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Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
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9:34 pm
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This is a best approximation, as this was from the other side of a divider wall.
Overheard as the kids in one of my groups were entering - from my coworker's group:
Kid1: *racist noises with accompanying hand gestures, from the sound* Woo woo woo! Look, I'm an Indian!
Kid2: That's not true. Indians don't sound like that. I'm an Indian, so I know.
Kid1: Nuh uh, I thought you were Navajo.
Coworker: Well, that's just one Indian tribe.
Kid1: *confused silence*
Uh... Gotta love the Southwest? Uh.. Or something?
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| Thursday, January 8th, 2009
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4:30 pm - 'Along the Lines of' Professional
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So, for the last week and for a bunch of times earlier this year, I've been subbing for various teachers in the LMB Room at Manaugh Elementary. That basically is reading intervention for kids who are waaaay behind their grade level in reading. Small groups of about five kids, for 45 minutes or so at a time - not too bad.
Anyway, I knew one of those teachers already through Josie, and the others got to know me a little bit. They kept requesting me because I've already learned the the fundamentals of what they do (last year and this year), and know the general tricks and the ideas to review during each group; and, importantly, how to improvise even when they need to me sub on no notice without a sub plan.
I gradually learned that while one of those reading intervention teachers is an actual, certified teacher, the others don't have teaching certificates (like me), and are classified as "Paraprofessionals."
Shortly before winter break, I learned that they were possibly looking to hire a new para-, and figured there was no reason I shouldn't apply. I quietly filled out the form online job form that lets you enter the system even if there's no job that you qualify for at the moment. The jobs I saw were not ones that matched what I'd heard about, but I figured, "what the hell - a job may open up and then I'll already be in the system as being interested."
For the past few days (I've subbed in that room all this week for three different people) the teachers in the LMB Room (stands for Lindamood Bell, after the women who founded the particular reading program that is used) kept saying that I'd be a good person to hire to fill in for this one woman whose job is changing because of a grant. She told me that she'd like me to be able to fill in for her the half-days she does LMB stuff, and maybe I could do something else for the second half of the day - like help out the others - if they could make it a full-time gig.
I soon found out that the specific area she covers falls into a category where you need a teaching cert. Oh well, it sounded like they might also be making another para- position, if the principal could find the grant money to fund it. It sounded unlikely.
The woman who is in charge of running the LMB Room said she'd mention me to the principal anyway, as someone who was interested, and that I should mention it to him also. The other day, I let him know that I'd be interested, should such a position open up.
Today, after school, the principal offered me a job. :) He managed to rework the position so that this one, which was meant to be a half-time certified teacher position is now a full-time paraprofessional position. So, once his recommendation and the paperwork and all go through, I shall have a new job. It is only funded through the end of this year, with no guarantees after that, but I'll take it! Anything's gonna pay more than subbing. Plus, benefits!
(Plus, I can continue to look for a job - museum-type in SF or whatever - without feeling bad, because I can always say my possible start date would be in June.)
current mood:  happy
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| Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
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9:07 pm - Obama Elected!
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Holy fuck! We just elected the first black president! Yes!
current mood:  jubilant
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4:46 pm - Presidential Election '08
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I voted for Obama today on my lunch break. Yay! Go, Obama!
current mood: excited
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| Sunday, July 27th, 2008
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11:09 pm
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| Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
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4:25 pm
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Because I just got back from the dentist, and had an appointment approximately one month ago, as well - and for Julia, who's soon to get a root (which I believe she pronounces, "ruht") canal, here's my favorite performance by Steve Martin:
current mood: no longer numb
current music: video killed the radio star - thanks sarah
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| Friday, February 29th, 2008
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7:21 pm
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As I just posted in a comment on ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) hellosarah's latest entry about her interview, I just got an interview! Yay!
Furthermore, it's with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. This seems like quite a feat to me, because I have applied to them for job after job since 2004, and this is the first I've heard from them (no rejection emails, no word whatsoever). That suggests to me that they like me, right off. Also, in the email, the person actually said they were "impressed by [my] qualifications." I am quite pleased.
Maybe Sarah and I can soon be paying exorbitant rent not too far from each other! :)
Here's the job post if you're curious.
current mood: pleased
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| Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
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8:23 pm
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I just got back from caucusing, and boy are my arms tired!
...Actually I only had to raise the one arm twice. But, whatever.
Caucusing was neat. People there actually had some well-thought-out things to say. I still wish I could have caucused for Edwards, but Obama will have to do.
My precinct: 61% Obama, 39% Clinton.
current mood: political
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| Monday, February 4th, 2008
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3:18 pm - Snow Dog
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We've got about a foot and half of snow on the ground, and Josie and I took Darwin out to play in it. We took some videos of him with our new camera. Have a look.
( Darwin romping through the snow... )
current mood: amused
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| Saturday, January 19th, 2008
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5:46 pm
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Gah! Another rejection. Granted, I wasn't totally stoked for this job, but.. eh, it's still disappointing. :(
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| Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
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5:54 pm
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You know that feeling when you've got a plumber drilling through your kitchen floor? It's a kind of whining in your ears that doesn't go away until there is a big enough gap to make a crawl space to try and fix the water heater. Yeah. I hate that feeling.
Also, when I first attempted to write plumber next to a phone number earlier, it came out "plummer." Thanks a lot, Julia!
current mood:  irritated
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| Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
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7:56 pm - When you dream, what do you dream about?
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Here's a really interesting article about why we dream; postulating dreams are threat simulations that prepare us for real life.
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| Friday, December 14th, 2007
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4:55 pm
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Just had another phone interview. :)
This one was for this job at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum. The job sounds pretty awesome, and in many regards is similar to my old job. Since the duties are all things that I've done before, I had a lot of good answers to give. I felt like it went really well. She asked if I'd be able to come out for an interview in person, and I told her that, actually, I was planning to be in the area in the next few weeks (Josie and I are taking a road trip out to SF, anyway - and this place is in Walnut Creek, a suburb of SF). So, we made a tentative agreement on the week, and I told her I'd call or email her when I work out the details. She said she'd like to be able to show me around the museum and introduce me to the education staff, etc. Yay! It's nice to feel like I've been invited out there, you know? :)
It's also nice to feel like my resume has some weight to it - the substitute teaching actually makes me feel like I come off as more well-rounded.
Anyway, good interview - afer several of my answers, I was thinking, Nailed it!; really nice interviewer (again); and lots of good vibes (again). Hopefully I'll actually nail the job down this time, though. :)
current mood: excited
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| Monday, December 3rd, 2007
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9:09 pm - Articles
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Two cool science articles for your perusing pleasure: The first about dinosaurs (of course), and the second about chimpanzees (who are essentially playing Brain Age, hehe).
current mood:  impressed
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| Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
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4:01 pm
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Oh, and I just got back from the doctor. I do have bronchitis.
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1:21 pm
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The interview was kind of a light pre-interview, I would say. The lady said she'd be passing on the notes from our interview to the director of ed. and if she's interested, she'll call me about a more thorough interview.
It sounds like the museum is small, not unlike the Exhibit Museum, and that their staff largely collaborates when designing new programs. Sounds nice, and sounds like the area is beautiful, but I'm not totally sold on whether or not I want to work there. Again, nice to be not so invested in a potential job sometimes. Oh, and the pay starts at a decent rate. A little above decent, actually, but not astronomical. [insert pun about whether or not Julia's pay is astronomical]
So anyway, that's that.
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| Monday, November 26th, 2007
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4:17 pm - Back in the Saddle?
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So, after the initial disappointment of not getting the last SF job, I updated my resume and Josie and I began job-searching anew. One of the jobs she found for me to apply to was the first one listed here (more specific info in pdf format here). It is weirdly surprising, because I only applied for it a few days ago - okay, I guess it was nearly a week ago - and I didn't really expect to hear anything. I got a stock, two-sentence response with "Thank you for your resume and your interest" and "We are reviewing resumes and will contact you soon if you are selected for an interview," but thought little of it. Today, I got an email from the same person asking to set up a phone interview. I called her and set it up for tomorrow afternoon.
