Books, plays, and subs

One more week until I find out about my MTEL score and one more day until I get to celebrate being one more year older. I have been absent around these parts due to a mini-cruise vacation where I ended up being with the other side of the age spectrum. My uncle is a nurse, and therefore, he was tense quite a few times that one of the elderies would slip and break a hip or something. Needless to say, I missed the kiddies.

It was a good day. The kids were in a little theatre production on Ancient Mexico this morning. Was it adorable! They made their own costumes (masks, headgear, paper assortments), puppets, and scenery. A and I couldn't help but awwing and "oh my goshing." About 75% of Ms. DT's class was in it... the other 25% will be in another production on Ghana (or China... whatever this district requires for their country study curriculum) later on in the year.

(A took some pictures... and this one was post-play. You can still see the cuteness of the Mexican god with yellow hands on the left!)

Sadly, I also became really, really excited over the Scholastic Book Fair going on today. Yes, I love the books. I had an "older person" moment when I asked if they took cash only. The woman told me, "Nope! We'll take any form of your money. Cash, check, credit card." "Credit card?! Ooh, how modern."

Now back in my day, we had to have exact cash change along with the slip of paper that indicated the specific books we wanted to buy. Not anymore. Scholastic is up with the times.

Well, I ended up buying 4 books; I justified the purchases by saying, "It helps the school out!!" ;) Hey, they weren't allll for me. One was for Miss EB, but I looked up her booklist on LibraryThing and realized she already had it. Doh. Another one is for K, though, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't already own the one I bought for her.

The only disheartening news I heard was the reiteration that I'm going to have a very hard time finding a job next year. I suppose I kind of knew that going into teaching. See, the turnover in elementary school teachers is not often. In elementary schools, you pretty much get a plethora of people who are in the field for like 15-30 years. Yep, years. It's divine intervention when a position opens up when you're looking for one. My supervisor scared me when she said that we should become long-term subs for our first year. I'll do anything just to be able to pay the basic bills... but I'll need health benefits and most subs don't get those. We'll see what happens. I'm supposed to be a teacher in this stage of my life, so I know I'll be put where I need to be.

I also officially started my grading job this evening since I picked up some essays to be graded by next Tuesday. I'm pretty exhausted right now since I didn't get to sleep last night as quickly as I had hoped... but I made it through the day pretty cheerfully.

- Miss Chelsea :)

Something they don't teach in Teacher Education : Logistics of the Licensure and Hiring Process

There is nothing called relaxation during the pre-practicum experience. I just found out earlier today that on top of the MTELs (about $300) and everything else involved in Initial Licensure (the oh-so-priceless education through a state-approved university)... that you have to ALSO file for the actual license through the Department of Education (DOE)... another $100 and another process of requesting transcripts, submitting signatures, etc. It's pure insanity! Here, Mass. DOE, have my firstborn, too! No no, take it! As a teacher, I shall not need him! :P

Thank goodness my supervisor told A and me today. She said the process for Initial Licensure can take up to 9 months! 9! (Probably so they can take your unborn child if you happen to be in that situation!) Needless to say, I went ahead and applied (a.k.a. signed my life and credit card to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) even though I'll be on pending status until June... since of course, I have to first graduate and take the 2 other MTELs.

Lesson of the Day to Future Teachers: Ask current teachers what they had to do to become licensed. There is a process. A very long and tedious process.

It was shocking to hear that when I called the DOE to ask if I had to pay the $100 again if I went to my inevitable pending status (nope, it's a one-time fee, thank goodness), that they had to have a "message" saying that they haven't even begun reviewing applications from July yet so "if that's why you're calling, we apologize. We're trying to be as efficient and quick as possible with this process." YIKES! I would be bugging out! Especially since it's November. Almost to the halfway mark of the school year. But if employers already hired you, then I guess you don't have too much to worry about... but still!

It's rough becoming a first-year teacher. You need to be the best darn applicant on paper to even be noticed. I was worried that since I wasn't going to be donning a certification for Disabilities or ELL, I didn't have anything going for me as "a cut above the rest." But then I started talking about time and serving in the community, and my supervisor said that she'd hire me in a second because of that. I said, "What! Really?! They look for that?! I just didn't think that was a big deal. It's just something I'm passionate about." But again, teachers tend to be the most humble of professionals (hmm, that sounds ironic to say) and don't think that something they do with children is earth-shattering. "It's just what we do. It's what works."

So yay, something I love doing can work for me when I'm interviewing!

The only good thing I can say about all these processes is that you really get the people who really want to become teachers. You weed out the ones that are in it for the summer vacations and other "benefits." I just better be staying in Massachusetts for more than 2 years now! I don't want to have to go through this again for a long time!

On a cute classroom note...

A little girl in braided pigtails named S came up to me today while I sat sorting my papers. She handed me a paper, and I asked, "Oh, what's this?" She replied, "It's for you."
It was a drawing of hearts, stars, and some unknown scribbles with "To Miss Chelsea... your great" scrawled on the top. Nearly broke my heart!

"Did you know I LOVE artwork? I have a special folder at home with lots of drawings from students in it. Thank you so much, S!"

I wanted to give her a hug, but alas, I shook her hand with a big thank you squeeze (the shaking hands thing is something they do when they enter Ms. DT's classroom each morning). (Another sad thing, you can't make a huge deal about one kid (i.e. hugs) especially if they give you something because then it can cause inequality with the other students... egh! Always technicalities!) It definitely made my day. Again, this is why I can't wait to be a teacher.

- Miss Chelsea :)