I went for my 30-mile ride with Pirate today, and I have to give her a lot of credit for hanging back with me, as I hacked and puffed my way over a very pleasant, flat ride. I think I made her late for her 10 am appointment with her coach, but she was good sport about it. I also enjoyed the freedom of the one nostril blow all the way to Bernalillo and back. Cleared my head out pretty good, it did.The Interview I had on Thursday was for a high school substance abuse counselor. I felt like things went well, and the enormous amount of OTC cold meds I took managed to stave off symptoms until after the interview, when I got in my car and coughed continuously all the way home.
After 8 years of teaching I'm ready to leave the classroom. When I first
started teaching, it was my goal to make every kid love science and math. Over the past few years my goals have changed. Now I want school to be a positive, stable place (for many kids it's the only stable place) so that they'll stay and graduate and have positive associations with education.That's why I'm so bitter about NCLB. I hate the effect it has on school environment and kids. I firmly believe that NCLB's lasting legacy will be kids who are squeezed out of school because they don't boost the data.
I was certified as a school counselor 3 years ago, but since I already have a job, I've been limiting my applications to those within my district. The problem is, I'm a veteran math and science teacher. There is a critical shortage of math teachers in the US. The last two times I was seriously job searching, all I did was walk into a district office and ask if there were any math openings. I was asked if I could be at an interview in an hour, and they didn't care how I was dressed. Each time after the interview I had to promise that, yes, I would be back to teach math for them.
There is not, however, a critical shortage of
counselors. In my district, there are several dozen applicants for each counselor opening. There's no way they'll vacate a veteran math and science position to fill a counseling opening.So, Thursday's interview was with Albuquerque Public Schools. They don't know me; I can't rely on my reputation. They don't know that, unofficially, some students with certain "issues" are placed in my classroom, nor have they sat with me at parent-student meetings, nor have they observed my classroom. So I had 45 minutes to dazzle them and convince them of my competence. So, we'll see. I feel like things went well, but I'm realistic.
In the meantime, I keep reminding myself that I have a job, and it's steady and it doesn't suck. Yet.
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