Mister Green Teaching Update

This is a brief update on my ongoing substitute teaching activities, as well as the status of me getting into a teaching credential program.

First the credential:

I had an interview last Friday. I had to take the day off of teaching in order to attend so no pay that day.  The interviews themselves went well and I have a pretty good idea of what comes next.

However I learned that there is a small, but a real possibility I won’t be able to get into the program. I won’t know for several weeks yes or no. Obviously, it will be a crushing thing for me if it doesn’t happen and I will be VERY sad… It means I’ll have to continue to be a substitute along with whatever else I can do to make money, or try to find something else I can do that pays better.  It’s a distant possibility I won’t get in, but its a real possibility. It would not be the first time I got bad information about my chances. So the stress continues. 

If I do get into the credentials program, I will start classes this summer, and I’ll need to raise $Tuition and living expenses. I have been told there is NO financial aid available for summer school. I’ll post more about this if I get formally admitted.

If I am admitted, I also have to find a school district willing to hire me as an intern. I will be the “teacher of record” and would go to my class during the day and then go to my credential class during the evenings. It’s a two-year program and it’s going to be a challenge and an ordeal. 

I could go through the one-year program where I co-teach in a classroom, but although it only takes one year, I do not get paid for my time teaching. Unless some sort of huge financial aid or grant or donation comes forth, that is not an option.

***

Subbing has gone on, with one highlight being a day I took a field trip to Point Lobos on the coast south of Monterey. I had been there several times and last for a photography class about 7 years ago. I was with a group of special education students, but there were so many other aide and parents that I didn’t do much more than being part of the crowd.

Mister Green at Point Reyes with the students  

When we arrived at the trailhead, a group of park docents met us, and I joined a group. The docent and the students disappeared within seconds on the first hill, never looking back. I joined another group, and I stayed with them for a while on the trails. However, in a flashback to my youth, I was often much slower than the rest of the groups, and they stop for me and as soon as I caught up, they would take off. This resulted in them getting lots of rests, and being more fit from the start, whereas I got more and more tired and sore and exhausted until finally on the trip back, the docent abandoned me and I had to find my way back to the bus by myself.

Two roads diverged in a green wood, and be one traveler ... 1

Getting on the bus was a challenge. There was no step on the bus, and the bus was parked on a sideways slope with depression under the door leaving about a two-foot-high single step up. I tried to get up and failed. Then the bus driver tried to help by pulling my had but halfway up my leg collapsed and I BANGED my leg on a corner of the step. At first, it only ached, but over the next couple of days it got more and more serious, and I can feel a divot in my leg where I hit. I filed an accident/injury report a few days later when I realized this might not be a temporary situation; just in case.  Finally, after a week it started to get better and I think I’ll be OK.

Gratuitous Delight and Fenris Picture    

Another thing of note on another day was I had a fourth-grade class, one I’d had before, in which two students attached another. When I became away of what was going on, the victim was in a chokehold and his face was bright red. If I had not been there to break it up, the attacker might have killed his victim. It was pretty serious. It was about 30 seconds before the closing bell rang, and I told the two attackers I was taking them to the principal, but they just laughed and ran out of the room. I went to the office to report what had happened, but the Principal was not in, and the office staff would not get the vice-principal out of a meeting. So I went home and wrote a detailed email about what had happened.  The two attacking boys I had problems with all day, so it’s not too surprising that they did this.

I have had several times lately where I will do a full day of elementary school teaching, and then finish off a period or two at the end of the day at a middle or high school. It can be a bit of whiplash to go from second grade to eighth in one day.

There’s more but that will do for now.

#jtg 

I make my mark on the whiteboards of classes I cover  

Please Support my Diaries,

Creativity, Activism and Activities

• Patreon• GoFundMe• Ko-Fi• Kickstarter•

• PayPal (James at JamesThomasGreen.com)•

Sending me Pet Supplies means I don’t have to expend my scarce funds

Amazon Wishlists:  Pet Supplies • Clothing• Random Gifts

Follow Me: DKos• YouTube• Facebook• Twitter