On to the next adventure...

This will most likely be a rather long post.  Scroll on through if you must, or grab a coffee (or a glass of wine!) and sit a spell.  It's probably a 10 minute read.

I have been decidedly absent in the last however many months.  As many of you already know, I was not hired for the permanent position at FSW in May 2019.  It was very unexpected, and beyond disappointing. In spite of some wonderful travel adventures, (India in June, Japan in September) the lack of employment and direction in my life sent me in a tailspin. Depression and anxiety reared it's ugly head.  Even still, I must count my blessings....Len and my children, who have been incredibly understanding and supportive, are the first who come to mind. Next are some pretty terrific neighbors, Jerry and Joy, and Douglas and Rob, who kept me together and kept me afloat.  I have done sewing projects, painting, tiling and laying flooring to make ends financially meet all this past summer and fall.

I drew unemployment for the first time in my life over the summer months, and I have applied for JOBS, anywhere and everywhere, for anything and everything.  I applied to several different airlines as a flight attendant. I looked in to social work down here (bilingual in Spanish is required), I continued to apply for teaching jobs abroad, hell, I even applied to Dollar Tree for holiday help!

I was offered a teaching job in Thailand in August, but the school was small, the pay was very low, and I was not in the right frame of mind to head halfway across the world to work and live. Also, there was no place for Len at this school, and I wasn't leaving without him.  I also had two offers from schools in the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), who then rescinded when they learned I did not have a teaching license.  One was needed to secure a work Visa.  In fact, many countries now require a valid teaching license in order to teach abroad.  This bit of news lit a fire under my hiney...

So, I have never held a teaching license, per se.  In the state of Indiana, my Teaching License indicated K-12 Guidance, which I did for many years at two different school corporations. When I started teaching in higher education (where a teaching license is not required, at minimum one needs a Master's degree), I let my Guidance License expire, as I never saw myself going back to school counseling.  I loved teaching in the classroom.  I was good at it.  My students really responded to me.

After much research this summer, I discovered a 'loop hole' that would allow me to get a State of Florida teacher's license.  By having two years of full time teaching in higher education, this usurped the requirement of a Bachelor's in Education plus student teaching. (My degrees are in Psychology). The only caveat was that I had to register and pass two state exams.  I passed the Professional Educator's Exam in August.  This one was quite easy- the laws and ethics of the teaching profession, classroom management, lesson planning, inclusion, etc.  It was all the ins and outs of teaching. The second exam was a little more daunting.

In order to be licensed to teach Psychology (my wheelhouse) in the State of Florida, I had to pass the exam for Social Studies Grades 6-12 which includes Government, Economics, World History, US History, World Geography, Sociology and Psychology.

WOOF.

Needless to say, I wished that I had paid more attention to Government, Economics, and any form of History back in high school.  Then again, that was all nearly 40 YEARS AGO, would I have retained much of anything?!  Doubtful.

So I bought the books, and began studying in earnest on my trip to Japan.

I read.

I highlighted.

I made outlines.

I made note cards.

Hundreds of note cards.

I developed a strategic plan to pass, which included writing off most of economics, which was worth 18% of the total.  If I nailed the other sections, and got some of the very basics of economics correct, I would still pass the exam.  Oh, and what was most disheartening was that Sociology and Psychology were worth only 7% of the exam.  So in order to teach Psychology, which in effect was about 3.5% of the total questions on the exam, I had to pass all of that other crap!  Riiiiiiiiiight.

I was a nervous wreck going in to the exam, but with each click of the mouse on what I KNEW was the correct answer, my confidence grew.  With the questions on Economics, I mostly laughed. Seriously.  I LOL'd during the exam. By the grace of God, I passed!  I thought that was it, I would now get my Florida teaching license.

I was wrong.

In order to get a license, you must first be hired by a school corporation in Florida.  They then complete all other documents, and I receive a three year provisional license as a result.  Believe me, there's a laundry list of other hoops I must jump through in three years to get it converted to a Professional License.  That's another story for another day.

In the meantime, I attended the International Job Fair in Atlanta the first weekend in December.  Assuming I eventually land that Social Studies 6-12 license, this opens more doors for me to return abroad and teach other subjects besides Psychology. Psychology teachers are such a small niche in international education, there really are not many openings.  However, I can now expand my search to include World History and World Geography. In the process of studying for the Florida exam, I discovered I love World History and Geography, which makes sense, given my world travels.  I also would love to teach AP Human Geography, which combines a bit of Psychology, Sociology, and Geography.

