Whirl wind road trip to Chicago with Kendall a friend from Warner Pacific College, roommate and teacher. We left at 2:00pm on Thursday after school and drove straight through about 16 hours. We had a great time on Friday going around the city and sight seeing. We went to Lake Michigan and walked along the beach and got our feet wet. It was real foggy so we could not see much of the lake but it did have waves crashing on the shore like the ocean.
Saturday was our interview. We get ready and drive through downtown Chicago which is no easy feat. Man they drive crazy there. Got to the hotel only to have to call our contact and find that they had canceled Chicago interviews because they had hired all they needed, only we did not get that email. I emailed our contact before we left asking her to confirm and never got a response either. So we did a little shopping and headed home.
We did some sight seeing in Wisconsin and picked up some cheese, drove through Milwaukee on our way home. Got home around 11:30am Sunday and passed out for awhile. I am going back to bed shortly but I know everyone was waiting to hear if I was going overseas. Looks like God has other plans.
I am not really disappointed as I did not have high hopes for this job but God rewards those who take risks and that was a risk for me. Now I am putting applications in Oregon with little hope for getting anything, and organizing my room and planning for next year. Still not sure I am coming home for the summer. I need to fix my car and see what kind of money I have. Plus I think it will be hard to go home knowing I am not going to stay. Also there are a lot of things to do in North Dakota in the summer. I might just do some sight seeing and take small trips around the area. We shall see. I need to discuss things with my life planner (God). I will post pictures later.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Last Day of School
I am exhausted but I am so glad it's over again. I had a roommate from January until now and she is in the process of moving out. She is going to Williston ND to live. She will not be coming back to teach. Kendall is a teacher I went to college with that moved here this year and she is in the process of moving in. I haven't even had time to clean or anything and no time on my own. Oh well it will be nice to have Kendall around.
I am teaching summer school from May 31-June 30. James (my youngest son) got his GED so he will be starting trade school on June 30. I am so proud of him I never thought I would see this day. He is going to school to be a auto body repair and paint guy. Jeff is graduating this June from mechanic school and starting the same schooling with James.
I don't know what else I will be doing this summer except got to Chicago for an interview to go overseas. If I get the job I will pack and move all my stuff to Oregon. (better storage climate). Visit my friends and relatives. Then I will drive my car to Houston TX so my sons will have a reliable car and then fly out from Houston. If I don't get the job I will spend part of my summer planning out next year and reorganizing my room and who knows after that.
I am teaching summer school from May 31-June 30. James (my youngest son) got his GED so he will be starting trade school on June 30. I am so proud of him I never thought I would see this day. He is going to school to be a auto body repair and paint guy. Jeff is graduating this June from mechanic school and starting the same schooling with James.
I don't know what else I will be doing this summer except got to Chicago for an interview to go overseas. If I get the job I will pack and move all my stuff to Oregon. (better storage climate). Visit my friends and relatives. Then I will drive my car to Houston TX so my sons will have a reliable car and then fly out from Houston. If I don't get the job I will spend part of my summer planning out next year and reorganizing my room and who knows after that.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
10 More Days of School!!!
Sorry I have not been blogging. I have been so busy that time has slipped away. There is nothing much to talk about but work because I have not done much of anything but work. There is only ten more days till school is out for the year.
I don't believe in coincidences but I do believe in signs. I just don't always interpret these signs correctly. First sign is I have had a roommate paying rent to me since January. The money has come in handy since I needed to go to the dentist recently for a root canal. While I have not been able to save very much money, I have had enough to not struggle. I was hoping that the extra money would mean provisions for moving this year but I see now that it was probably just living provisions.
The second sign is I have an interview with a company that will take me to Abu Dahbi, a country in the United Arab Emirate. It is located on the peninsula in the Persian Gulf. It is one of the riches countries in the world. If I get the job they pay for me to fly over, my pay would be almost 44,000 a year tax free. I would get a three bedroom apartment rent free, airfare to come home once a year, and great benefits. My interview is in Chicago in June. I have not given up on Oregon and I have three applications in for jobs there but so far nothing.
The third sign that I may be moving out of North Dakota is that we have not received any contracts as of today (5/10). This is good in that by law they have to give me 30 days to sign the contract. Last year I had to decide that I was coming back by 6/1/11. Now I will have till after my interview to sign my contract. Once I sign I have to buy myself out in order to break it so if I have another job it is nice to not have to pay off my old employer. Plus Oregon is just now starting to look for new teachers, so it is nice to have more time to look for a job there.
