Still, I love this time of year. You can feel the summer peaking in energy, and I love to go out and pour wine on the growing corn, and give thanks, and just soak up the beauty of the season.The painting above is from a mural at a Fairfax County school in Falls Church, VA where I worked during this past school year. It has a summer-paradise feel to it, and I loved the snake in the tree.
HERE’S THE PLAN FOR THE SUMMER:
I need to get some sort of temp job in July. In August, I’m hoping to take part of the month off and study for the chemistry Praxis exam which I will take some time in September or October. I’m doing it in high school chemistry because it is one of the few areas where the demand for inner city teaching gigs still exists. The economy is so bad right now that it’s nearly impossible to get a spot in these teaching residencies these days. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that chemistry is going to open a door.
It’s inorganic chemistry, which I haven’t done in years, but I should be able to get it all down in August. These Praxis exams are a joke compared to the pre-med curriculum that I first learned chemistry in.
Then I’ll start another round of applying to teaching residency programs in the fall (Baltimore Teaching Residency, Prince George’s County if their program is open, Teach for America). If I can get one of them to pick me up for the 2011-2012 school year, I’m set.
Detail from a different mural at the same school as the one above.
Note the silhouette map of Africa and the Middle East, the gold key, and the peace symbols(often associated with Peace Corps).
WHAT ELSE AM I DOING THIS SUMMER?
The only thing I can afford to do is my Master Gardener certification. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years, and this would be a really good summer to do it since I am going to have August off, hopefully. Frederick County has offered the only summer certification course in Maryland in previous years – I’m hoping they’re doing it again this year, and that there will still be open spaces in the program. It will be very last-minute if I do sign up for it. Typically, the class starts right after the 4th of July.
I’M SO GLAD THE SCHOOL YEAR IS OVER ON WEDNESDAY
Substitute teaching was a mixed blessing this year. Doing it in Montgomery County was a losing proposition – I lost more money than I made (for reasons that were partially my own fault and partially weather-related), and I feel like the whole thing was an exercise in charity. Plus some of the schools that I worked in were way too demanding, considering what I was getting paid to be there every day.
Fairfax County is a lot easier in some ways. Substitute teaching at the middle school and high school level there is no where near as demanding as it is in Montgomery County. Much of Fairfax County is a truly suburban system, and the students are simply easier to deal with. Montgomery County Public Schools tend to have jaded students in the wealthier part of the county, and large numbers of ghetto and semi-ghetto students in Gaithersburg, upper Montgomery County, and along the P.G. border. You work harder as a substitute teacher in this environment, and get no thanks for it.
Fairfax County elementary schools are roughly comparable to Montgomery County – I didn’t see a real difference there. The more I worked in elementary schools this year, though, the less I had the patience for it. Too much of it was babysitting, and I just didn’t care for it. Also, elementary school teachers and administrators create a hencoop dynamic a little too easily for my taste unless the school is well-run by a competent principal. In an elementary school where the principal is part of the problem rather than at the center of the solution, things go downhill very fast.
Ultimately, I look forward to working in Fairfax County again next year, but I'm going to stick to middle schools and high schools as much as I can.
No comments:
Post a Comment