Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Wow...what a completely uninspired person I am right now! A year (minus a day) inbetween journal entries! Gasp! Ah well, hardly anyone reads these things anyhow, right?


Well, to update everyone in my life...I didn't miraculously get a teaching job straight out of my Masters Program. First of all, there were issues with my fingerprints, which delayed my teaching certification. And, as I came to find out, not very many places are willing to give a second glance to a teaching resume that reads: certification pending due to fingerprint certification. Especially for a state as competitive as New York State is with teaching jobs.


I spent the majority of my year inbetween substitute teaching and my lovely retail job with which I hold a love/hate relationship with. Sometimes I love where I work, and sometimes I can't stand it. More often than not as of late it's the I can't stand it category. The substitute teaching was great, though, and I learned a lot from it that I wouldn't have if I had gotten a job directly out of grad school. It was great to see so many different teaching styles and classroom set-ups and I feel like I'm a better teacher for it. (Now all I need is that permanent job...come on, New York, give me a chance!)


So, this summer as, obviously, school was out, I spent tutoring a little boy in reading. It was a lot of fun and I got to experiment with how I would set up my reading activities with him. Again, learned a lot about what worked best for me when it came to teaching that area. I also spent the summer, again, working my retail job. It is sad that, having been there for almost three years now, I'm one of the veterans at the store. I've been around longer than some of the store managers, believe it or not. (I also know more than a lot of the store managers as well)


I have filled out various applications for schools here in New York State, but I've only had 1 interview out of the 20 applications I must have filled out over the course of the summer. It looks like I might be substituting for another year if things do not turn around within the next week or two (boo!).


Hmm, if I spend another year substituting, I'm definitely applying for out of state jobs next year! If New York State doesn't want me (and it's a pity that they don't seem to want to hire me) I'll go elsewhere. I probably should have done that this summer, but I was hopeful that I would get a job this year as I now have almost a year of substitute teaching experience under my belt. *sigh* Ah well.


I continue to work on writing my fantasy book (err...have I mentioned that before?) and have several ideas for mangas that I will probably never see through to fruitation because I'll realize that the story-line doesn't work, I no longer like the characters, or I've noticed that the concept has already been done many, many times over. (Don't get me wrong, I like a good vampire novel as well as the next person, but they seem to be sprouting up all over the place as of late)


So, that is the VERY abridged summation of my past year. Pretty boring, isn't it? sweatdrop

Well, here's hoping this year is more exciting than the last, ne? heart