Aiming for progress, not perfection.

"...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6

Monday, October 27, 2008

because you hate vague.

i wasn't going to post what my "long and winding road" is because i'm scared. scared to put it out there for all to see only to have it lead to a dead end. but i also don't want to be the girl who is unnecessarily vague about everything*, and the only reason i was doing it really was because i'm a wimp who is afraid of failure.

so...i've decided to let you in on the super exciting (ha) news.

i'm going to try to become a teacher.

a middle school writing teacher to be exact.

i've been going back and forth about doing it, and i've officially started the process today. applications have been filled out, transcripts and scores requested, release forms signed.

i know you teachers reading are flexing your typing fingers with insight about what teaching is "really like." but i assure you, i've contemplated the time requirements, the stress factor and the down-right difficulty of teaching. there are enough teachers in my life for me to realize that this is not an "oh-my-gaw-the-totally-perfect-job-for-a-mom-'cause-you-get-summers-off!!!" kind of job. i mean, that's nice. but that isn't gonna be what sustains me. i've seen first-hand how hard these men and women work. they have to have summers off in order to maintain any semblence of sanity. but i believe my passion for writing coupled with my life-long calling to kids in this age range gives me at least an OK point from which to launch. i will admit, i am terrified of the classroom management portion.

i plan to stick with kylah's advice: "be really, really mean."

it will be a long process with lots of paperwork and time involved. oh yeah, and lots of work. but it might be the answer. and as i've been saying, i'm desperate for the answer.

i'll keep you posted.

in the meantime, won't you pray for me? oh, and send along any teaching positions that you may hear of. i'm gonna need the best odds possible.

*note: i know there are lots of instances in blog world where vagueness is absolutely necessary. i'm not meaning any passive-aggressive shots at anyone who tends to post vaguely or has posted vaguely in the recent past, let's be clear.

6 comments:

Sara_Smiles said...

I know for a fact there WILL be at least two 7th grade writing positions open at GMS. One is retiring and the other's hubby is the football coach at the 0 and 8 CHS... (they MUST move). Not sure when, though.

HOW EXCITING!!! Can't wait to hear more. You would totally rock!

kj said...

i'm saying, you would absolutely rock at teaching writing. plus-those few sentences about knowing that teaching isn't an easy job, sounds like you really know it. it will be tough, but you can do it. as far the classroom management and stuff like that, we all learn as we go. you'll get it so don't worry.

i'm praying big time and i know God is going to move. i love you, sister, and am more proud of you than you'll ever know.

cls said...

Yes, be mean. Be sassy. Be smart and sarcastic. They'll respect you if you put them in their place up front. If they don't "like" you, so what? It's better to be respected and obeyed than "liked" when you're in a teaching position. And by the end of the year, they're going to like you, anyway.

Don't ever, ever, ever feel like you have to be their friend. There's a formula with each, individual child and you'll learn what works right off the bat.

It's quite an art, that classroom management. But you'll be just fine.

Let me know if you have any ?s about anything - I'm certified across the board in Language Arts, so holla.

Oh, and don't blog negatively about your school experiences. You might get threatened like I did ;)

beautiful chaos said...

Does this mean we will be competing for the same job???

Say it ain't so...

I hope it all works out perfectly.
I know you'll make a great teacher.

ree said...

Praying for you!!!
You are awesome, and will be in the classroom as well!

mari said...

You are truly a stronger woman than I.