Weird. I don't have a particular interest in Santa Barbara, except that it's in California and it's warm there. Whereas, I had a lot invested in the idea of going to San Francisco, so this is strange. We'll see if anything comes of it, I guess.
I wonder how much it pays...
current mood:  surprised
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| Thursday, September 27th, 2007
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5:17 pm - Phone Interview
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Just finished my phone interview with the director and assistant director of education at LHS. It went well. They will still be interviewing people for about two weeks, so I may not know much more until then.
The assistant director still seemed really positive about me and said that she'd been telling the director about me and our previous interview, etc. (She described it as "how good it was to meet me" or something to that effect, but I forget exactly what she said. Very positive, at any rate.) It sounds to me like she's really pulling for me. That's the same sense I got from her when I was there.
The director also seemed nice, and talking to her and answering her interview questions was fine. When I asked about the other people who are in similar positions to the one(s) they're considering me for, she mentioned that they come from a wide variety of backgrounds; some from purely teacher backgrounds, including specialists in pre-K, and others from purely scientific backgrounds (sounds cool to me, 'cos that's a good mix to have on staff). I was thinking while she said that, though, that I've had both (well, informal teaching + a bit of formal subbing, anyway), and I'm sure she realized it, too. That, and their general attitudes and responses make me think they want me to work there. Erica (the assistant director), also suggested that I peruse the web site to see more specific details of the programs that they offer and call or email her if I had any questions or saw something there that I were excited about, etc. So, that's yet another thing that, to me, hints at me getting this job... They also answered my questions about the pay and benefits and housing in the area very frankly and asked about how long, if I were offered the job, that I thought it would take me to start (in other words, to get housing, move, and start). I told them that, if necessary, I could do that in about two weeks. They were impressed with that, and I told them that I'd done it before in that time when my wife got her job here. It was painful, but could be done, and of course, more time would be preferable/easy, but, yeah, two weeks. So, take their asking that to mean what you will.
All in all, I'm pleased and hopeful.
And impatient. TWO WEEKS?!?!!! Argh.
current mood: hopeful
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| Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
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4:36 pm - Job Stuff
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Subbing this week has gone really well. After having 7th graders full of suckitude last week, I was feeling like I didn't want to bother with this anymore. However, after having this pretty awesome group of kids (4th grade) this week, it almost makes me want to teach for real. Well, almost. I have them again tomorrow. When I came in this afternoon (only needed to teach PM today, for some reason), a bunch of the kids said something to the effect of "Yeah!" :) Also, at least one of them did the "Bump buh-da-bump bump" (the tune of "Shave and a haircut" that I do to get the kids' attention) right after that, hehe. It was sweet. I also heard some of the kids say randomly in the hallway (to other kids) that they like me. And, at the end of the day, one of the kids told me I was an "awesome teacher." Hee hee. :)
As for real jobs, I got an email just now from one of the people at LHS asking if I can do a phone (follow-up) interview on Thursday. Basically, the asst. director of ed. was taking me around when I was there, and the only person I didn't get to meet was the director. So, now I'm going to speak with her over the phone. The asst. dir. said this might be the case. So: Yay! One step closer... :)
current mood: happy
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| Monday, September 17th, 2007
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12:01 pm - career quiz
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As seen on hellosarah and plummer's journals:
Go to www.careercruising.com.
Put in Username: nycareers - Password: landmark
Take the 'Career Matchmaker' questions at the upper left corner
Post the top 10 results.
I must say, a lot of these are right on target. Ah, number 20, when will you finally happen? ;) Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't explicitly point out what came up at number 4. Weird, wild stuff.
1.High School Teacher
2.Elementary School Teacher
3.Early Childhood Educator
4.Taxidermist
5.Music Teacher / Instructor
6.Website Designer
7.Historian
8.Foreign Language Instructor
9.ESL Teacher
10.Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator
( There are some amusing (and applicable) ones in 11 through 40, as well. )
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