Well, last month I got offered a job in Cairo, Egypt.  After much deliberation, I turned it down.  At the job fair, I made contacts with Portugal, Guatemala, Morocco, Vietnam, and Grand Cayman Island.  I am still hoping I may hear from one of those.  But, I also have applied directly to schools in Prague, Australia, Spain and Romania. I search daily on three sites that hire international educators. I received an offer from Bucharest, Romania, just before Christmas, which I am seriously considering.  I would love to get in Eastern Europe as it would appear my youngest daughter will be moving to Europe this summer. (also another story for another day).

Well, wouldn't you know, when it rains, it pours.

There were two openings in the school district where I live.  Both were for middle school social studies.  On a lark, I decided to throw my hat in the ring. 🤠

Within 48 hours of submitting my application, I was called for an interview.  At the interview, I was offered the job.  It was for 6th grade Social Studies, which is not part of the Common Core Exams. They do take a State Exam for Civics, but that is in the 7th grade curriculum.  This means, so long as I follow the scope and sequence, what I do with my kids is pretty much left to me.  That sounded very appealing to me.

The downside?  It is a Grade D school.  They have not had a proper teacher all year, just subs.  In fact, the school year started with seven teaching positions unfilled. They still are lacking six teachers; 7th grade Science was filled just two weeks ago. This is a low income school, which is nearly 80% Hispanic and most of them are ESL.  Their parents have immigrated to the US (some legally, some illegally) to work in the sugar cane fields, orange groves, tomato, cabbage, and watermelon patches, or on cattle ranches.  Most work for US Sugar, which is headquartered in Clewiston, FL, where I will be teaching.

Yep, you read that right.  I am off to my next adventure, teaching 125 6th graders in Social Studies!

I really must have my head examined.

I hope they don't eat me alive!

But the upshot is I WILL get that State of Florida Teacher's License so long as I survive the next five months 😳 Surely, sixth graders will not be the death of me 💀

I begin on Monday, January 6th, and I am to start with the Declaration of Independence, then American Revolution, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, The Civil War, and then I front load Government and Civics in April and May as a precursor to their 7th grade curriculum. Being the Type A and perfectionist (anxious baby) that I am, I already have the first six weeks of school planned.  Ask me anything you want to know about the Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, and the American Revolution! I have been fully immersed in history the last two weeks, and my mind has been abuzz with creativity and lesson plans.  I have felt energized, y'all!  Oh, and since I am employed once again, I splurged on a ticket to go see Hamilton that is coming to Ft. Myers the end of this month.  I'm so excited!

Since Christmas, I have been lesson planning, shopping the hell out of Amazon and Dollar Tree, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!  My classroom is on the back forty of the campus...behind the gymnasium.  It was previously used as a store room.  The windows were spray painted black (I guess they didn't want the football equipment to get stolen?!). There were holes in the walls, the walls and floors were covered in years of grime, and there were mouse turds everywhere.  And yes, kids had been sitting in this space, with several different substitute teachers the whole first semester.

Pitiful. 😔

I interviewed on Monday, December 16th. After the principal showed me the classroom and gave me a student text book (there is no teacher's edition), she asked if I could start the next day?!  I politely said 'No' and told her I thought it was best if the kids made a fresh start with their new teacher after the Christmas break.  I could see I had my work cut out for me, and I didn't just mean lesson planning.

I have physically worked in the classroom the last three days.  I just finished up this morning.  I can safely say I am as ready as I will ever be to start my new job on Monday.  Thankfully, there are two PD days this week which will allow me to get oriented before the kids arrive on Wednesday, January 8th.

Len went with me one day to clean.  He scraped the black spray paint off the windows, and got one of the windows working so I could open it.  He patched the holes in the walls, and together we gave the whole room a fresh coat of paint. It looked 100% better after that first day.

Joy, my sweet 80yo neighbor, offered to help me clean the following day.  We cleaned all the desks and tables, and we scrubbed the floor- it took us three hours alone to do the floor!  I burned through a gallon of bleach, a gallon of Awesome Orange, and a gallon of lavender-scented Fabuloso, and countless buckets of water. You cannot believe the filth, y'all. I also started moving in and decorating while Joy scrubbed my desk and work area.   We then had fun shopping at Dollar Tree and Walmart for the kids 💗

Now for the full tour...😊

I was told not to expect the children to have basic supplies.
When they walk in the door, this table is to their right.  I have
just one set of classroom textbooks, and the laminated Xs are
the signal to children that they will not need their book that
day- I have a fun activity planned instead 😃 

To the right of the wall is the daily bell schedule, the mailroom,
 and another supplies table.  I teach all but second period. The bins
have the period number on them. Blue is the Inbox, for turning
in work. Purple is the Outbox, where I put graded work that
needs to be returned.  The supplies table has dictionaries,
ESL resources (including two class textbooks in Spanish)
and the middle section has six desk caddies for group work.
Joy purchased the items needed for the kids- each caddie has
crayons, colored pencils, scissors, tape and glue. I think
the kids will be excited to have new supplies 😁  I loved having
plants in my classroom in China, so I bought plants for here, too.

