Sunday, April 17, 2011

Dew.Do.Due

When I was student teaching in New Mexico,  I was giving the kids a spelling test.  They were learning words that are spelled different but sound the same like breaks and brakes (I think these are called homophones???).  The word was DEW.  So I’m explaining this kind of DEW is the moisture on the grass in the morning.  Blank stares.  First, their yards consisted of little pebbles.  Second, they have no moisture on their rock lawns because they live in a desert.  Third, only rich people had a grass patch in their yard; most of them hadn’t even been to a house with a grass lawn.  Because I was trying to turn this whole dew thing into a teachable moment, I am telling them about how where I grew up everyone has grassy lawns because the climate is different.  More blank stares.  Finally a kid blurts out, “Dang, Miss E.  You must be rich.”  Ummmm, not exactly the point I going for.  Then another kid explains, “The kind of dew she is talking about is the dew of Mountain Dew.”  Discussion over.  Most spelt DEW correctly too. :)

Friday, April 8, 2011

What's next?


Here’s a rundown of the past few hours of my life:
Thursday morning:  Call from number on my cell phone that I don’t recognize.

Thursday after school: Listen to a voicemail from the principal I interview with.  Talk myself into calling her back.

Later after school Thursday afternoon:  Get a job offer.

Later later Thursday afternoon:  Call my mom and dad each about 8 times a piece and decide I want to wait for a job in/near Sioux Falls.  Write a blog about the pros and cons. Pray. Write another pro/con list. Pray again.   Receive a call from Mom; again weigh out the options.  Ask to talk to with Dad.  Ask to talk with Mom again. 

Early evening Thursday:
Decide I want to take the job.  Call mom and dad about 7 more times and then my brother and then my sister and then some of my friends.    (I just wanted to make sure I was weighing all my options.  Remember, I am an analyzer!)

Later Thursday night:    Call more people.  Decide for sure I am going to take the job

Later later Thursday night: Pray. Think. Pray. Think. Call more friends. Pray.  Google apartments, google churches, google the library, google golf courses, google anything related to anything in this town.

Friday morning: Call the principal and accept the position.

Friday afternoon:  Sign the contract and fax it in.

Later Friday afternoon:  Find out that one of my best friend’s little sister (who is also my friend) got a job that same morning teaching at the middle school in the same town!!!  (I had no idea she had applied or anything.)  Rest assured that this is all a God-thing, and He will take care of me. 

Later later Friday afternoon:  Find out that my friends from FL that moved to IA (who had their own job journey/struggle this year) bought a house!  Again reminded that God takes care of stuff. 

Friday night:  Watch the news about the messed up economy and  school budget cuts.  Becoming extremely thankful that God has opened up yet another unexpected door in my life.   Getting really excited for a new adventure.  Thinking about what I’m going to blog about next.

After a long and hard freak out session beginning Thursday morning and ending…well, I’m not really sure it’s ended yet…I have decided to take the job.  I will be employed next year as an elementary school counselor in a small-ish town outside of Omaha.  YAY!

           

Thursday, April 7, 2011

What to do?

So after all my whining about applying and rejection letters (because the b-word isn’t blog appropriate) I have been offered a job.  You’d think I’d be jumping for JOY and part of me is.   But I’m indecisive and a girl and an over-analyzer and a worrier and a touch of crazy…so…
I’m not sure if it’s the right job for me.  This job would require a move.  A move is OK with me.   But I would rather not move to a smaller town at this point in my life.  And if I am going to move to a small town, I’d like it to be closer to home.  But people who are just starting their career can’t be the choosiest.  But if I do have to move, I’d like to be sure that a job is a good fit.   But how can I be sure if a job is a good fit unless I give it a try. 
Here’s a condensed list of my pros and cons:
PROS
CONS
·         good school leadership
·         friendly community
·         close-ish to a bigger city
·         good counselors in other positions
·         in a small town
·         not a lot of diversity
·         time split between different schools…high number of students per caseload
·         not sure if I can get another job


So what am I going to do?  Your guess is as good as mine. 

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Golden Buffalo

For the past year I have stayed every Thursday night at The Golden Buffalo Casino, Motel, and Convention Center.  Why?  Well because I got a part time job working on Thursdays and Fridays as a counselor at Head Start (actually 2 different ones; more on this later.)  This job was a perfect fit for me because I could get paid for some of my practicum and internship hours and gain lots of good experience.  The only down fall was that the Head Starts were located about a half hour north of Chamberlain.  Since I live in Sioux Falls and go to school in Vermillion I figured why not add another town or 2 to my list.  Some people have been asking me to put some pictures up of where I stay; I'm really not a photographer but here's my best try...

This is the motel part of the resort.


This is the casino part.  I forgot to take a picture of the convention center part.


This is my Thursday night home or my river view vacation cabin, depending on my mood.

This is the view of the Missouri from my vacation home window.  Sorry about the dirt pile.  My photography skills are lacking.


And this is a horn lamp.  It cracks me up. 




Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Joys of Working with Kids

I really like working with kids.  They are honest and creative and resilient and funny, and they always find ways to keep me humble and put life into perspective.

At school a kid who has some behavior problems was screaming and crying and kicking (not really out the ordinary for this little dude.)  I have a nice plan to help this kid learn impulse control and anger management, but sometimes my plans don’t work (shocking) so we just listen to music on my computer until he calms down. 
That day I went over to see what the hype was about thinking that today sounded more like a music-listening-day than an address-your-anger-issues day.  But his teacher looks at me with a panicky face and says, “He has a napkin up his nose.”  Napkins up noses are definitely not something I have a plan for.  She sort of shoves him toward me.  Sure enough I look up his nose and high in his left nostril was a little napkin ball.  So I plugged the other side of the kid's nose.  After a few strong exhales, the napkin with a snot wad flew out, onto my pants, of course.   And immediately the boy stopped crying.  I was gagging and laughing (snot is definitely not my thing).  But the little guy gave me a hug and said, “Auntie, (cause that’s what he calls me…just melts my heart) I can go to school now.”  Seriously, some things you just can’t plan for… :)