(no subject)
I've been avoiding writing a follow up entry to the last one. It's sort of a weird place to pick up from because my plans have really changed since then and I'm also currently in a limbo.
So let's adress the most obvious change: I did not go to the Louisiana Teaching Fellows. I hated Baton Rouge. I tried and tried to pretend that I could live there, but the more I thought about living in a Southern suburbia masquerading as a major city, the less I could see myself there. I withdrew from that fellowship and began to pursue other ones further.
Justin had been accepted to the Rhode Island Teaching Fellows as a biology fellow but they had previously told me that I was ineligible to be a Special Education teacher. I looked over their eligibility requirements and realized that I more than met them so I contacted them, they agreed, apologized for their mistake, and gave me an interview for a week after my graduation.
So I finished undergrad and earned my BA in History of Art and Architecture and French Language and Literature with minors in Studio Arts and Italian Language. The weekend directly after my graduation was the interview. The interview was with just 5 other people: five of us were potential SPED fellows and one was a Chemistry fellow. A week later I heard back that they had accepted me and none of the other SPED candidates.
From there on out, I began packing up my apartment in anticipation of moving from Pittsburgh to Providence, Rhode Island. I stopped working at the Warhol Museum (which was hard - way harder than I had expected. I think a part of me knew that I would never work in such a laid back environment ever again) and about 2 weeks before we left Pittsburgh, I went on vacation to San Juan, Puerto Rico with Justin and my Mother.
My mother has not been as lucky as I have been with travelling, so I was really excited to get to share this vacation with her and my boyfriend (who she also loves). We stayed in a resort directly on the beach in Carolina that we got for an amazing deal online. There was always someone to open doors for us, give us towels, chairs, or umbrellas on the beach, we got free drinks in the bar, there was a rooftop pool and bar with great ocean views...it was all very relaxing. We explored Old San Juan which was incredibly beautiful. It was like being transported to a tropical Old World European city. American influence was present, but not overwhelming. One day we rented a car and drove from San Juan to El Yunque, the only rainforest in America. Going to El Yunque was the best thing we did because my mother and I are very much mountain folk and enjoy hiking and photographing nature. The only downside was the constant raining, which was unsurprising since it was a rainforest after all.
After Puerto Rico, I spent about two or three days in Uniontown with my family and then Justin and I loaded up the uhaul and said goodbye to Apt. 111, 300 North Dithridge forever. We left at Pittsburgh at about 10am, drove across Pennsylvania, clipping New Jersey, up through New York, straight through Connecticut, into Rhode Island and arrived in Providence at around 11pm. We only had time to unpack one mattress and sleep on it for the evening. The next morning we had to be up and dressed well to do classroom observations and go to orientation. Within a week we were teaching classes by ourselves.
I taught second period English during two different sessions of summer school. I had a prep period first period, second period I taught ninth grade Genres the first session and twelfth grade World Lit the second session, and every third period I spent helping special education students in the resource room. I really liked teaching English to the 9th graders and working with the students in the resource room. The twelfth graders were around my age, so it was weirder. Many of them were 21 (I'm 22) and a lot of them dealt with some seriously heavy stuff. Many of them were immigrants (legal or otherwise) or had illegal immigrants in their families. Many had drug addicted family members, even parents. They were less fun and responsive than the 9th graders but they got their work done quickly and with few complaints.
In the afternoons we had to take classes together in how to become a teacher. They were extremely intense and between lesson planning and homework, I'm not sure that I've ever done so much work in my life. I really feel like they've prepared me excellently to run a classroom and write effective lesson plans. The only problem with the New Teacher Project Fellowships is that they do not guarantee that you will get a job. They have strong relationships with districts and encourage them to hire fellows which they are happy to do because most RI teachers are not very good. Justin got a job as a special education Science and Math teacher in Pawtucket, but as of now, I am one of three people left who does not currently have a job. I think schools are hesitant to hire recent graduates. I had been waiting to update this LJ until I got a job, but I'm often bored and need somewhere to organize my thoughts about these things.
They've told us time and time again how sure they are that we will all get jobs and I sort of believe them, but that doesn't mean I'm not applying for other jobs. I can't sit around and let my money waste away until there's no chance of me getting a teaching job and I'm left scratching my head asking how this all happened. I have an active application out with East Providence School District but I also applied for a position at the Providence Children's Museum. I'd be happy with either position. At this point I just want a source of income and something to do during the day because I am extremely bored. Yesterday I got a GRE book and a book of US grad schools so that if this whole thing doesn't work out, I might be able to be in grad school somewhere by this time next year. I have no regrets about this move, though. I love Providence and Rhode Island is such a quirky and interesting place. I'll write more about the fun things I've been doing here in a later entry.
