It has been a very interesting week. Was Thanksgiving really just a week ago? I'm having a hard time trying to wrap my brain around that. First, I'm somewhat happy to announce that I somewhat completed my November challenge of thirty scrapbook pages in thirty days. I completed the layouts for all thirty pages. Sadly, I did not complete all of the embellishments. I got about six pages completed before I had to pack it all up in preparation for Christmas. But, thirty pages! Thirty new pages are sitting there just waiting for a few stickers and stamps, and considering how the second half of November treated me, I'll consider that a success.
Monday morning rolled around with me keeping Eli home due to the fact that he was without teacher. I called the school and left a message for the principal to return my call with news of his new teacher. I then called the superintendent and had a lengthy discussion with him about our situation. He was very accommodating to our circumstances and informed me that I'd be hearing that day from the principal. I did not hear and had to call after school hours. Finally, he called me and after a curt conversation (on his part), Eli had a new teacher. We met with her the following morning "supervised" by the principal, yet another act on his part to show off his so-called power. She requires all of her students to go to the bathroom at the designated times and has a very clear discipline policy. This week Eli has had no accidents and we've had communication from her every day reporting on his behavior. One day he even made his way back up from a warning to being "ready to learn."
Generally speaking I am a quiet, introverted person, and as most introverts, I am observant, taking in my surroundings, and waiting for the right moment, the right time to speak my mind and only speak it when needed. I do not generally spout off my opinions at will for any or all to hear. And that is why I have absolutely no use for the principal of my children's school. I am appalled at his behavior towards me and my family and his misuse of his position to give himself a sense of power or self-worth or whatever he feels he is lacking in his life. Everyone is so focused on the parents' role in the school, the teachers' role in the school, the students' role in the school. What about the administrators? The leaders? The people who set the tone? The people who set the example?
And with that, I will now share where I was yesterday...a job interview. Two English teacher positions were posted before Thanksgiving. I applied to both and got a call Monday from the one district. This district neighbors our small town and it's a very nice suburban, middle-class demographic. They also offer employee discounts for sending their own children to their schools. It's the "perfect" place for me to be. It's also a long-term substitute position that could potentially lead to nothing permanent. Or, it could be a foot in the door. And ever since I scheduled the interview, I've had severe anxiety. The "what-ifs" abounded, still do, but I carried on and prepared for the interview.
It was terrible! It was completely robotic, with the three administrators taking turns asking me questions and writing my answers down, no response, no dialogue. I have some pretty unique experiences in the field of education, and you'd expect people who have not shared those experiences to maybe want to learn a little about them. I talked about them as much as the pre-planned questions allowed, but that was it. And then it was my turn to ask the questions. This is not my forte in the interview process, but I had some planned. Here's how it went:
Principal: So, do you have any questions for us?
Me: What do you expect of me in terms of classroom management and routines? Do you want me to follow the established routine, or do you want me to create something of my own? (The teacher is not coming back this year, so these will be my students for the remainder of the year.)
Principal: Well, I would only expect you to create your own plan if you found serious fault with what was in place, but I can assure you that this is a very beloved, accomplished teacher who you'll be filling in for and she is very well like and respected by all of her students with virtually no discipline issues. The system she has works, so I don't think it would benefit you to walk into her room on the first day and rip down her list of rules (and he actually put his hands up and acted out ripping something off the walls.)
Me: Okay.
Principal: Do you have any more questions?
Me: Nope, I'm good.
And then I went and wrote a two paragraph essay on the scope of language arts as it pertains to the Common Core Standards, and if you are not familiar with Common Core, you should know that the scope of language arts could fill pages upon pages of books.
Yeah, I'm really starting to question if I want my foot in the door. I will either get a phone call Monday or I won't. I can't really go into all the fears and questions I have going in my mind right now. My mind is far too manic on that subject to put my thoughts into words. I just pray that the way will somehow reveal itself to me. And in the meantime, there is my December challenge...it's been a fun one!
No comments:
Post a Comment