What will I do this summer? Well, I am going to teach summer school for the first month. Then it all depends on where I am going to work next year. If I have a job in Oregon, I will move back late July early August. If I get the job in Abu Dahbi, I will move my things to Oregon to store in a moderate climate and since in two years I will have paid off my student loans, I will be moving back to Oregon afterward (unless I fall in love with overseas teaching). After I move all my things to Oregon, I will drive to Texas to give my sons my car. Then I can see everyone before I go overseas. If I get this job I am spending Christmas in Bethlehem or Scotland or some place cool like that. If I am staying in North Dakota I will spend a large portion of my summer taking classes to renew my North Dakota license, and spend time reorganizing my room and planning my year so I am not struggling to keep on top of things.
If I stay for another year, there are some changes to prepare for. It has been decided by the school board that we are to give a pre-test and a post test and the student must past the post test in order to move on to the next grade at the end of the year. This means I must plan on what I am going to teach all year and test students on what they need to know to be a sixth grader by the end of next year. It might even help in discipline if the students realize they must learn or they will stay back until they do.
I started this year off with a cold and that is what I am ending it on as well. I have lost my voice and I have a sore throat but I will finish this year out and then....
I don't believe in coincidences but I do believe in signs. I just don't always interpret these signs correctly. First sign is I have had a roommate paying rent to me since January. The money has come in handy since I needed to go to the dentist recently for a root canal. While I have not been able to save very much money, I have had enough to not struggle. I was hoping that the extra money would mean provisions for moving this year but I see now that it was probably just living provisions.
The second sign is I have an interview with a company that will take me to Abu Dahbi, a country in the United Arab Emirate. It is located on the peninsula in the Persian Gulf. It is one of the riches countries in the world. If I get the job they pay for me to fly over, my pay would be almost 44,000 a year tax free. I would get a three bedroom apartment rent free, airfare to come home once a year, and great benefits. My interview is in Chicago in June. I have not given up on Oregon and I have three applications in for jobs there but so far nothing.
The third sign that I may be moving out of North Dakota is that we have not received any contracts as of today (5/10). This is good in that by law they have to give me 30 days to sign the contract. Last year I had to decide that I was coming back by 6/1/11. Now I will have till after my interview to sign my contract. Once I sign I have to buy myself out in order to break it so if I have another job it is nice to not have to pay off my old employer. Plus Oregon is just now starting to look for new teachers, so it is nice to have more time to look for a job there.
What will I do this summer? Well, I am going to teach summer school for the first month. Then it all depends on where I am going to work next year. If I have a job in Oregon, I will move back late July early August. If I get the job in Abu Dahbi, I will move my things to Oregon to store in a moderate climate and since in two years I will have paid off my student loans, I will be moving back to Oregon afterward (unless I fall in love with overseas teaching). After I move all my things to Oregon, I will drive to Texas to give my sons my car. Then I can see everyone before I go overseas. If I get this job I am spending Christmas in Bethlehem or Scotland or some place cool like that. If I am staying in North Dakota I will spend a large portion of my summer taking classes to renew my North Dakota license, and spend time reorganizing my room and planning my year so I am not struggling to keep on top of things.
If I stay for another year, there are some changes to prepare for. It has been decided by the school board that we are to give a pre-test and a post test and the student must past the post test in order to move on to the next grade at the end of the year. This means I must plan on what I am going to teach all year and test students on what they need to know to be a sixth grader by the end of next year. It might even help in discipline if the students realize they must learn or they will stay back until they do.
I started this year off with a cold and that is what I am ending it on as well. I have lost my voice and I have a sore throat but I will finish this year out and then....
Monday, March 14, 2011
Only 44 more school days!!!
I am so excited. This year is almost over. Only 44 more school day or 10 weeks. The school year is almost over. It is the thought that is keeping me motivated. I am tired of being a babysitter and then the administration turning around and asking me to justify everything I do because I am judged by my students test scores.
This weekend I went to Bismarck to take the Praxis II test. It is a series of tests for teachers. Oregon is one of the only states that does not require teaches to take this test. Only high school teachers need to pass it for their Oregon licence. It makes sense to have this test because it asks about theology of teaching and what are the proper things you should do in classroom management and all that. It was a tough test took four hours for two tests, a lot of writing.
