So amidst all this excitement about iTech, I had also applied for summer school. It's 3 weeks of my time, awesome pay, and the job is pretty low stress! Can't ask for a better summer gig to be honest.
Each year, I apply to be a coach, that is like a teacher leader, helping to organize and orchestrate things from the curricular side, and every year I get the same email response. "Thanks for your interest in the coaching response, but you weren't selected" immediately followed by an email offering me a teaching position. I gladly accept, although I am always bummed that they won't let me try to be a coach. (Usually these positions are filled by people that have been coaches in the district during the school year, and I have not).
So imagine my surprise when this year, I applied just like I always do for the coaching position... and I was offered it!!!
Now I know I'm excited, things are clearly going my way, I am finding my way into some great positions to help my career along! But there may be a problem....
With my acceptance of the iTech position, comes the responsiblity to attend traings to prepare for this job, and the coaching position also requires training and of course attendance at summer school...
So now, I am waiting to hear about dates to see if they are conflicting....
If they aren't, I will be one busy girl this summer, but we just might make enough to put a big ol' hole in that student loan....
Monday, April 30, 2012
All the Juicy Details
So I finally connected with my new boss today via phone and she gave me some details about just what I have signed myself up for....
I will be teaching at the middle school (housed at Jim Parsley Center) and I have the luxury of being the only staff member that gets to stay just at the middle school location. All the other staff members must travel between the middle school and high school location (ok, so we're one school, but until we get a school site, we have two locations, with the high school being up at WSU-V).
However, with the luxury of being 'homebound' comes the responsibility of filling in LOTS of curricular holes. I thought moving into middle school, I might teach one or two subjects... Nope, I will be teaching 7 different subjects! (I think, awaiting confirmation of my list, because I seem to be missing something). I get the regular subjects like science, math, English/Language arts, but I also get a section of Health/PE and I will also teach an Elective. In conversations with my boss, it seems like we have A LOT of freedom of choice and how this will be designed.
I am SOOO excited about this opportunity. I can't wait to see who else I am working with. I have a lot of creative ideas, but I know I have a lot of learning to do also, since I haven't taught middle school before. I also am gathering that I am working with people that have specific subject endorsements and are way more 'experty' in their field. I have a lot of content to learn as well, I am sure!
Can't wait to get this started!
I will be teaching at the middle school (housed at Jim Parsley Center) and I have the luxury of being the only staff member that gets to stay just at the middle school location. All the other staff members must travel between the middle school and high school location (ok, so we're one school, but until we get a school site, we have two locations, with the high school being up at WSU-V).
However, with the luxury of being 'homebound' comes the responsibility of filling in LOTS of curricular holes. I thought moving into middle school, I might teach one or two subjects... Nope, I will be teaching 7 different subjects! (I think, awaiting confirmation of my list, because I seem to be missing something). I get the regular subjects like science, math, English/Language arts, but I also get a section of Health/PE and I will also teach an Elective. In conversations with my boss, it seems like we have A LOT of freedom of choice and how this will be designed.
I am SOOO excited about this opportunity. I can't wait to see who else I am working with. I have a lot of creative ideas, but I know I have a lot of learning to do also, since I haven't taught middle school before. I also am gathering that I am working with people that have specific subject endorsements and are way more 'experty' in their field. I have a lot of content to learn as well, I am sure!
Can't wait to get this started!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The Job Offer
Well finally on April 25th, I was called by HR and offered the iTech middle school position! I say finally because it seemed like forever to me but really I wasn't expecting to hear anything until May 1st because that is what I had been told.
I love that HR called my school phone, and they were put through. I had the pleasure of having that conversation in front of my precious 31 students. They were really proud of me though and silently cheered me on while I was on the phone. It was pretty priceless.
Now what did I sign up for? Who knows, a new job, a new adventure, and the rest... well details to come?
I love that HR called my school phone, and they were put through. I had the pleasure of having that conversation in front of my precious 31 students. They were really proud of me though and silently cheered me on while I was on the phone. It was pretty priceless.
Now what did I sign up for? Who knows, a new job, a new adventure, and the rest... well details to come?
Friday, April 20, 2012
Peyton 3-7 months
Weight- 11-15 lbs
Hair- slowly but surely more of that fine red hair is coming in. You lost some on the back of your head, but that is filling in as well
Clothes- Mostly you spent your time in 3-6 month clothes. Again, jammies get bumped up to the next size first. Among the favorites... an Old Navy onsie and pants with a birdie in tans and salmon color from Grandma Caldwell, your very own UW Husky cheerleading outfit, and a super cute Very Hungry Caterpillar shirt and pant set. After you turned 6 months we transitioned you into the 6-9 month clothing set. Can't believe that you are so petite! Even as I write this now (you're 8 months) you can still fit in the 3-6 month pants and you crawl right out of some of your 6 month pants. Daddy even took pictures :)
Teeth- none yet
New Skills- It was a very exciting time during these few months. You mastered rolling over. You never really did the end over end rolling like some kids do to get where they want, but you would roll from front to back and back to front. You also got really good at sitting up. It was about the beginning of April that you were finally getting the hang of this. At first you would sit fine for awhile, then suddenly flop over (thank goodness for the boppy to hold you up). It was nice once you could sit up, you would enjoy playing more on the floor with toys. It was toward the tale end of this time frame that you really worked on scooting around. I will use the term crawling loosely. You army crawl using your arms and legs but with your belly on the floor. At first you could just crawl places, but once you got there you were angry that you couldn't get up and do anything. (Now at 8 months, you've gotten past that too)
Foods- Still boob juice, but we also introduced solid foods in this time frame. First we used a 'fresh food feeder' and would stick things like bananas or strawberries in this. It's like a mesh bag that you can suck on and get the flavor and smushed up food without worry of choking. Then eventually we busted out the rice cereal. Not super exciting, kind of runny and blah! Then we started an all out mixing event (I know, your mom mixing food for you, that she wouldn't dare do for herself!) You were getting things like pea/mango/rice cereal or green bean/pear/rice cereal. You were eating it all up, but we got er... a little... uh backed up... It was so sad to see you in so much pain gettin' out a poo, and because we had given you so many things, it was hard to know the cause (no wonder they say to introduce foods one at a time for like three days...) So we really backed off a lot of the fruits and stopped mixing up your foods. You love to sit in your high chair and get food. Your a relatively clean eater right now since we mostly feed you. You really like all fruits, but you're not excited about the green veggies by themselves. We also give you a lot of prunes to keep things going, and thankfully, you like those too.
Favorite moments- During this time... I loved watching you learn to use your voice. No real distinctive talking skills persay but you like to make noise and bubbles. I also love watching you try new foods. You make some of the funniest faces I have ever seen! Your cute little giggle is adorable, and I love that you 'talk' to Boo the kitty. Your face lights up whenever you see her, and you start coughing at her. freakin' adorable!
Least Favorite moment- I went back to work at the beginning of January. If you asked me in December, of course I was sad to go back to work, but I was also ready to get back to it. I can remember that drive in though on the first day... it was tough! Thankfully, I really do LOVE my job and I know you're home with daddy so that makes it way easier. I also hate pumping... Because I have been back at work, I obviously have to pump in order to get you your food. I have a definitely love/hate relationship with this.. I love that you are getting nourishment that you need to grow and that it's free (formula is stinkin' expensive!) I HATE that it takes so much time. It's super lonely pumping... Also, I stress out about pumping way too much. Am I going to have enough, will you get what you need, what if I don't have time, etc. I don't like that this is one of my biggest concerns. Going into spring break, I was WAY low on my supply and thankfully I worked really hard during spring break to get some stock built back up for the freezer, but I don't like this game...
Anything else? I am still so thankful to have Chris stay at home with you during the day. I don't have to wake you up and ship you off to some stranger, I know that you are at home bonding with daddy and you will both cherish this time together. He is a great man to do this for our family and for that I am extremely thankful!
Hair- slowly but surely more of that fine red hair is coming in. You lost some on the back of your head, but that is filling in as well
Clothes- Mostly you spent your time in 3-6 month clothes. Again, jammies get bumped up to the next size first. Among the favorites... an Old Navy onsie and pants with a birdie in tans and salmon color from Grandma Caldwell, your very own UW Husky cheerleading outfit, and a super cute Very Hungry Caterpillar shirt and pant set. After you turned 6 months we transitioned you into the 6-9 month clothing set. Can't believe that you are so petite! Even as I write this now (you're 8 months) you can still fit in the 3-6 month pants and you crawl right out of some of your 6 month pants. Daddy even took pictures :)
Teeth- none yet
New Skills- It was a very exciting time during these few months. You mastered rolling over. You never really did the end over end rolling like some kids do to get where they want, but you would roll from front to back and back to front. You also got really good at sitting up. It was about the beginning of April that you were finally getting the hang of this. At first you would sit fine for awhile, then suddenly flop over (thank goodness for the boppy to hold you up). It was nice once you could sit up, you would enjoy playing more on the floor with toys. It was toward the tale end of this time frame that you really worked on scooting around. I will use the term crawling loosely. You army crawl using your arms and legs but with your belly on the floor. At first you could just crawl places, but once you got there you were angry that you couldn't get up and do anything. (Now at 8 months, you've gotten past that too)
Foods- Still boob juice, but we also introduced solid foods in this time frame. First we used a 'fresh food feeder' and would stick things like bananas or strawberries in this. It's like a mesh bag that you can suck on and get the flavor and smushed up food without worry of choking. Then eventually we busted out the rice cereal. Not super exciting, kind of runny and blah! Then we started an all out mixing event (I know, your mom mixing food for you, that she wouldn't dare do for herself!) You were getting things like pea/mango/rice cereal or green bean/pear/rice cereal. You were eating it all up, but we got er... a little... uh backed up... It was so sad to see you in so much pain gettin' out a poo, and because we had given you so many things, it was hard to know the cause (no wonder they say to introduce foods one at a time for like three days...) So we really backed off a lot of the fruits and stopped mixing up your foods. You love to sit in your high chair and get food. Your a relatively clean eater right now since we mostly feed you. You really like all fruits, but you're not excited about the green veggies by themselves. We also give you a lot of prunes to keep things going, and thankfully, you like those too.
