This Time I Have An Excuse

So it's been about a month since my last post (surprise, surprise), but this time it's because I've been busy (instead of lazy).

In February, I filed to substitute teach in our local school district.  I now have a three-year substitute teacher license.  But the calls I was getting were all for paraeducators.  (For those of you who don't know what a paraeducator is, they are teacher's assistants who usually work in different classrooms through the day.)  The district had one paraeducator leave her position, and I was offered the long-term substitute position. 

This last week was my third full week of working this job.  It is completely exhausting.  I work in 6 different classrooms, at 3 different grade levels, and I also have recess duty with an additional 3 grades.  It's a lot of names to know, and rules to keep straight.  But it's good.  And it's a paycheck, which is good seeing as my college loan payments are due each month (one week of this job=almost an entire loan payment).  So at least it's keeping me fiscally sound.  Not to mention, I'm helping the district--I'm sure they could've found someone to take the position, but my schedule was flexible enough (read: I had no obligations) that I can be at school 5 days a week.

There's definitely a learning curve.  I didn't go to the public elementary school, so there are different rules.  I mean, there were 40-50 kids in my whole elementary school.  There are 16-20+ kids in each of the classrooms I work in, so there are more rules.  It also isn't easy working in so many classrooms--each teacher has their own classroom rules, and ways they want things corrected (my brain sometimes has trouble keeping things straight). 

But I enjoy it.  It is fun--I like the kids, and they seem to like me.  Like I said, this last week was my third on the job, so names and rules and everything is getting easier and more normal/natural.  But it's definitely not what I thought I'd be doing at this point in my life.  And it's not what I went to school for--I never took any classes that revolved around instruction or conflict resolution, or anything to do with teaching. So a lot of what I've had to do the last 3 weeks has been to rely on my intuition, what I've observed in the years I helped in the elementary school, or hold off issues until I can ask one of the teachers what the rules are.

So I'm learning.  Which is good, because don't they say if you stop learning, you're dead? Isn't that a thing?  I think it is.  But I keep applying for jobs, because even though I have a job through the beginning of June (the end of the school year) I definitely don't want to keep doing this.  It is a temporary job. And after a temporary job comes another job, hopefully one that is not so temporary.

So keep your fingers crossed (and thumbs pressed) that I find a "real" job, or as I like to call them a "big girl" job. And I will hopefully keep you posted.