Bureaucracy Blues

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I am so very, very sad to report that while teachers go back to school tomorrow, I am not allowed to join them.  And when the students go back a week from today, I will not be allowed to join them, either.  In fact, I will be lucky if I get to go to school the day after Labor Day.  Why, you ask?

Bureaucracy.

This high school wants to hire me, and has no other candidates at this point, and they have recommended me to the School Board.  I have already gone to the county office and completed all of my new hire paperwork and gotten an ID card made.  BUT.  The School Board hasn't officially approved hiring me.  What they are waiting for, I have no idea.  They aren't going to interview me or anything, so whatever information they need they must already have.  Yet here I sit, waiting for a formality.

Then even when the School Board does approve me, I still don't technically have a North Carolina teaching certificate.  Yes, I have completed all of the requirements, and yes, the school district accepts a letter of certification of completion of an approved teacher education program (what a mouthful) from my University, but no, I cannot start teaching in this state under those conditions.  I never thought I'd wish for the South Carolina education system, but down there, this would never have been a problem.  Also, apparently in North Carolina, to be a sub, you must not only have an active teaching certificate, but you must also interview with a principal at an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school before you can get hired on. So this means that to hire me as a sub and have me start out the school year as my own sub would actually take longer than hiring me as a full-time teacher!

So for now, I wait.  Who knows how long it will take for these mountains of paperwork to be processed?

Ah, bureaucracy.  Gotta love it.

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Guess Who's Back... Back Again...

Ahoy!! (Hopefully, you watch The Big Bang Theory and get that joke.  And if you don't, hopefully you think I am awesome and own a yacht.)

I would love to report that this summer has been full of lazy days on the beach, watermelon, outdoor concerts, and cookouts with friends.  Unfortunately, it has been full of my last two graduate classes (in one of which I received a B, which ruined my beautiful 4.0 *tear*), moving, commuting an hour to wait tables open to close, and a fruitless job search.

Okay actually the moving was good.  I love Wilmington... or at least I think I do.  Because there are basically no Social Studies teaching jobs to speak of, I have been driving to and from North Myrtle four days a week, so I really haven't gotten to spend much time up here at all.  BUT!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel...

I FINALLY GOT A JOB!!!!!!

Well, not officially, I suppose.  They do have to complete a background check before they can actually make the offer, and of course there is paperwork involved, but as teachers go back to school Tuesday, I'm rather optimistic that this process is going to be rushed.  Words cannot explain the immense feeling of relief that rushed over me yesterday.

I will explain more once I sign on the dotted line, but I am so soo excited.  And not only to have a job, but to have This Job.  I think this school is going to be a wonderful fit, and I absolutely cannot wait to get started.  Having never really found a true niche for this blog, I think it's going to fashion itself as a chronicle of my first year of teaching.  While the Interwebs seems to have a plethora of blogs and resources for elementary teachers, I find there isn't as much community for high school teachers, which is too bad.

I've also realized that, having fallen deeply in love with reading blogs, I really changed why I wanted to start one in the first place.  When I first logged into Blogger (two awful, ugly blogs ago) (and yes I realize this one probably isn't much better), it was because I missed writing.  I wanted to start a blog for me. Then, as I began reading blogs more and more, I wanted to be a Blogger.  Obviously I failed miserably at this, and I know it's because I shifted my goals from blogging for me to blogging to blog.  Regardless of the goal, the few paltry posts this blog has are mostly me musing about blogging, without actually doing it.

The upside?  No one reads this anyway!  I feel confident that I could really delete the less than twenty posts I have and just start from square one (since I'm only at like square one and a half, anyway), but why bother?  It will give me something to look back on, and, if anyone ever ends up reading my blog if I ever get it going, it will give them a chuckle to see How It All Began.

Or maybe not.  But who cares?  This blog is for me, and I HAVE A JOB!!! :)

Recap: Monday Must-Dos

I know I'm not the only one that starts off my week with a giant to-do list... so here's to holding ourselves accountable and actually getting stuff DONE! (And no fair adding stuff to the list just to cross it off, even though I may be guilty of that myself!)

Moving
- Pay application fees (done!)
- Email copy of my ID, proof of income, and photos of the dogs (done!)
- Email copy of Patrick's ID and proof of income (done!)

