Believe it or Not.....

I am still alive, my lack of blogging notwithstanding.I'm still teaching. I'm about 50 pounds lighter. I'm stressed out and sleep deprived. I just had a birthday. Oh, and I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year as part of my grad course. This means I have even less time to blog than I did before. If you want to know how my teaching year is going so far, read my book when I'm finished. I'm basing it off my experiences at work. Truth is often stranger than fiction.

I just wanted to post to let you know I'm alive. And I love my blogging family. And I'm singing in church still.

Good night.

Bots, Part I

The competition did not go well. Several of the kids who came did NOTHING. Some of the kids who came obviously had never done anything to contribute, so I was baffled as to why they were allowed to come. One kid actually kept doing things he was told not to do. A few weeks ago, the school robotics club sponsor announced there would be no program next year.

I've decided that by-golly the kids who have worked hard and have a genuine interest will be back next year. I looked at the rules and community clubs or organizations are allowed to compete so long as they can prove everyone on the team falls within the allowed ages. Furthermore, the teams can be sponsored by an individual or entity in the form of cash or materials. It may be possible for a bot to be built, entry fees for the competition, transportation and hotel rooms can be gotten for less than $1,500. The rules state a club can also can use volunteer consultants, so long as the students themselves do all the work and the consultants merely provide instruction. Therefore, I'm going to lead a community robotics team next year. I have workbenches in my garage, I've found several marine technology websites by credible organizations that offer step-by-step instructions on building the underwater robots, I have several contacts in the petrochemical, technology and hobby fields whom I can ask to sponsor us, I know a few kids on the high school team whom I will ask to serve as consultants, and I will beg and borrow whatever tools necessary to get those kids to compete again next year.

Even if their school does decide to scrape together a program next year, I'm still going to ask the students I have in mind if they would want to do it as a neighborhood club, rather than going with the school. I really think we could do this, and I'm going to ask Jamie's friend's parents if they want to help. Of course, all of this is contingent upon if the rules continue to allow a community club to compete. I'll let you know in November or December when they post the rules if I will be sponsoring a robotics club of my own. Until I know whether or not I'll be allowed to lead a team, I'm not saying anything to Jamie or his friends. I don't want to get their hopes up for no reason.

P.S. I'm too exhausted to try to upload pictures from the competition tonight. Sometime this week after I wrap up my finals I'll post the pics under a post entitled, "Bots, Part II".

P.P.S.S. Because the Robotics II class has officially been canceled for next year, Jamie was put back in orchestra. I'm VERY happy about that!!!!

TExES Exam Scores

For those of you who don't do facebook, I thought I would let you know that, despite a horrendous testing experience (nearly an hour delay, very loud construction noise right next door, unprofessional staff, etc.), I passed my content area certification exam.  I am a very happy, relieved woman!  Unfortunately, I can't relax and kick back, because I have a ton of homework to do, and this is midterms week, and Jamie has an orchestra concert tonight, I'm chaperoning a field trip (and getting observation hours credit for it) tomorrow, and Jamie has a robotics competition tomorrow night and all day Saturday.  No rest for the weary, I guess.  But still, one test successfully completed, one more test to go (I'll probably take it next fall).

Tales Out of School

For those of you wondering, I had a FANTASTIC time on Monday during my student observations.  In the morning, I sat with Jamie's reading teacher from last year.  I even got to help out with reading aloud when her voice got tired.  The school cannot afford to buy enough copies of books their reading to send a copy home with each student, so the books have to be shared and read during class time.  Sometimes, Mrs. B reads chapters aloud, then stops at key points to ask students to make predictions, observations or connections to what they have read.  Monday was a read-aloud day.  It was great to hear the kids' opinions and predictions!

When it was time for Mrs. B's planning/advising/break, I went to Jamie's current English teacher, Mrs. F.  Jamie had already had his class with Mrs. F by this time, so there was no conflict with my sitting with her class.  They were working on writing an essay on the themes in Langston Hughes' "Thank You, M'am".  Lunch period was also during the time when I was with her class, so I got to sit and eat lunch outside in the courtyard with Jamie and his friends Spencer, Brandt, Maxwell and J.W. (I think?). The kid whose name I am not quite sure of looks a scarily-similar to Jamie - nearly the same color eyes, hair is nearly the same color, freckles like mad, and only a teensy bit taller.  It was very strange to see the two of them sitting side-by-side.  But, it was good getting to eat lunch with all "my kids" - well, except for our friend William.  William purposely hid when he saw me in the cafeteria; he said he was afraid I'd do something to embarrass him.  Who, me?

After lunch, Mrs. F and I got a chance to chat during the last few minutes of class.  She told me that Jamie wasn't being challenged enough by her regular English class, and wanted me to get the counselors to move him to her Pre-AP English class.  Considering Jamie has a 100 average in the class, I agreed he must not be challenged enough, and went straight to see the counselor.  His schedule will be rearranged today, and he'll start Pre-AP English tomorrow.  He's excited, and so am I.  When I got back, Mrs. F and I swapped lists of "must-read" books.  We both like YA fantasy literature.  I've been invited to come back to her class any time I want.  I definitely will be back next time I do observations!