Anyway my friend and I took Friday off so we could get to Bismarck (3 hour drive) and to the hotel. Then hopefully have time to play since it is the "big city" (maybe the size of Pendleton). So we drive there, it was clear as a bell. We can't check in to the hotel right away so we went to the mall to look at stuff. We are in there for about an hour and when we got out about an hour later it was a white out blizzard. We went to the store picked up some stuff to eat and went to the hotel and stayed in for the rest of the day. It closed down our school and the teachers at school got stuck there and had to spend the night with some of the teachers that live near the school. It was wild. Next day it was cold and sunny and on Sunday when we went home it was clear as a bell. You could not tell there had been a snow storm. Talk about freaky.
I am back to looking for a new job and praying that the Lord sees fit to move me somewhere else. I am tired of this school, I have totally lost my love of teaching. If it was not for being surrendered to God and the large student loan debt I would go back to being a secretary.
This weekend I went to Bismarck to take the Praxis II test. It is a series of tests for teachers. Oregon is one of the only states that does not require teaches to take this test. Only high school teachers need to pass it for their Oregon licence. It makes sense to have this test because it asks about theology of teaching and what are the proper things you should do in classroom management and all that. It was a tough test took four hours for two tests, a lot of writing.
Anyway my friend and I took Friday off so we could get to Bismarck (3 hour drive) and to the hotel. Then hopefully have time to play since it is the "big city" (maybe the size of Pendleton). So we drive there, it was clear as a bell. We can't check in to the hotel right away so we went to the mall to look at stuff. We are in there for about an hour and when we got out about an hour later it was a white out blizzard. We went to the store picked up some stuff to eat and went to the hotel and stayed in for the rest of the day. It closed down our school and the teachers at school got stuck there and had to spend the night with some of the teachers that live near the school. It was wild. Next day it was cold and sunny and on Sunday when we went home it was clear as a bell. You could not tell there had been a snow storm. Talk about freaky.
I am back to looking for a new job and praying that the Lord sees fit to move me somewhere else. I am tired of this school, I have totally lost my love of teaching. If it was not for being surrendered to God and the large student loan debt I would go back to being a secretary.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Bumbed
Sorry I have not been updating my blog but I have been extremely busy this year. I spend all evening on Monday's grading. Then I tutor on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. I plan on Friday for what I will be teaching during the next week. The weekend I clean, shop and do laundry however my dryer is broken so laundry takes a little longer because I have to hang everything.
Now why I am bumbed. I was planning on taking a three day weekend starting this Friday. I was going to shop for a dryer and sleep in and rest. But I woke up this Monday with a tooth ache. I made it through the day teaching and then it got worse. I was in a lot of pain by night fall. I got to use my personal day to try to go to the dentist. ONLY I live in North Dakota and there are not enough dentists or doctors to go around. So I called several in the area and there is no way to see a dentist for at least two weeks. Luckily, I was able to get into a doctor and get antibiotics. Which is good since the whole side of my face is swollen. I look like I have been beaten without the "pretty" bruise coloring.
Now I am taking Multron, and major strong antibiotics. I can't eat a thing. I have been drinking soup. Funny thing the antibiotics require you to eat food with them. Only I had no soup so I stopped and got a bag of M & Ms to suck on so I could take my meds right away. Good thing because the roads are terrible right now and what should have taken me an hour to get to Dickinson took me an hour and forty-five minutes. Most of the way was up and down hills, round corners, and all covered in ice. A real nail bitter of a drive and I couldn't even grit my teeth. Ouch!!!
SO I have a sore mouth, I am hungry because drinking soup does not keep you fool and I am wore out from the awful drive. I am going to bed.
Now why I am bumbed. I was planning on taking a three day weekend starting this Friday. I was going to shop for a dryer and sleep in and rest. But I woke up this Monday with a tooth ache. I made it through the day teaching and then it got worse. I was in a lot of pain by night fall. I got to use my personal day to try to go to the dentist. ONLY I live in North Dakota and there are not enough dentists or doctors to go around. So I called several in the area and there is no way to see a dentist for at least two weeks. Luckily, I was able to get into a doctor and get antibiotics. Which is good since the whole side of my face is swollen. I look like I have been beaten without the "pretty" bruise coloring.
Now I am taking Multron, and major strong antibiotics. I can't eat a thing. I have been drinking soup. Funny thing the antibiotics require you to eat food with them. Only I had no soup so I stopped and got a bag of M & Ms to suck on so I could take my meds right away. Good thing because the roads are terrible right now and what should have taken me an hour to get to Dickinson took me an hour and forty-five minutes. Most of the way was up and down hills, round corners, and all covered in ice. A real nail bitter of a drive and I couldn't even grit my teeth. Ouch!!!
SO I have a sore mouth, I am hungry because drinking soup does not keep you fool and I am wore out from the awful drive. I am going to bed.
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