Cleaning
- Finish laundry (done! I don't really mind doing laundry, to be honest.  It's just pairing socks that I hate.)
- Guest room - sheets, towels, dust (done! dusting the guestroom is so easy since there's no dog hair in there!)
- Sweep & mop
- Vaccuum
- Fill up the 6000 empty water bottles on the counter and put them in the fridge (until we get a Brita, this will probably never happen.)

Jobs
- High school #1 (apply in person)
- High school #2 (reapply as a JV cheer coach (and hide your enthusiasm while doing so.))
- Send resume & cover letter to private school placement agency
- Check for any new job postings in North Carolina

- cancel Planet Fitness membership (two trips in 6 months is hardly worth the money!)
- try on bridesmaid shoes and tell Heather my size  (had to size up from an 8.5 to a 10, eesh)
- wish Lauren a happy birthday! (done!)
- put the top back on the Wrangler because it is pouring rain! (done! pretty impressed I figured it out by myself, even if it took way too long and I broke half my fingernails.)
- PAY SUMMER TUITION for my last two classes!

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Ughhh now that it's all written out, it looks like sooo much... and that's all stuff that I really need to do TODAY! (Normally the cleaning wouldn't be so very urgent, but I have company coming into town around dinnertime.) But you know what, it's a rainy day, so the beach isn't calling my name, and I have no excuses.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

Who's with me? Any must-dos you're trying to cross off your list today? Let me know, because misery productivity loves company!

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Well, it is now Thursday morning, and I got a lot of my list done, but arguably none of the important stuff - the job hunt tasks!  Also, paying my tuition is pretty important, and since class starts Monday, I'm pretty sure today is the last day to do so.  Off I go to do that, and I'll make sure to swing by the gym on the way home to cancel that membership.  As for the job hunt, let's be honest, that will always be on-going.

How about you?  Does your Monday must-do list look about the same as it did Monday, or did you make some progress? 

High Five for... Saturday?

1. Last Saturday I did the Dirty Myrtle Mud Run. (I'm third from the right, in case you can't tell!)  It was the first time I've run since I did a 5k in February, and even though it was about the same length, the twenty-seven obstacles meant you never had to run for very long, which is always a plus!
2. The Boathouse is a locals' staple in Myrtle Beach on Sundays: they're directly on the Intracoastal Waterway, so you can bring your boat right up to the stage and listen to their free concerts.  I'm not lucky enough to have a boat, but watching Parmalee from the grass was still fun.
3. I've had this bikini top since high school and wear it exactly twice a year - Memorial Day and July 4th (duh).  This is me and the bf at a Memorial Day cookout with friends (not pictured, but I promise they exist).
4. Two o'clock beer while house hunting.  Hey, it's stressful!  I think we finally found a place in Wilmington though, so that is worth celebrating!
5. My youngest sibling David turned nineteen this week - insane! (This is a pic from his high school graduation last year, but I love it, so outdated or not, I'm using it.)

Linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday... even if I am a day late!

The Fastest Way to Make Sure You Never Blog...

Stop me if this seems too obvious (spoiler: it will.), but I've recently found that the fastest way to make sure I never blog is to not have Internet access.

I'll pause to let this profound statement sink in for ya.

I cancelled my Internet at the beginning of the year because, well, it was just a waste of money.  Between classes up on campus and my internship at the high school, I was never home anyway, and everywhere I went had Internet.  Plus, it's 2013 - I have a smartphone, which takes care of my Internet needs nearly all of the time.  But only nearly!  I'm sure it's entirely possible to post from my phone, but, truthfully, I've no interest in doing so.  Call me crazy, but I hate typing on virtual keyboards for anything longer than a sentence or two.  Plus, I can't upload any pictures from my computer via my phone (another life-changing revelation, I know).

So that, in short, is why I've not been posting.  Internship is over, and my summer (and final!) classes don't start for another three or four weeks, so I am high-speed-Internet-free for the time being.  From what it seems, many bloggers begin getting writers' block and aren't sure what to write about, but that's not my problem.  I have tons of ideas for posts (or, okay, at least several), but I lack a decent way to get my ideas out there.  Posts with just text (...like this one.) are bor-ing.  I see no reason to start paying for Internet at home now when I'm moving in a month or two, so for now, my resolution to get this blog a-goin' remains on hold.

But then again, after I move, I will hopefully have myself a j-o-b and will be working on teaching the kiddos, so who knows!  Sigh. Guess I will just wait and see how this plays out! :)

High Five for Friday!

