Got A Job!

The hiatus seems better to me because my blog stats say that I get a good amount of people looking every day.  I’m pretty sure it’s on the strength of my teacher pay-scale post and, of course, the kangaroo beastiality.

Anyway, I did get a new job for next year.  It’s a little further away from my current school but there are younger teachers and it’s a newer school.  Plus they wanted me there.  I couldn’t help but feel like I wasn’t really wanted here.  My students were angry though.  I was called a traitor.  That’s OK…it can’t be any worse next year than this year as far as the school is concerned.

The countdown to the end of the school year has begun.  We have, not including today, 25 more school days.  That’s not a lot.  Plus there’s AP tests this week and state testing next week.  Meaning the schedule gets all messed up and things get crazy.  Next period I have 4 students in class.  What am I supposed to do with four students?  It’ll be like last week, when I had half my class missing.  We watched an episode of the Office.  Better than having 15 students make up a lab.

One down, one to go

I had my first job interview yesterday.  I went, well, it went fine.  I can never tell.  I think it was alright but I’ll know by Monday.  I have another today and that’s it.  Got my fingers crossed.  Apparently my resume sucks but I think that’s because I updated it in about 4 minutes in between classes.  I should know better since one of my jobs in college was working for the Career Center and I did a fair amount of resume critiques.

Today I tried to get my classes interested in particle/wave duality.  Since they get very quiet sometimes, I can’t really tell if they understood a word I said or not.  Too bad.  I think it’s interesting but I’m pretty sure it’s over their heads.  Maybe honors will get it?

Job Stress

I have my first job interview today.  It’ll be fine…I’ve been told that I don’t show I’m nervous even though I’ve been worried all day.  I wish it was more of a conversation situation than a question-and-answer.  I’m much better at the former, not so good at the latter.  I have to go on an interview tomorrow during lunch.  That sucks because it means I won’t be able to eat lunch.  But at least I’m getting everything done in two days and then I should know.

For fun, I took out the sound level meter and had a contest in each one of my classes.  Who can yell (or scream) the loudest?  The idea came when one of my students swore he could best the Guinness Book record for loudest burp (107 dB) but only registered 98 dB.  So I let my classes scream bloody murder to see how loud they could get.  Awesome!  A whole class yelling at the same time got up to about 110 dB (about the level of a rock concert) and one individual this morning yelled at 108 dB.  This ranked up there with the time they all yelled because I shocked them.

Music: “Rats” by Pearl Jam on Vs.

Multitasking

I am not a multitasker.  When something is on my mind, it dominates, and all other things fall to the side.  This is the reason blog posts have slowed to a one-a-week trickle.  Right now I’m dealing with a job search and a home search, so I spend most of my free time looking through house listings instead of thinking of witty things to say in print.  Or grade.  I haven’t done that in two weeks and the pile on my desk is just daunting.  When I wait this long to grade small assignments one of two things usually happens.  1) I will decide that it isn’t a very difficult lab and everybody will get credit for effort.  2) I will give it to my TA to grade.  I’m not sure where I am at this point.  Anyway,  I will try much harder to write more, especially because more people look at the blog when I write in it.  And isn’t that the point?

We started our last unit of the year today: waves.  It just doesn’t feel right because there’s still two months left.  I know that, from mid-May on, it gets crazy and time flies by.  So, really, I have 3 weeks until utter chaos in school.  However, I will know before then what my job will be next year.  In fact, I should have a better idea next week when all of the openings are posted.  Until then I can just wait.

I came into my classroom yesterday to find a big sign on the chalkboard.  Above it is written: SIGN THIS.  Below is a picture of me with a crazy looking long beard attached to my face.  The paper says: Official petition for Mr. ________ (it says my full name) to grow his beard at least 5 inches below the chin.  It’s so far been signed by 18 students as well as Alexander Ovechekin, Sandrito, Barrack Obama, Bunny Man, Jenna Jameson, 2Pac, Biggie, Hitler, Kim Jong Il and Little Giant.  Then below somebody wrote, “Don’t look like a wierdo [sic] with a beardo.”

