BUT I WON TICKETS and got to HEAR MYSELF ON THE RADIO!! Now, I know EVERYONE says this, but I SO sound different when my voice is recorded.