 

1. I flew up to State College to watch my sister Tracy graduate from Penn State last weekend!  Unfortunately, this was the only salvageable family photo, all the rest are blurry. :(

2. Before I came back to Myrtle Beach, I went to DC (where I grew up) and got to spend some Cinco de Mayo time with my bff from high school, Jenni.  Fun fact: we have been friends for what, ten years now, and this is probably only the third photo of us to exist.

3. Bath time with these three babies, since someone felt the need to smash poop with his feet and bring it all through the house.  (Big guy, I'm looking at you!)

4. Tuesday kind of evolved into take-your-girlfriend-to-work-day, so this is how I spent most of my time.

5. Breakfast, I love you any time of day.

Linking up with Lauren for H54F!

Airport Friends

http://www.flymyrtlebeach.com

This evening, I'm off to Penn State to see my sister graduate, and I completely forgot that Myrtle Beach created an entirely new terminal!  I know this does not sound very exciting to most of you, but the old Myrtle airport was pathetic.  It felt more like a tiny, crappy mall than an airport, and you could walk from one end to the other in about, oh, two minutes.  NOW, however, it looks like a real airport, and it takes, like, six minutes to walk from end to end!

Contain your excitement.

Okay, so it's still no Dulles Airport (my favorite in the world, by the way), but it is such a huge upgrade from what we had before!  It does look a bit awkward being so empty since the season hasn't started yet, though...

Anyway, my flight this evening got delayed and then canceled, so I got pushed to a later flight.  I got to talking to the girl sitting next to me at the terminal, and it turns out she is a long-term middle school sub in Chattanooga, starting her first full-time teaching job in the fall.  We went to Nacho Hippo (a local restaurant that I was very psyched to see has a chain in the new terminal) and had a beer, then on our long twenty minute flight to Charlotte, we were seated in the back row of the plane together, and then we trekked the Charlotte airport to the end of terminal E for our next flights.

I absolutely LOVE to travel, even though I don't do it very much, and one of the best things about traveling is meeting people along the way.  It was great to meet Jessica, and it was also really nice to have her around to kill two or three hours with me.  BUT, at the same time, I kind of enjoyed that her departure gate in Charlotte was a solid eighteen down from mine.  I like that when we parted ways it was just an "Okay, have a great flight back! Nice to meet ya!"  No "What's your Facebook/Twitter/ name?" (Sidenote: I don't have either.)  I enjoy taking the airport friendship for what it is - a pleasant distraction for a bit, but it's fleeting. I kind of relish the time I get to sit alone at the airport.  Nothing beats people watching while drinking a $10 Jamba Juice. :)

PS - Even though I'm flying domestically, I'm using my passport as my ID, and it kind of disturbs me that I made it to another airport before I realized that it expired in January.  Shouldn't the TSA agents have caught that??

Lies I Told Myself at the Beginning of My Student-Teaching

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1. Stephanie, you and the other M.A.T. candidates will definitely meet every Wednesday to play trivia, have some beverages, and discuss the internship.

2. Stephanie, you will complete your 54-page Teacher Work Sample as you actually teach the unit, rather than in a mad dash after the fact.

3. Stephanie, your Teacher Work Sample will be a 100% reflection of things that actually happened in your classroom.

4. Stephanie, your planning periods should easily be sufficient to grade and plan ev.ery.thing.

5. Stephanie, you will still be able to get to bed at a normal time, and you'll never have to get up at the crack of dawn to finish stuff, either.

6. Stephanie, you're teaching honors classes, so these kids will totally be functioning at an honors level.

7. Stephanie, your new year's resolution was to be more social, and you can certainly keep that up during internship.

8. Stephanie, these kids will absolutely love your teaching style.  They won't mind at all adjusting to you instead of the teacher to whom they've grown accustomed for six months!

9. Stephanie, these kids will be really excited to use Edmodo - it's like Facebook for school!

10. Stephanie, you can totally start a blog the same week you start your internship.

 

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I just finished up my summative conference for my student teaching internship (did you know it's not called "student-teaching" anymore?  Apparently that is somehow insulting to us), and -

I PASSED!

Not that I ever thought I wouldn't, but it's still just such a relief to hear those words out loud! :)

Linking up with E, Myself, & I for Midweek Confessions!