Job Search, Cont’d

Apparently I did do a table dance at my last interview and don’t remember, because they haven’t e-mailed me back.  I contacted them last Thursday morning.  I think the department chair over there has mistaken me for a criminal.  However, I found out yesterday that there will be two physics positions available in the school system at one school.  Those are the only full-time physics gigs in the area.  For seven or eight teachers.  Luckily for me, the department chair at that school is my former chair at my previous job.  She already e-mailed me and gave my name to the principal.  So that’s good.

In other news, the “fishsticks” joke from last week’s South Park episode has made the rounds.  For those of you who don’t know, it goes something like this:

“Mr. _______, do you like fishsticks?”

“Yes.”

“You like to put fishsticks in your mouth?”

“Yup”

“What are you, a gay fish?”

Since I saw the episode, know the joke, and correctly figured that I’d be asked that question 1409328423 times, I answer either, no, in fact, I hate fishsticks.  Or, why yes, cause I’m a gay fish.  It’s not as funny when I know the punchline.

In class, we’re learning about magnets and electromagnetism.  Some of the stuff we use is old and doesn’t work properly.  For example, I have compasses that point South.  It’s super fun trying to explain to a 17-year-old who doesn’t even know how a compass works why one would reverse polarity and point south.  Instead, I told my class this morning that they may have an Australian compass, and those point south.  Because, you know, everything is reversed down there.  I think that should be a quiz question for that class:  What direction does an Australian compass point?  I know they’d get that one correct and the real questions wrong.  It’s amazing what sticks and what doesn’t.

Spring Break!

As if the title didn’t tip you off, it’s spring break this week.  Therefore nothing really noteworthy going on.  Last week marked the end of the 3rd quarter, and the end of the longest month — March — of the damn school year.  It’s incredible how little I have to do until the end of the year.  Two main topics and that’s it.  If I wasn’t looking for a job, the next two months would be all downhill.

I found out that one school has a position available for next year.  The problem is that I interviewed at that school two years ago.  Not only did I not get the job…they never even called me back.  I didn’t get a “thanks but no thanks” or anything.  I even e-mailed twice asking whether or not they had made a decision.  Nothing.  So I had a moral dilemma about interviewing there again.  I e-mailed my department chair for advice.

Me:

[Blank] was the school that I interviewed at two years ago and they NEVER called me back…not even to say “no thanks.”  Do you think it’s weird for me to apply again?

Reply:

Hmmm…is it the same department chair?  I can’t recall if they have a new one, or not.

Even if it is the same people interviewing you, chances are, they won’t remember…unless of course you did some sort of table dance or something memorable during the interview.  )

After that e-mail (since I didn’t do a table dance) I e-mailed the department chair asking for more info.  Hopefully this time they respond.

Teacherconfessional’s Job Search

It happened just like I figured it would.  My ghost of an assistant principal appeared in my classroom after school yesterday wanting to talk.  He hasn’t spoken to me since October, even though I’m under evaluation (for being a new teacher, not a bad one) and he’s supposed to be observing my classes regularly.  I was told that, because of the numbers, among other factors, I “probably wouldn’t have a job here next year.”  I think probably translates to 90% in this case.  Now, I’m not being fired, so that’s a good thing.  I just need to find another teaching gig within the school system.  Or, I can look outside the school system.  I’ve already e-mailed a department chair that I know and plan on e-mailing another tomorrow.  My own department chair will look for me as well.  This isn’t the worst news, just a hassle.  I have to go through interviews and update my resume.  Then I have to start all over at a new school after spending the last three years working with other physics teachers on refining our curriculum and creating labs and tests.  Things I may not be able to use in a new school.  At least it’s something to blog about.

In other random news, I was told by a student today, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but every time I hear the song Use Somebody by Kings of Leon, I think of you.”  I love the opening “don’t take this the wrong way” because it implies I’m about to hear something potentially embarrassing or inappropriate.  Or a female student is about to compliment me.  “Mr. _______, have you been going to the gym?” followed by an intense blush.  It’s like saying, “no offense, but…”  I guess it’s better than, “Don’t take this the wrong way but you really suck at teaching.”  That wouldn’t bring a smile to my face.  With the other kind, I just have to pretend that it’s inappropriate until the student leaves.  Then I can smile about it.

It hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m going to be really bummed that I won’t see these kids graduate.