I meant to type a short update, but...
Last night at FNW, I almost got dropped during a dip. I'll admit that I'm new at dipping, but I feel like I've gotten pretty good at it. I made sure that my body was like a board, like you're supposed to. Anyways, when I started to drop, my partner grabbed my ribcage in an attempt to prevent me from falling. Unfortunately, the rib that he grabbed has been damaged for about 11 years. It hurts like hell today. It probably would have been less painful just to fall. However, if my partner had fallen on top of me, it might not have. I do have a feeling that if I had fallen, it might have been chalked up to me being a new dancer or something.
Besides that excitement, I have a ridiculous amount of homework to do today. My teacher must not realize that 1. Some of us are already teachers and have other things to do than inane, pointless assignments that take hours and hours to complete, 2. We don't care at all about building social relationships with the people in our online class, nor do we care about them trying to do so with us, and 3. Many of us just don't care about what she is trying to teach us and are only in the class because it's a requirement to get our credential. I'm never going to be a special ed teacher. I have absolutely no desire to go that route, because once you start down that path, you can never leave it. (Schools are desperate for special ed teachers and they will always assign you to that position if you are qualified to teach it. Ok, you technically can leave it, but you will never get special ed work out of your life.) Granted it pays more, but for the work that goes into it, I'll take less pay. I'd rather not have more paperwork than I could ever hope to get completed in my lifetime, thank you very much!
Speaking of teaching, I made a decision last night. I'm going to work on getting my single subject credential in art. I went for the multiple subject because it got me into the classroom quickly and I was able to double my salary by doing so. (The position that I was going for was a math/science core, so I had to get a multiple subject credential. If I had gone for a single subject science or math, I would still have a place at my school.) Anyways, I decided that I need to follow my dreams. My dream has always to be an art teacher. It's a stupid dream in reality, because there are no jobs for art teachers right now and I'm really very foolish to pursue this, but it's what I want and it will make me happy. I'm going to do some research into what I need to do to get this credential. I know that I have to pass the test, which honestly will not be that hard for me. I know my art pretty well, although I need to brush up on my art history a bit. I thought it was cool that during the CSET (4 hour long test, in which I did all three sections at once, which is pure madness! I totally aced it too. Take that, test that many people fail the first time!) there was one question on visual art. It was a painting, that I immediately realized was painted by either Berthe Morisot or Mary Cassat, the two female artists who showed their work with the Impressionists, and are therefore considered to be the only female Impressionists. Both of their work focuses on the relationships of women- mother and child mostly. Berthe Morisot was French and Mary Cassat was American. All this went through my head as I saw the painting. The question about this painting? "What type of art is this?" I almost laughed out loud at that, cause I was expecting a challenge. (The painting was by Mary Cassat, btw.) Granted, I know that the single subject art test will be significantly harder than that, but I still remember a lot from my classes in college. I'm sure that I will have to take some art classes in addition to passing the CSET. (Woe is me! It's like being forced to eat chocolate or to dance. My life will be so hard!) Anyways, I'm going to look into that during the summer and I'll see if it's feasible to have my single subject by the end of next June.
Speaking of tests, there are 2 that I have to pass before the end of June. One is a technology test, which I'm only slightly worried about, mostly because I have to create a weighted gradebook in Excel. (Absolutely stupid! There are gradebook programs that everyone uses now. I think that the credentialling program is sadly out of touch with reality.) The other is the RICA. That one scares me a lot. It's a how-do-you-teach-reading test. I've never taught that. I took a class in it, but I was confused most of the time and overwhelmed by teaching math and science (which I had no experience in at all last year), working 10-14 hour days, and going to school full time. So I need to study for that. Like crazy. I should also probably sign up for the test, since it's in June. The technology test is on Friday, so I have a few days to figure out everything I need to know to pass it. I've found a webpage that explains some things, which I will practice with a few times until I remember how to do it without notes.
