Let's not get our hopes up TOO high yet, but...

I may have found a job.

It started on Saturday. Brian and I decided to splurge and go out for breakfast. MY idea was to go someplace dive-y and cheap, but Brian insisted on going to the Ebb Tide down the street where you can get a PLATE of bacon for $9 [no, the two of us didn't get the plate of bacon, but we probably would've if Jason had come along...]. So, we're sitting there eating and a woman approaches the table who happens to be a 3rd grade teacher at Bryant Elementary, where I did my student teaching with Miles. She asks me if I have a job, I tell her, "No, I'm just subbing right now," and she says, "Oh, well you should come by the school because we are now classified as a STAR school [an "underperforming school...] which means that we now get a full-time, on-site sub. We haven't been able to find anyone yet to fill this postition, so you should come by and talk to the new principal."

Story short, I went to Bryant afterschool on Monday, talked to the new principal, and it looks like it MAY be a done deal. Initially, the principal wanted me to come by on Wednesday [today] to figure things out, but he called yesterday [Tuesday] morning saying that one of the release subs [teacher was on-site, but taking kids out all day for testing] hadn't shown up, and asked if I could come in. I did go in, and was in the same classroom all day - actually, it was the classroom of the woman who told me about the job - and I went back today, too.

So far, things have been weird. It's odd because no one really seems to know what I'm doing there, or what I should be doing while I'm there. Obviously, yesterday I was just like a regular sub, taking over a classroom for the whole day, but, that's not INITIALLY what the principal said that I would be doing on a regular basis. He said that I would have a set schedule, providing planning time throughout the week - an hour here and there - for, primarily, the K-3 teachers. He said that teachers who were absent would still get subs for their rooms so that my schedule wouldn't be interrupted. Well, today he actually told me that that may be wrong. Apparently he spoke to someone "in the know" who said that I WOULD be the first person to take over if a teacher took the day off. Certainly, I'm hoping for the former scenario because I just can't take being a regular sub anymore - I really can't. Even yesterday, filling in at the last minute in a class all day at a school that I'm quite familiar with, was taxing. Today, I wasn't really given much direction at all. I did send some folders through inter-school mail that contained cummulative records of students who have moved on to 6th grade this year, and I opened some boxes of teaching materials which I then distributed to the proper teachers. Oh, and I got to go around to each room and photograph the 3 students in each class who were named "Student of the Month" for September. That was actually kind of fun, and a good way to see all of the classrooms and good number of the kids.

In addition, I took it upon myself to assist with playground supervision during morning and lunch recesses. My reason for doing this was somewhat selfish: I wanted a chance to interact with this year's 1st graders who I had in Miles' Kindergarten class last year. Mission accomplished. I was immediately bowled over and covered in kids as the classes came out for recess. The girl with autism [!!] was there - she instantly ran to me, rubbing my shirt tail, and didn't want to leave me when recess was over.

In the afternoon, I ended up doing something that, I guess, the principal has been doing the past few weeks. I got to read from Stuart Little to the two 2nd grade classes in the school library - 25 minutes with each class [while one class was with me, the other was outside having P.E. time]. It went pretty well, but there were a couple of kids in the first class who weren't giving me "attentive listening". My hope, certainly, is that once the kids at the school start seeing me around on a regular basis that they will realize that I am a "real" teacher and that they have to listen to me. The principal has already made it abundantly clear that he doesn't want students sent to his office for behavior problems. Translation: I shouldn't have to deal with your problem children - deal with it yourself.

So, I'm not 100% sure that I've got the job, but a woman told me afterschool today that I would be getting my "regular schedule" tomorrow. Until I sign a contract, I'm not celebrating. One of the issues with hiring me was that I'm not bilingual. There are two classes at each grade level - one Spanish-bilingual, the other ELD [English Language Development]. The principal said that HE doesn't want another Spanish-speaking teacher to work with the kids because they really should work on their English skills, but a lot of the bilingual teachers wanted a bilingual sub so that that person could do lessons in Spanish with the kids. It looks, though, that most of the teachers are behind having me there because I'm me. Maybe I'll have celebratory news tomorrow.

I think that this job would be cool because I would get to work with classes only for a short time, including working one-on-one with some kids, and I wouldn't really have to take the job home with me. This would be good if I do indeed to start a Library and Media Sciences program next Summer or Fall. I could still be the on-site sub at Bryant, and take classes at night - hopefully. Yesterday, I talked afterschool with a woman from my program who was hired at Bryant as the 4th/5th grade teacher. She said that she's not sure how much longer she can take the whole job. "I'm here 10 hours a day. I'm coming in on weekends. NO ONE has set foot in this classroom to see how I'm doing - I feel completely alone. I keep thinking about the last job that I had and how it was SO MUCH less stressful and time consuming, and I was making about the same money. In addition, I'm becoming a completely NEGATIVE person who now believes that every potential parent should have to go through an extensive psychological screening process and sign a waiver saying that they will be the absolute BEST parents that they can possibly be to their kids. I'm seriously thinking that I may go back to school and become a nurse. I went to a new teacher training thing a couple of weekends ago and they said that a good number of new teachers have already quit, and it's only the 6th week of school..." Ugh. Yeah, that Library Sciences program is looking pretty good. Bryant has a part-time librarian and I asked her today if we could sit down and talk sometime. Hopefully, I can get the word from her about how much demand there is for librarians these days.

Monday I subbed at a school in Chinatown, and it was the EASIEST sub day that I've had. I was there, primarily, to help this school get ready for CELDT [California English Language Development Test] testing. This meant that I sat there, in the office, bubbling in students' names on testing booklets all day. Boring, but very zen. And, it was a good, low-key gig seeing as I've been feeling a bit sick lately. Oh, actually, I did go into a Spanish-bilingual Kindergarten classroom for 45 minutes while the teacher got trained on the testing procedures. The kids sat there the entire time coloring and cutting out scarecrows. It was my job to walk around with the holepunch and a box of brass fasteners [aren't brass fasteners just the coolest things ever?] so that the scarecrow could move around a bit. I'm telling you, this Kindergarten class was SILENT the entire time I was in there. SILENT. So silent that it was, honestly, somewhat disturbing. I wanted to walk over to the CD player and put some music on just for some noise, but I didn't know if the teacher normally had them listen to music while working at their tables.

Last week I subbed at another school in Chinatown in a Chinese-bilingual Kindergarten class. Not much to really say about the experience except it was OK. A couple of kids kept coming up to me and saying things in Chinese, and I couldn't really do anything for them except pitifully say, "I don't know what you are asking of me. I'm sorry..." Oh, and a kid in this class had some of the most toxic flatulence I have EVER had to smell. Honestly, a couple of times during the day I would walk past him and gag, like the smell was so thick that you could almost cut it with a dull object.

From the "bummer" file: I was helping a friend move last week and, at some point while moving his boxspring and mattress, I LOST MY WATCH. I loved that watch - I'd had it for 8 years or so. It was so great because it was simple and easy to read: black strap; silver-trimed [no gold jewelry!] face, with large, black, serifed numbers on a white background. I've had to carry my cell phone, set to "SILENT", in my pocket so that I would have the time with me at all moments. This weekend's main task: to find a new Timex. I've looked at the Times website, and these are the two that I've got my eye on:

20501

28071

I've got to tell you, at this point I'm leaning toward the 28071 - I like the white stitching on the band, and it may be time to go all "topsy-turvy" and have white numbers on a black background.