Lastly, I went back to Mrs. B's class to observe her Advanced 6th grade reading class.  I was not impressed at all with some of the students in this class!  They were in the midst of group projects, so they were rowdy.  On top of that, they were disrespectful to each other and the teacher.  Also, their responses to Mrs. B's questions on their group projects did not show nearly the critical thinking skills that were observed in the so-called regular classes.  But it was good to see how she kept the kids on task and from being too loud when working in their groups.

When the day was over, I was sad to realize I wouldn't be back again for several weeks for more observation.  I had a lot of fun and learned a lot from the teachers.  I cannot wait for next time!

The Game Plan

I met with a counselor at Wayland Baptist University on Tuesday to see whether WBU or Texas Woman's University would be the right fit for me. I already knew (mostly) the particulars of how the Master's of Arts - Teaching program works at TWU, but I wasn't sure all the requirements, deadlines, etc. at WBU. I quickly realized several things about WBU that - although I was aware of - I hadn't thought through all the ramifications. For the following reasons, WBU just won't work for me.

• Because they are on a quarter system, they have four short (11 week) class periods a year. They also start earlier than other programs. The first class period is Aug. 16 - Oct. 30. I would be required to do 30 hours of classroom observation during the first class period. But, I'm out of vacation days and they don't reset until Oct. 4. This would make it difficult to fulfill the classroom observation requirement without blowing through all my vacation days in the first month I'm eligible. This doesn't work for me.
• They do not have a spring break and don't observe most federal holidays. This means on most days when I typically have a breather and just enjoy spending time with my kiddo, I'd instead be in class or on the computer in an online classroom. Jamie needs my attention as much as possible, so this doesn't work for me, either.
• They administer their financial aid in such a way that I wouldn't get any refunds until halfway through the semester. This would make it very difficult for me to be able to afford books and supplies I typically use financial aid funds to cover. Again, not working for me.
• They are a private university, which means that they are more expensive than TWU (which is a state university). They offered me less financial aid than TWU and are more expensive than TWU, meaning less money back in my pocket. Hmmm, still not working.
• Due to when their courses are offered and the required courses for the program, it would take six semesters before I was able to start student teaching. Not. Working.

So, I've decided to attend TWU's Master's of Arts – Teaching program and pursue certification in English/Language Arts/Reading (ELAR) 4-8 and 4-8 Generalist (you have to have both to teach elementary level classes. Sixth grade is still considered elementary education in Texas, even though the students are in a middle school). This means I can teach ELAR to anyone in grades 4 – 8, and also sets me up nicely to go back later and get my Master Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist certification, which is a critical shortage area.

Once I get my initial ELAR/Generalist certification, I can then take the exam for any other certification I want to add. Under NCLB, I am required to have enough credit hours of study in a core subject area to be considered "highly qualified" in order to teach that subject. "Highly qualified" typically means you have had 24 credit hours of study in that subject. Core subject areas are ELAR, Social Studies, Math, Science, etc. This is where all those years of indecision on a major have come in handy. I am "highly qualified" in both ELAR and Social Studies.

There are other certifications in which you do not have to be considered highly qualified, but in which you must have had at least 12 hours of study in order to be able to reasonably pass the certification exam. I will easily be able to add EC-12 certifications in Theatre Arts and Technology Applications (a critical shortage area). If I take the PPR exam for 8-12 grades, I can also later take tests qualifying me to teach Sociology and Criminal Justice at the high school level. In other words, I will be qualified to teach several different subject areas, making me more marketable.

Also, another good thing about the TWU program is that there is a possibility I can be in the classroom teaching by August 2011-2012. The program requires either 6 hours of student teaching (supervised teaching with a different teacher of record for the class) in one semester or a 12 hour internship (the graduate student is actually the teacher of record but has a mentor teacher assigned to them and has a team from their graduate program overseeing their progress) over the course of one academic school year. Interns are paid by the school district at a somewhat lower level than a certified teacher, and then the intern pays their master's program of record a fee to cover costs associated with their oversight.

All the school systems down here participate in internship programs and student teaching. It is more likely one can get a position as a student teacher, but internships are often used in areas where a teacher is needed for a class but there is a shortage of teachers available to teach the subject area. If I take 3 classes this semester, 3 classes in spring and 2 classes in the summer, I will have all my hours to be able to start an internship next fall, if one is available.

I will be talking with my TWU advisor and the school districts down here to try to line an internship up now so that I can begin teaching next year***. If there isn't a shortage and they aren't needing an intern to cover ELAR 4-8 (you have to student teach or have an internship in your initial certification area), then I will instead take 3 classes this fall, three classes in the spring, take the summer off, take two classes in Fall '11 and do my student teaching in Spring '12. Either way, I'll be in the classroom teaching in whatever capacity in a very short period of time. I'm so excited!

***UPDATE: I called my advisor this afternoon while my boss was out eating lunch. She said that internships are hard to get right now, but that student teaching posts are easy to find. She said it has to do with budget constraints. So, I will still try to get an internship, but am putting my back-up plan in place to student teach. If that is the route I wind up going, I will take the summer off from my degree plan and take some web design and computer programming classes to help me when I take the Technology Applications test. Also, that means I can finally design the company web page like my boss has been wanting me to do (but which I have been too unsure of myself to do).