Favorite moments- During this time... I loved watching you learn to use your voice. No real distinctive talking skills persay but you like to make noise and bubbles. I also love watching you try new foods. You make some of the funniest faces I have ever seen! Your cute little giggle is adorable, and I love that you 'talk' to Boo the kitty. Your face lights up whenever you see her, and you start coughing at her. freakin' adorable!
Least Favorite moment- I went back to work at the beginning of January. If you asked me in December, of course I was sad to go back to work, but I was also ready to get back to it. I can remember that drive in though on the first day... it was tough! Thankfully, I really do LOVE my job and I know you're home with daddy so that makes it way easier. I also hate pumping... Because I have been back at work, I obviously have to pump in order to get you your food. I have a definitely love/hate relationship with this.. I love that you are getting nourishment that you need to grow and that it's free (formula is stinkin' expensive!) I HATE that it takes so much time. It's super lonely pumping... Also, I stress out about pumping way too much. Am I going to have enough, will you get what you need, what if I don't have time, etc. I don't like that this is one of my biggest concerns. Going into spring break, I was WAY low on my supply and thankfully I worked really hard during spring break to get some stock built back up for the freezer, but I don't like this game...
Anything else? I am still so thankful to have Chris stay at home with you during the day. I don't have to wake you up and ship you off to some stranger, I know that you are at home bonding with daddy and you will both cherish this time together. He is a great man to do this for our family and for that I am extremely thankful!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Movin' on Up
It is one of my aspirations to become a school principal, or do some sort of educational administrative work. Knowing that is one of my goals, I knew that I needed to work on getting out into other schools to gain some experience in different school settings. So alas, this year I put myself on the PIR (our district's way of changing school settings for current employees). I decided that I would try my hand at middle school. So I signed up to teach at three different middle schools and as it turns out I am qualified to teach many subjects at the middle level (who knew!) Then the waiting began.... wait and wait and wait to hear which principal has a spot for me...
In the mean time, I had been hearing about this new school our district was opening, a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) focused school. Now it is called Vancouver iTech Preparatory. So, slowly but surely information was coming out about that school. They would eventually become a 6-12 school, but were opening with grades 6-7 and 9-10. I thought... this could be good, heck I will apply. When the application and job description came out in March, I worked very hard on my cover letter and resume. Debra helped to be sure it covered all my finer points, and off it went. About a week later, I was emailed saying I had an interview! Wow, that was something in and of itself! Lowly elementary teacher being given a shot at middle school!
So I had about 2 weeks before the interview because of spring break. This allowed me to finesse all my ideas into some coherent thought. I bought a new button up shirt and suit jacket. I walked in there as prepared as I could, and off it went.
The interview was pretty intense with many very wordy questions. I was taking notes as they asked them, so that I could be sure to answer all parts of the question. I was interviewed by three women, one being my future boss, a current middle school principal, and a district curriculum rep. I thought the interview went really well. I couldn't have left happier! I knew that even if I didn't get the job, I had done the best I could.
Of course after all is said and done, you OF COURSE think of other 'better' examples of this or that, but still, I knew it had gone well.
Now more waiting....
In the mean time, I had been hearing about this new school our district was opening, a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) focused school. Now it is called Vancouver iTech Preparatory. So, slowly but surely information was coming out about that school. They would eventually become a 6-12 school, but were opening with grades 6-7 and 9-10. I thought... this could be good, heck I will apply. When the application and job description came out in March, I worked very hard on my cover letter and resume. Debra helped to be sure it covered all my finer points, and off it went. About a week later, I was emailed saying I had an interview! Wow, that was something in and of itself! Lowly elementary teacher being given a shot at middle school!
So I had about 2 weeks before the interview because of spring break. This allowed me to finesse all my ideas into some coherent thought. I bought a new button up shirt and suit jacket. I walked in there as prepared as I could, and off it went.
The interview was pretty intense with many very wordy questions. I was taking notes as they asked them, so that I could be sure to answer all parts of the question. I was interviewed by three women, one being my future boss, a current middle school principal, and a district curriculum rep. I thought the interview went really well. I couldn't have left happier! I knew that even if I didn't get the job, I had done the best I could.
Of course after all is said and done, you OF COURSE think of other 'better' examples of this or that, but still, I knew it had gone well.
Now more waiting....
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