You can just call me "Professor Mom"

I've been taking a professional development class in fourth grade science from the district this semester.  I had to be pretty much coerced into taking it.  I didn't want to take one more class - ever.  It is being taught by a district teacher about half my age and a retired professor of education from Westminster College.  I ended up liking both the class and the women teaching it.  The former professor has also been to my classroom to observe a methods student who taught a couple of lessons to my second grade group.  I ended up sitting with the two of them giving some feedback and helping the young lady see that her lesson hadn't been a total failure like she thought.

That evening the professor called me out in the hall.  I, of course, thought I had done something wrong...me and my big mouth...but no.  She asked me if I had ever thought about teaching at the college level and did I want to consider teaching the science methods course at Westminster?  I was surprised and flattered.  She told me the college had hired someone to replace her and was dissatisfied with them.  She said she was going to talk to the dean.  I thought, "Yeah, sure."

The very next day she emailed me and put me in touch with Westminster.  Long story sort of short - I'll be teaching science methods for pre-service teachers next semester.  It's considered an adjunct instructor position, but I can't get the family to stop calling me Professor Mom.

It fell in my lap, but it's something I've been thinking about for quite some time.  Part-time work at a community college or university would be a great thing to do in another city, but most places won't hire you unless you have experience.  And here experience came, knocking at my door.  I am a bit intimidated by the caliber of the other instructors for the methods classes.  I know one personally and have met with another.  The level of discourse is incredibly high and I am hoping I have the ability to give my students the quality experience Westminster expects.  Fortunately, a colleague is teaching the graduate level of the same course and has offered to share his materials and syllibus with me.  He even asked if I would like him to come to the first session and help me get started.  YES - of course.  

Only time will tell if I have bitten off more than I can chew.  I hope not.  P.S.  I kind of like being called Professor Mom.

Moving On

 

We rented a truck this morning and loaded Sean's worldly goods into it.  He moved out of the home he bought with his partner and into a friend's spare bedroom.  Something went wrong between the two of them and while I don't know exactly what, I think things haven't been good for a while now.  They appeared to part friends and we are maintaining a caring if strained relationship with his ex.  Sean is disheartened.  As his relationship is ending for a reason (or two or three - I haven't asked) he's feeling like a failure.  His partner was the first person he was in love with.  And though he acknowledges this is for the best in the long run, in the short run it just sucks.  His new room mate is a nice guy and it should be a good place for Sean to regroup.  Still, I wish my baby didn't have to go through this pain.  (Isn't that what mothers always wish for their children?) 

All I Want for my Birthday is...

My family demands that I post this on my birthday and at Christmas.  Trouble is, I have become accustomed to seeing something I like and just buying it.  I guess I can come up with a few items I haven't immediately thrown money at, like this:

A shower curtain to go behind my shower curtain.  Really.
This boombox so I can listen to NPR at work.  No, they won't let me stream it.
To go along with the shower curtain this bathmat which isn't as awful as the one I now use. 
And finally, this splurge nightgown size XL.  I love Eileen West knit gowns. They are super comfortable and soft.
Is that enough?  Or maybe this.  Or this.  Or even this. 


Really, a meal cooked by someone else and a slice of THE chocolate cake would be enough.

Row, row, row your boat...

I spent Saturday at the Great Salt Lake with a bunch of insane people.  Yeah, they were teachers, so???  We kayaked around a place called Egg Island that is literally covered with seagulls.  Who knew there were three different species of those annoying birds in Utah.  We don't have a Sea!  We do not need seagulls.  I had a great time even considering I fell out of the kayak onto some rocks.  Yes, I do know how lame that sounds.  My arms are black and blue.  It's been so warm in my classroom that keeping long sleeves on was difficult.  Explaining the bruises was even more difficult.  So I put the long sleeved shirt back on.

Population Explosion in Welfyville

Tomorrow Welfybomb joins us here in Welfyville.  Tay and Anna will be staying with us until she gets new job.  I'm thrilled she's moving back into the city, but I'm a little anxious about our personal population explosion.  We'll have six of us here once again.  That's a boatload of people.  Well, not like we haven't done it before.  More kids?  Bring it on!

Being a nice guy - er - gal

I stopped by my new school today.  There are two rooms across the hall from each other for the two new science teachers.  I was expecting them to be essentially the same.  But no.  One looks like this:

 

The other classroom looks a little like this:

 

So what's a nice gal to do?  I really, really want the larger room with the door out to the enclosed outdoor classroom and the lovely high ceilings and tons of storage.  And I could just go into the principal and ask for it.  I have seniority and more importantly, the principal is a friend of mine.  So she would just give it to me.  *sigh*

Well, I guess I'll just wait until we meet and we can look at the rooms together.  Maybe she'll be the nice gal and say, "Hey, you've got seniority.  Why don't you take the larger room?"  One can only hope.

Mad Scientist makes Happy Teacher

 Recently my days as a teacher left me feeling a little - um - frazzled.  There's plenty to blame for the way I feel.  But if I'm honest I'd say a good deal of my frustration comes from the fact that I've been doing the same job for several years now and I'm too familiar with the things that should be fixed and can't be.  I'm guessing everyone pretty much has those experiences in their life, too.  You'd love to be able to do some task the efficient way, the way you know will work and will benefit you, or your company, but there's a reason you can't.  Maybe the boss is dead set against it.  Maybe it's not economically feasible.  Maybe you just don't have the time.  Anyway, I've become far too aware of the way I wish things were.  For instance, at the beginning of the school year I wish I had time for two important activities - planning the first few days of instruction, both alone and with grade level teams, and setting up my classroom.  When I do have to come in for my first contract day what do we do?  We sit in meetings where the administration tries to "motivate" us.  We go over test results that we already went over the spring before.  We listen to the new rules someone at the district thought up for us to have to follow.  We get maybe 1/2 day to work in our rooms.  It's disheartening, and most of all, totally predictable.  I know I could come in a week early and have that planning time.  I wouldn't get paid for it, though.  So I whine (usually just in my mind) about it.

This year I've been given the opportunity to make a change.  I was hired by my old principal, a person I greatly admire and work well with, to teach science all day long.  I'll be working with students kindergarten through fifth grade on a rotation, seeing each class twice a week for about an hour.  It's an extremely interesting idea and something our district hasn't tried before.  I'll be working with another teacher who will be doing essentially the same job with the other half of the school.  Together we have a chance to show the district what science specialists can accomplish in terms of raising test scores and contributing to excellent classroom climate.

I don't make a habit of writing about my work here, partly because I want to be careful about what I post about colleagues and students.  Also, my life is not all about work.  But my life has been a lot about science for a long time now.  When I'm not in school I'm reading newspaper articles about the latest scientific findings.  (Sometimes I argue out loud with the paper as I read.  Mike finds this hilarious.)  I look through science catalogs and think about ordering things.  I don't generally order them, though, because I don't really have a place to use them.  UNTIL NOW!  Ha!

So now I'm feeling a little more like I can do a couple more years in the classroom.  At least two and maybe three if things work out.  It gives me a chance to try something I love.  Besides, it'll be a while before I figure out what needs to be fixed that I can't do anything about. So I'm feeling a bit more like: