Happy (belated) Valentine's Day everyone!!
I had a pretty good valentine's day. Mike got me this beautiful necklace. It has a purple stone inside a silver heart. It is gorgeous. He tried to be cute about giving it to me too. He at first said he forgot to get me one adn said he'd take me out to dinner to make up for it. So we went to this cute local Italian restaurant (which the wait to get seated for was really long). Then while we were waiting for the check he started throwing the napkins at me playing around. But one of them ended up having the necklace box in it so when he threw it at me the box rolled out of the napkin and into my hands!! He's so cute!!
We didn't get out of the restaurant until almost ten o'clock though since it was such a long wait and we also had to wait until 7:30ish till we could go to eat because we were tutoring kids before hand.
But it was a pretty good day. Although, it turned sucky really fast when I got the news that my friend with bain cancer passed away today. This world lost an amazing young man. Facebook was covered in messages to remember him.
Rest in Peace, Derrick.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Another Interview!!!
Well, this new cover letter I've been using seems to do the trick. I applied for another long term sub jub and heard back to schedule an interview.
I have a lot going for me for this one. First of all, it's in a grade I have a lot of experience in. Also, it is at a school district where I sub already so I'm familiar with the classroom management styles and the way the school runs. And finally, the school district uses a math program, Every Day Mathematics, that I have experience in using. So I went into the interview pretty confident.
I had the interview yesterday. It was kind of intense. They had six people in there interviewing me. They apparently are having an adminstration class and the students had to particiapte in an interview. I wasn't expecting so many questions about how I would assess things...I was expecting this like, "Why do you want to be a teacher?" or "What would you do if...." or other questions about classroom mangagement and questions about my background. But there weren't so many of those kinds of questions...a lot of ones about what kind of different teaching strategies I would use.
Also, even though I have experience using the everyday math program, the teacher I'd be taking over for (who, incidently, was one of the people interviewing me) is the language arts teacher. I didn't have as much experience in language arts as I did with math, but I think I did okay thinking on my feet.
Not so sure about how this will go. I didn't feel horrible about it like I did with the other one (which by the way, I didn't get), but I don't have that feeling of "Definitely aced that!" either....so I dunno...we'll have to see.
But these last couple interviews got me really fired up about my education. So much time was wasted on these stupid student work samples and electronic portfolios. No one has been the slightest bit interested in reading any of it. I brought my student work sample from student teaching to both of the interviews, but they said it wasn't necessary. What was the point of doing it then? I wish they would have spent more time on interview tips and etiquette which would actually have been useful. We could have had a whole class on job searching where we could have learned what should and shouldn't go into a cover letter, what interviewers are look for, but more importantly PRACTICE interviewing. They should definitely consider making that change at IUP. Maybe I should write a letter.
I have a lot going for me for this one. First of all, it's in a grade I have a lot of experience in. Also, it is at a school district where I sub already so I'm familiar with the classroom management styles and the way the school runs. And finally, the school district uses a math program, Every Day Mathematics, that I have experience in using. So I went into the interview pretty confident.
I had the interview yesterday. It was kind of intense. They had six people in there interviewing me. They apparently are having an adminstration class and the students had to particiapte in an interview. I wasn't expecting so many questions about how I would assess things...I was expecting this like, "Why do you want to be a teacher?" or "What would you do if...." or other questions about classroom mangagement and questions about my background. But there weren't so many of those kinds of questions...a lot of ones about what kind of different teaching strategies I would use.
Also, even though I have experience using the everyday math program, the teacher I'd be taking over for (who, incidently, was one of the people interviewing me) is the language arts teacher. I didn't have as much experience in language arts as I did with math, but I think I did okay thinking on my feet.
Not so sure about how this will go. I didn't feel horrible about it like I did with the other one (which by the way, I didn't get), but I don't have that feeling of "Definitely aced that!" either....so I dunno...we'll have to see.
But these last couple interviews got me really fired up about my education. So much time was wasted on these stupid student work samples and electronic portfolios. No one has been the slightest bit interested in reading any of it. I brought my student work sample from student teaching to both of the interviews, but they said it wasn't necessary. What was the point of doing it then? I wish they would have spent more time on interview tips and etiquette which would actually have been useful. We could have had a whole class on job searching where we could have learned what should and shouldn't go into a cover letter, what interviewers are look for, but more importantly PRACTICE interviewing. They should definitely consider making that change at IUP. Maybe I should write a letter.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Losing A Friend
One of my close friends has a younger brother whom we all grew up with. I mean we weren't extremely close to him, but close enough that we hung out with him once in a while. We went to school with him and obviously were really close to his sister. Well, her brother was diagnosed with brain cancer and had about 5 or 6 surgeries to remove the tumor. It always came back. Now, the cancer has spread through his entire brain. And so now he's pretty much on his last days of life right now. And it's really affecting me in a way that I never imagined.
Maybe it's because I keep thinking about "What if it were my brother..." and I keep thinking about what I would do. To be honest, I don't think I could make it without my brother. For 24 years, my brother has been my best friend....and for some of my life, he was my ONLY friend. Growing up, my brother was all I had. Making friends was always harder for me than it was for him, so I didn't really have too many...too many that lasted long anyway. I spent most of my time with him and his friends. If anything were to happen to him....my life would pretty much be over too. I don't think I could function without him.
But anyway, I keep thinking about how torn apart I would be without my brother and I imagine that is what life is going to be like for my friend from here on out. I don't know what this is going to do to her family, but I'm pretty sure it will tear them all apart. I don't mean apart from each other....I just mean apart in general. I think they are a lot more frail and fragile than they let people believe. And if I were to guess....I am thinking they'll keep to themselves afterward.
I went to see him today and I held his hand for awhile. I didn't know what else to do. He's not looking so good...and I'm not sure if he remembers me. His speech was very affected by the tumor...or the pain that I know he's in...or the exhaustion...or all of it. But anyway, I can't stop thinking about it. I had a HUGE pile of stuff to do at work tonight and this was the only thing I could focus on. I'm not sure why I'm having trouble dealing with it, but whatever it is, this dying thing just messes me up whenever I have to deal wtih losing someone I know no matter how close we were.
Anyway, I know there are not too many people I can talk about this with....except for the three people who follow my blog occassionally. So I thought I'd try and sort out my thoughts with a blog post while the feeling is still strong.
Maybe it's because I keep thinking about "What if it were my brother..." and I keep thinking about what I would do. To be honest, I don't think I could make it without my brother. For 24 years, my brother has been my best friend....and for some of my life, he was my ONLY friend. Growing up, my brother was all I had. Making friends was always harder for me than it was for him, so I didn't really have too many...too many that lasted long anyway. I spent most of my time with him and his friends. If anything were to happen to him....my life would pretty much be over too. I don't think I could function without him.
But anyway, I keep thinking about how torn apart I would be without my brother and I imagine that is what life is going to be like for my friend from here on out. I don't know what this is going to do to her family, but I'm pretty sure it will tear them all apart. I don't mean apart from each other....I just mean apart in general. I think they are a lot more frail and fragile than they let people believe. And if I were to guess....I am thinking they'll keep to themselves afterward.
I went to see him today and I held his hand for awhile. I didn't know what else to do. He's not looking so good...and I'm not sure if he remembers me. His speech was very affected by the tumor...or the pain that I know he's in...or the exhaustion...or all of it. But anyway, I can't stop thinking about it. I had a HUGE pile of stuff to do at work tonight and this was the only thing I could focus on. I'm not sure why I'm having trouble dealing with it, but whatever it is, this dying thing just messes me up whenever I have to deal wtih losing someone I know no matter how close we were.
Anyway, I know there are not too many people I can talk about this with....except for the three people who follow my blog occassionally. So I thought I'd try and sort out my thoughts with a blog post while the feeling is still strong.
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