Here Come the Water Works

Today was my last day as the building sub at my school. I thought I'd be able to make it through it okay since I'd been fine lately but oh man. When I tried to talk and thank some of my particular co-workers that really helped me out a lot, the tears started welling up. I managed to keep it together because I didn't want my students to see me like that.

It really was hard. We only had an hour and a half of school today and probably more faculty than students. I'm grateful someone took a chance on me and that I ended up at the school I did. It was a tough school but I'm a lot stronger as a teacher than I was a year and a half ago. And I've made some good friends.

My next step is I'll be teaching kindergarten for summer school in a nearby district. I'm excited to finally be the teacher and not the sub in someone else's classroom dealing with someone else's class.

I feel like I'm taking a lot of small baby steps toward becoming a teacher. Most people hop out of college and into the classroom. I went from college to daycare to subbing, back to college, then building subbing, then summer school. I sometimes wonder two things about myself:

1. If I'm addicted to school. Almost as far back as I can remember (which is back to preschool), I've been in school and operated on school year time. Other professions work on regular January-December calendar after they're done with school. Teachers operate on the same schedule we were on throughout our years as a student. I wonder if subconsciously I became a teacher because I don't know how to function on a different time schedule. After high school I went right into college, where I was working at the same grocery store for 6 years when I would come home for breaks. I didn't like that job but I knew I was on school year time so I only had to work there for the summer and then I could be out. Would I be able to be a productive member of society if I had to work at a job like that through the whole year like other people do? Then I went to graduate school. I was also subbing which meant, I was still operating on school year time and working a different job in the summer. Then what did I do? The minute I graduated I signed up for another course to teach English as a foreign language. Do I not know how to survive without having homework to do?
2. If I'm avoiding becoming a career teacher. I mentioned above all of the small steps I've taken since being in college. I wonder if all of those smaller steps are me trying to avoid being the full time teacher because I'm afraid. I'm afraid of all of the teacher stuff that happens behind the scenes. All of the stuff that you don't know how to do until you're in it. A lot of my teacher friends have been great with answering all of my questions but you never know what it's like until you do it and I'm scared to death. What if I become a teacher and I fail? I try to keep myself strong and confident though. Sometimes I just get a little down. So what do I do? Decide to fly to another country and teacher there -_-. Whose idea was this 🤣?

This Next One is a Doozy!

One thing I've always wanted to do is travel the world but that's expensive. People always say there are several ways to travel and not break the bank... I have not yet mastered that craft.

I have however stumbled upon a better opportunity.

When I was younger I wanted to study abroad but you have to pay for that and I wasn't footing the bill for my undergad degree so the decisions weren't entirely up to me. Fast forward to now where I'm all finished with my Bachelor's and Master's degrees and I have a bit more freedom.

So here it is....

The big news you've all been waiting for...

I'm excited to announce to the world...

The Teacher With The Fro is going abroad!!!!

I have signed up for a TEFL, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, course through the International TEFL academy. Which I will begin next week, a few days before my birthday and right as the school year is ending so perfect timing. The course will be online and take me about 10 weeks to finish, plus 20 hours of practicum (which means being in a real classroom with students learning English, for my non-teacher readers.) After I finish all of my requirements I will have lifetime access to job guidance through the program and I have already aligned myself with their official facebook groups and talked with people who are living in other countries right now through this program. 

While it did cost me a small fortune, I choose to look at it as an investment in my career, my future, and myself. The program offers over 200 countries so I'm still thinking about which one I want to choose, there are a lot of things to factor in when you up and move your whole life to another country where you don't speak the language and don't know anyone.

But Fro, how do you feel about all of this?!

I'm glad you asked! I'm feeling extremely scared! However I'm also feeling very excited. This is a whole new chapter in my life. I'm young and I don't have any significant ties right now (such as marriage or kids), so this is the time for me to focus on myself. Of course there are people and things here I will miss but this is something I've wanted to do for a long time. I don't want to look back in a couple of decades and wish I had and be full of shoulda, woulda, couldas. I want to see the world and experience different cultures. Who knows, I may not like it and come back, or I may love it and move permanently somewhere else. My current plan is to only sign 6 month contracts so that I can see another country every 6 months for a few years. But like I said, who knows what will happen. All I know for sure is I'll never know unless I try and I'd rather try and fail than wonder what could've been.

This is my shot, and I'm going to take it...

and blog about it so you can all take it with me!

DIY Princess Slime

Everyone is making different kinds of slime these days. I never had any reason to make it for myself but I went to visit some family members a few weeks ago and decided my little cousins might enjoy it. While I didn't do this with my own students per se, my cousins are in second, fourth and seventh grade.

What you'll need:

• a whole bottle of elmer's glitter glue
• contact solution
• baking soda
• confetti (optional)
• a sealable container to store it in

How to make it:

1. Pour the whole bottle of glitter glue into a bowl. You may have to whip the bottle a bit to get the very end out.
2. If you are choosing to add confetti, now is the time! You can use regular confetti but we chose to get some fun shapes we found in the store. Be careful if you choose ones with pointy parts like stars. Stir.
3. In a separate cup, mix 1/4 cup contact solution and 2 teaspoons of baking soda.
4. Pour your baking soda mixture into your glue mixture a little at a time. Each slime might be different so add as much as you need. You want it to me moist so it will stretch. It's ok if it's wet, it'll dry.
5. Kneed it all around in your hands until its a big ball that doesn't stick to your hands. If there is any glue still on your hands, rub them on the slime and it'll absorb it.
6. Make sure you have a container or some kind of ziploc bag to store it in so it does not dry out.
7. Play and have fun!

Here's some pix of the finished product!