!

After getting laid off, the last two weeks of school were a strange mix of good and bad. On the one hand, I had been somewhat miserable at this job, and it was a little bit of a relief to be moving on. But I the school has its upsides, my coworkers are awesome, and there's something to be said for the stability of spending a second year at a school you're familiar with. My kids also made it a little harder to leave.  They frustratingly bombed their final, but amazingly made 2.6 points of growth on the ACT. When they heard I wouldn't be back next year, the same kids who usually complain about how much they hate my class were now complaining about how they always fire the good teachers. Since finals happen a week before school actually ends (Chicago Public Schools never makes sense, get used to it) I figured I'd have the last week to just have fun with the students, have a class party, and get some closure on the year. But since the kids know their grades have already been finalized by then, they basically stop showing up. I only saw about 15-20 kids total over the whole last week of school, so I really didn't get to say good bye to a lot of my favorite students. That, and the fact that I don't have a way of contacting them now that I'm not at my old school, is probably the saddest thing about leaving this job.

I was still hoping against hope that my school might find the money to hire me back, but I resigned myself to the TFA job search process. Last year it took me 2 months and about 7 interviews to find a job, and when I was finally offered one it wasn't even through an interview TFA had set up, so I wasn't too optimistic this year about my prospects in an even worse hiring climate. Ready for another experience like last year where all of the schools I was scheduled to meet with cancelled, I showed up to a TFA interview day on the second to last day of school. But by some miracle, I ended up being offered the first job I interviewed for! (It took another follow-up interview the next day, but since that one was with a TFA alum that I've had grad school class with, the whole process was pretty non-stressful.)

It's a huge relief to be hired, and amazing how much easier the whole process was now that I actually have experience. I've met a few people who have worked at my new school, and so far everything I've heard is amazingly positive. The one downside is that work starts August 5th, so I'll basically have no summer once I get back from vacation. Still so worth it.

And now my blog is finally up to date!... next step, posting about things without waiting until months after they've actually happened.

school's out!

This semester I've been taking a graduate class in Educational Psychology, which sounds like it should be interesting, but in fact mostly made me miserable. Since it was an online class, I had to post bi-weekly (or is it semi-weekly?) blog entries about my classroom, which made me extremely fed up with blogging. Hopefully now that that's over, I might get this going regularly again (...not that I was ever up-to-date on this in the first place, but that's beside the point).

Quick recap: 

April 17th I took the APT (assessment of professional teaching) and a psychology certification exam. They were two of the easiest tests I have ever taken in my life. Here are two actual sample questions from the APT:

1. Which of the following is not considered proper etiquette in an instant message conversation?

    a) calling someone by a nickname

    b) using "emoticons"

    d) writing in all capital letters

2. Which of the following should you do first if your computer is not working?

    a) make sure that it is plugged in and turned on

    b) call IT

    c) throw it at a wall

Yes, these are real questions. Yes, these are real answer choices. And yes, this is what the state of Illinois thinks it vital for me to know to be a certified teacher. Sigh.

After the APT I went out to a free open bar and then off to a surprisingly fun karaoke night. Nothing too crazy, but probably one of my best nights in Chicago so far. 

About two weeks after, I went to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. It was an all-around awesome time. Great seeing Jason & John, great wearing summer dresses and ridiculous hats and sipping mint juleps. And definitely a much-needed vacation.

Unfortunately, I came back to school to find that in my absence, no one had noticed I was gone (typical), my students were left without a sub, and someone had pulled the emergency shower and left it on until water leaked through the ceiling of the room below mine. Somewhere around then I became really disillusioned with my job, my school, and especially my students. The next month and half was a constant battle to drag myself out of bed in the morning and keep up the energy to get through my days without punching anyone. Needless to say, I was very very glad when the year began to wrap up.

Then, June 6th, myself and about 8 other teachers got called down to the principal's office so she could inform us that our positions will not exist next year. I am glad that they let us know earlier rather than later, and they tried to be nice about it and assure me that I'd be rehired if they found the money, but still, not exactly an uplifting moment.