Visiting my Portland Students...

First stop was at L.E.P High School, which is located in East Burnside in Portland.  I have a few of my students that I worked with from last school year now attending school here after Marshall was closed.  It was nice to catch up with them, and hear that school is going well.  They still feel upset about Marshall being closed, and wish they could go back to school there... One of my former coworkers teaches at LEP and I sat in and observed her class for a bit... It was nice to be in another school and see how things run compared to my daily life at the middle school.  It gave me some ideas about how to adjust my teaching, and reminded me to keep in mind what to do to prepare my students for high school!!

 

Next stop was at Madison High School!!! Where I got to see my other wonderful students from my first year of tutoring, and another student from my second year with Step Up.  My oh my... it was great to catch up with all of them.  One asked "So... they call you by your last name? That is weird!" because for Step Up they would call me by my first name. hahaha. It was a great reminder as to why I am working to become a teacher... the STUDENTS!!!! :)  It was also nice to catch up with former coworkers that are doing inspirational work...

Even though I did not have any interviews today with the districts/ agencies from the Educator Fair yesterday, it was wonderful and inspiring to chat with my Step Up community... Also, I checked my e-mail once I got home and I received news about conducting a formal interview for teaching in Japan.  Today was a much needed day of inspiration... now to keep the motivation going!!! 2 months until graduation...

ORegon EDUcator Fair

Yesterday was the educator fair in Portland.

I left Salem around 7am and arrived to the fair about 8:30.  There were lots of people looking to find jobs, and it was quite the experience.  I was intimidated and nervous at first, but then I jumped right in.  I spoke with people from...

• Vancouver Public Schools
• State of Hawaii Public Schools
• Clackamas County
• Gresham-Barlow SD
• Hillsboro SD
• Lincoln County SD
• Ontario SD
• Salem-Keizer SD
• Willamette ESD
• Federal Way Public Schools
• Doha-Qatar
• Silver Falls SD

It was quite exhausting.  The two that were promising were Federal Way and Willamette ESD.  They have job positions currently open for teaching math, and they encouraged me to apply online.  They were not holding interviews.  I did get some practice doing screening interviews with Vancouver, Hawaii, and Hillsboro.  What a day!!!

I am still waiting to hear about the Global Teaching Fellow position for TIU... I should be hearing back sometime this week if I get an interview!!! Must be patient....

Peace.

Spring Time

This past few weeks have been going by...  Spring Conferences on Wednesday was canceled because of SNOW.  Yes, SNOW!  And it is Spring.  Today it finally stopped raining, and the sun has graced its presence in the NW!!! A very much needed break from the rain.

Teaching has been going pretty well.  Spring break was a nice break to relax and get caught up on sleep.  This week I struggled with getting out of bed. I got used to waking up late and taking my time in the morning.  It is not the same this week since I have to be at the Middle School by 7:15....  I was really pushing how late I can get out of bed this week. haha. I plan on being better next week, but next week I will be going to the Oregon Educator Fair in Portland on Tuesday.  My goal is to get practice interviewing with as many districts/ agencies as possible.  Practice Practice Practice.  If any of the interviews lead to a possible job opportunity... I would not mind. :)

We'll see what happens... Happy Saturday!

Pi

3.14159...

Happy Pi Day.

I brought three small pies to school today, and gave it out to students after school. It was quite a hit! No pie leftover!!

Teaching will always have its challenges, and I am up for the challenge. Bring it on. :) I have noticed a change this week in my classrooms. It is a nice change to be able to teach and get the students listening. Feels damn good. Of course it is not perfect, and there were moments I would change what I did so that i can improve my teaching... But overall I think it has improved from when I first started!!! :)

Tomorrow is another day... ;)

First 6 Weeks

Can you believe it?  Six weeks have already passed by since I started going to the Middle School full-time! Today was a half grading day at the school, and no students were there.  It was a slower paced day. Too slow! I was very tired, and did not have much to do without any Internet access. I was able to make some docs that I will use next week, but then there was a slight change that I need to fix for the next few weeks to get my students better prepared for testing.  Overall the grades have a few A's, majority in the B's and C's, some D's and F's.  The one's who have D's and F's have irregular attendance and low test scores. Sadly, since they miss school they miss the information. So what can I do to get them caught up? Practice problems? Have them stay after school? Spring conferences with the students will be in about a week and a half. It leads us right into Spring Break.  Time to make phone calls.

On another note. Lincoln County School District (it is located on the Oregon Coast) is hiring teachers!  The Human Resources Manager and an Assistant Principal came to give an Information Session and interview us!  I was caught a little off-guard about the interview, but I gave it my best.  I know there are things I could improve on.  They held the interviews yesterday at Willamette, and there were about 20 people that attended.  I interviewed with the HR Manager and she asked if I was attending the Oregon Educator Fair in April, and I said yes. She mentioned a person's name to talk to at the fair when I go. I saw on EdZapp that they opened the positions.  I just need to polish my EdZapp a bit more before applying!  Did I mention that I am now thinking about getting endorsed in Language Arts now? After I passed my ESOL Exams, it made me think about becoming endorsed in LA.  I am going to look into it before signing up for the 95$ test!  A lot to think about....

Trying something New...

There was a substitute teacher yesterday, and I took the reign on the lesson and teaching it on my own. It was different because I usually watch my cooperating teacher teach the Math classes before me and take notes on how he teaches.  Things that went well were student participation and engagement.  Things that I would change would be a closure activity or something to keep all students at a table helping others.  Overall yesterday and today was better than it has been. I have been reading a book that my cooperating teacher lent me to read on Classroom Management when it was a Snow Day last Thursday.  [://www.consciousteaching.com/book-conscious-classroom-management/] Being a teacher is a lot of hard work, and it takes heart too.


On another note, I PASSED my ESOL tests!!!  I took it last month, and I received my results yesterday! This is the last test I have for the Endorsements that I was working on. Now I am debating to take the Language Arts NES Exam to be endorsed in Language Arts.  Also, I am thinking about getting the Reading Endorsement!  That is the great thing about being an educator... it means being a life long learner. :) Also, I applied to my first teaching job last week.  The partner university of Willamette, Tokyo International University, is hiring 10 Willamette MAT teachers to teach English in Japan.  I applied, and I won't know if I get an interview until the first week of April.  It's time to apply to jobs, and get this career started.

SNOW Day...?

I guess there was enough snow and ice on the ground in certain parts of Salem to call for a snow day at 430am. The car was frozen when I went outside around 9am....

I got a decent start on my Work Sample, and now time to plan some lessons!! Also, i have to write a paper. Oh, the life of a full-time grad. student! :) never ending work...