I should probably start on my inane homework, since it will probably take me hours to do. A few things I need to do this weekend in addition to homework are: bury dead pet rats with Stephen :( , go to PEERS (!), do some weeding and mow the lawn, and clean up my room. I have to do lesson plans and stuff like usual and finish my action research project so I can begin typing it up.
(As I'm typing this, my mom is gossiping about me to someone on the phone. Lovely. I would like to move now, thank you.)
Besides that excitement, I have a ridiculous amount of homework to do today. My teacher must not realize that 1. Some of us are already teachers and have other things to do than inane, pointless assignments that take hours and hours to complete, 2. We don't care at all about building social relationships with the people in our online class, nor do we care about them trying to do so with us, and 3. Many of us just don't care about what she is trying to teach us and are only in the class because it's a requirement to get our credential. I'm never going to be a special ed teacher. I have absolutely no desire to go that route, because once you start down that path, you can never leave it. (Schools are desperate for special ed teachers and they will always assign you to that position if you are qualified to teach it. Ok, you technically can leave it, but you will never get special ed work out of your life.) Granted it pays more, but for the work that goes into it, I'll take less pay. I'd rather not have more paperwork than I could ever hope to get completed in my lifetime, thank you very much!
Speaking of teaching, I made a decision last night. I'm going to work on getting my single subject credential in art. I went for the multiple subject because it got me into the classroom quickly and I was able to double my salary by doing so. (The position that I was going for was a math/science core, so I had to get a multiple subject credential. If I had gone for a single subject science or math, I would still have a place at my school.) Anyways, I decided that I need to follow my dreams. My dream has always to be an art teacher. It's a stupid dream in reality, because there are no jobs for art teachers right now and I'm really very foolish to pursue this, but it's what I want and it will make me happy. I'm going to do some research into what I need to do to get this credential. I know that I have to pass the test, which honestly will not be that hard for me. I know my art pretty well, although I need to brush up on my art history a bit. I thought it was cool that during the CSET (4 hour long test, in which I did all three sections at once, which is pure madness! I totally aced it too. Take that, test that many people fail the first time!) there was one question on visual art. It was a painting, that I immediately realized was painted by either Berthe Morisot or Mary Cassat, the two female artists who showed their work with the Impressionists, and are therefore considered to be the only female Impressionists. Both of their work focuses on the relationships of women- mother and child mostly. Berthe Morisot was French and Mary Cassat was American. All this went through my head as I saw the painting. The question about this painting? "What type of art is this?" I almost laughed out loud at that, cause I was expecting a challenge. (The painting was by Mary Cassat, btw.) Granted, I know that the single subject art test will be significantly harder than that, but I still remember a lot from my classes in college. I'm sure that I will have to take some art classes in addition to passing the CSET. (Woe is me! It's like being forced to eat chocolate or to dance. My life will be so hard!) Anyways, I'm going to look into that during the summer and I'll see if it's feasible to have my single subject by the end of next June.
Speaking of tests, there are 2 that I have to pass before the end of June. One is a technology test, which I'm only slightly worried about, mostly because I have to create a weighted gradebook in Excel. (Absolutely stupid! There are gradebook programs that everyone uses now. I think that the credentialling program is sadly out of touch with reality.) The other is the RICA. That one scares me a lot. It's a how-do-you-teach-reading test. I've never taught that. I took a class in it, but I was confused most of the time and overwhelmed by teaching math and science (which I had no experience in at all last year), working 10-14 hour days, and going to school full time. So I need to study for that. Like crazy. I should also probably sign up for the test, since it's in June. The technology test is on Friday, so I have a few days to figure out everything I need to know to pass it. I've found a webpage that explains some things, which I will practice with a few times until I remember how to do it without notes.
I should probably start on my inane homework, since it will probably take me hours to do. A few things I need to do this weekend in addition to homework are: bury dead pet rats with Stephen :( , go to PEERS (!), do some weeding and mow the lawn, and clean up my room. I have to do lesson plans and stuff like usual and finish my action research project so I can begin typing it up.
(As I'm typing this, my mom is gossiping about me to someone on the phone. Lovely. I would like to move now, thank you.)