This is the view from the front door. The mailroom and supplies
are to your left, and then the next wall is the front of the room-
my desk, TV screen, whiteboard, globe, and the window that
Len got clean and working again! Joy bought me a flowering
plant for my desk 🎕  There is only one Chromebook for the
teacher's use.  The student chair next to my desk is the Help
Chair, but it will also be used each period.  I am bringing my
iPad, and am cuing up the The History Channel website.
Each period while I take attendance, one student will come
up and choose an event from 'This Day in History'. Once I
finish, they will report to the class what they discover.
I am numbering the students, so the person will change daily.
After 'This Day in History', I will begin the lesson for the day.

This is a close up of the classroom procedures
which are central to the whole school.  I like
the Level 0-3 which illustrates what the noise
level should be given the activity.  I also
like the finger gestures, and consequences
for dealing with behavioral issues.  Bell Work
is what the students are to do in the first minutes
of class while I take attendance and their
classmate prepares "This Day in History."  It
maybe silent reading from the text, it may be
a writing prompt, or they may begin copying
notes I have on the TV screen. 

This is the view of my classroom when standing in the
front corner by the globe and window.

The next wall, opposite the front door, is dedicated to Civics
and Government, which I will get to in April. There's a poster
of the US Presidents, the three branches of government,
and a poster of the checks & balances of our government.

The whole back of the room is set up for Extended
Learning.  When students finish their work for the
day, they may choose a location in the back.  I
have bookcases filled with books (they were
already there; Len just organized them). I hope
to have a carpet and some bean bags chairs
there for silent reading.  The two desks together
are for extra credit.  In the basket is a large
dice they will roll, and whatever comes up is
the activity they will do.  It may be map work,
a writing prompt, or a simple 'five facts' report
taken from books on Ancient History, World
History, World Landmarks, or National Parks.

The back wall has a 4' x 6' World Map that I got on Amazon.
Under it is a table and four chairs with a 1000 piece puzzle.
The one they have to start with is 99 Famous Landmarks from
around the world.  I can't wait to tell them about hiking The Great
 Wall in China, or seeing the Taj Mahal in India this past summer!
This area allows room for about 10 students in the back to busy
themselves with reading, an extra credit opportunity, or to
work on a puzzle while I devote more time and attention to the
ESL kids or those who are struggling for one reason or another.

I went in this morning to finish organizing my desk, to water the plants, and get my 'to do list' made for Monday.  The room looks clean and fresh, and I hope they are excited for the changes in store.  It's a huge difference alone in the look and order of the room.  Hopefully they will realize that a lot of love, time, energy, effort (and money!) has been devoted to them already. I know it will take several weeks to get us all in a routine, and for us to get to know and respect one another.  I am exhausted already thinking how long and full these days are going to be.  It will be nothing at all like teaching at the college level, where a work day is a matter of a few hours.

I intentionally did not post any classroom rules.

The reason?

I didn't want to come across as a strict disciplinarian (though I can be!) who has a lot of rules.

I really only have one rule:  

Be Kind.

If we can all be kind to one another, all the rest will fall in to place.  They will hear much about kindness in the coming weeks, and I will do my very best to model kind behavior to them.  As has happened in both my college and international high school classes, I want this class to be the one they 'come home to', the one where it is their safe place to fall, and the class where they have the most fun learning.  That is my hope for them.

As for me?  I have a microwave to keep me in coffee and instant mac n' cheese (my go to comfort food) and I have a plethora of Glade plug ins throughout the room.  My second hope for the semester is that Cashmere Woods will dampen down any pre-pubescent funk that is common to poor hygienic 11 and 12 year olds!  From teaching college to the sixth grade...what a wild ride this is going to be.

As for returning abroad?  I was very up front with my new principal that I was looking to return abroad for the 2020-21 school year.  She was most understanding and supportive.  All she asked was to give her my best semester, and we'll both just take it from there. I have a few weeks to decide about Bucharest, meanwhile I will try to get my feet under me with these young'ns. Who knows? I may love it.

And so the next adventure begins on Monday. 😳🙏

G'nite, y'all!