So let's adress the most obvious change: I did not go to the Louisiana Teaching Fellows. I hated Baton Rouge. I tried and tried to pretend that I could live there, but the more I thought about living in a Southern suburbia masquerading as a major city, the less I could see myself there. I withdrew from that fellowship and began to pursue other ones further.
Justin had been accepted to the Rhode Island Teaching Fellows as a biology fellow but they had previously told me that I was ineligible to be a Special Education teacher. I looked over their eligibility requirements and realized that I more than met them so I contacted them, they agreed, apologized for their mistake, and gave me an interview for a week after my graduation.
So I finished undergrad and earned my BA in History of Art and Architecture and French Language and Literature with minors in Studio Arts and Italian Language. The weekend directly after my graduation was the interview. The interview was with just 5 other people: five of us were potential SPED fellows and one was a Chemistry fellow. A week later I heard back that they had accepted me and none of the other SPED candidates.
From there on out, I began packing up my apartment in anticipation of moving from Pittsburgh to Providence, Rhode Island. I stopped working at the Warhol Museum (which was hard - way harder than I had expected. I think a part of me knew that I would never work in such a laid back environment ever again) and about 2 weeks before we left Pittsburgh, I went on vacation to San Juan, Puerto Rico with Justin and my Mother.
My mother has not been as lucky as I have been with travelling, so I was really excited to get to share this vacation with her and my boyfriend (who she also loves). We stayed in a resort directly on the beach in Carolina that we got for an amazing deal online. There was always someone to open doors for us, give us towels, chairs, or umbrellas on the beach, we got free drinks in the bar, there was a rooftop pool and bar with great ocean views...it was all very relaxing. We explored Old San Juan which was incredibly beautiful. It was like being transported to a tropical Old World European city. American influence was present, but not overwhelming. One day we rented a car and drove from San Juan to El Yunque, the only rainforest in America. Going to El Yunque was the best thing we did because my mother and I are very much mountain folk and enjoy hiking and photographing nature. The only downside was the constant raining, which was unsurprising since it was a rainforest after all.
After Puerto Rico, I spent about two or three days in Uniontown with my family and then Justin and I loaded up the uhaul and said goodbye to Apt. 111, 300 North Dithridge forever. We left at Pittsburgh at about 10am, drove across Pennsylvania, clipping New Jersey, up through New York, straight through Connecticut, into Rhode Island and arrived in Providence at around 11pm. We only had time to unpack one mattress and sleep on it for the evening. The next morning we had to be up and dressed well to do classroom observations and go to orientation. Within a week we were teaching classes by ourselves.
I taught second period English during two different sessions of summer school. I had a prep period first period, second period I taught ninth grade Genres the first session and twelfth grade World Lit the second session, and every third period I spent helping special education students in the resource room. I really liked teaching English to the 9th graders and working with the students in the resource room. The twelfth graders were around my age, so it was weirder. Many of them were 21 (I'm 22) and a lot of them dealt with some seriously heavy stuff. Many of them were immigrants (legal or otherwise) or had illegal immigrants in their families. Many had drug addicted family members, even parents. They were less fun and responsive than the 9th graders but they got their work done quickly and with few complaints.
In the afternoons we had to take classes together in how to become a teacher. They were extremely intense and between lesson planning and homework, I'm not sure that I've ever done so much work in my life. I really feel like they've prepared me excellently to run a classroom and write effective lesson plans. The only problem with the New Teacher Project Fellowships is that they do not guarantee that you will get a job. They have strong relationships with districts and encourage them to hire fellows which they are happy to do because most RI teachers are not very good. Justin got a job as a special education Science and Math teacher in Pawtucket, but as of now, I am one of three people left who does not currently have a job. I think schools are hesitant to hire recent graduates. I had been waiting to update this LJ until I got a job, but I'm often bored and need somewhere to organize my thoughts about these things.
They've told us time and time again how sure they are that we will all get jobs and I sort of believe them, but that doesn't mean I'm not applying for other jobs. I can't sit around and let my money waste away until there's no chance of me getting a teaching job and I'm left scratching my head asking how this all happened. I have an active application out with East Providence School District but I also applied for a position at the Providence Children's Museum. I'd be happy with either position. At this point I just want a source of income and something to do during the day because I am extremely bored. Yesterday I got a GRE book and a book of US grad schools so that if this whole thing doesn't work out, I might be able to be in grad school somewhere by this time next year. I have no regrets about this move, though. I love Providence and Rhode Island is such a quirky and interesting place. I'll write more about the fun things I've been doing here in a later entry.