Decisions

I found out today that my school has posted an opening for a .75 Special Needs teacher. I was really excited to see this because one of the women who works in special services had talked to me about the possibility, but then nothing came of it. They want to hire someone to start the position in mid October. I talked with that same woman today to get a little more information about the position and I am excited and torn at the same time.

Special education at this school is quite different than the systems I was trained on in the U.S. They don't use IEP's and there is not an emphasis on paperwork, rather they just try to make it work for the kids who are struggling. There are no students with severe disabilities, mostly students with learning disabilities or speech and language disabilities. Their program currently has two teachers that either push in or pull students out of the classroom to help them with their work and they need another person to help manage the schedule and caseload they are working with.

The first aspect that made me cringe just a little is that the position they are hiring for will work with all grade levels including middle school and high school. I am not opposed to working with these different age groups, but I don't have much experience with those students either. The real clincher was when she showed me the schedule they are working with and several of the classes they push in for are H.S. Physics. Yikes, not a class I would ever like to revisit! She said I had no need to worry about my own skill level in the various subjects because they both learn along with the kids and often take the textbooks home to "study" the material. I think this position would be a cool, new challenge, but I am not really sure I want to have to study to keep up with the kids I am supposed to be helping.

I already applied for the first grade maternity leave, but there is a chance I won't get that because there were several applicants. This is definitely an example fit for the phrase, "Beggars can't be choosers" because this is a teaching position, not an assistant position, and it would mean more hours and more pay. Not sure the details on those two aspects, but definitely more of both. I guess I know in my heart it would be silly not to apply. If I got this position, I would learn a lot and it would be a great challenge. I guess I am almost torn about which position I would want more. I don't really know the answer to that. I love first grade, and that position means working full time which I would really like. The SPED position, is more of a specialist position, which means working 1:1 and with small groups which definitely has its advantages, but it is not full time which means less money. Have I mentioned that about 45% of your salary goes to taxes? I am currently in a "mini job" so I make so little that I avoid taxes, but the high tax rate is definitely something to consider, especially when accepting a position that is not full time, yet still taxed. I might not even get to take home a lot more money than I am currently!

I have always hesitated at the thought of becoming a Learning Specialist in the U.S. because of all the paperwork and legal issues, however this is a golden opportunity to put my master's degree to work in a completely different special education environment. I think my strategy is going to be to apply for the second opening and then rely on fate to determine which one I get. I sure hope they would want me for at least one of the two. If, by some great fortune, they think I would be great at both, they can fight it out and make the tough choice for me! And if, for some reason, I don't get either, I will continue being the 3rd Grade Teaching Assistant which I love doing. I guess it's a win-win, I just like things to be easy and settled rather than up in the air!

The Speech

For those of you who missed it--and are interested to know what President Obama said today in his speech to students--click here to read his speech.

I appreciate all the comments about my post a few days ago. Thanks to everyone who left one!

Web Apps. for Teachers

If you are a techie, check out this list of web applications for teachers posted by the National Education Association.

D to the R Update

I received another email from my doctoral advisor and we finally have a plan for the coursework that I will be starting this fall. Although I cannot take the core courses with the rest of the cohort in Portland, he is teaching several courses in Curriculum & Instruction (which is my area of focus) and he is willing to help me take those courses through an independent study. His proposal was 10 credits, but I am entertaining the idea of taking two more online courses, mostly because I had already registered and ordered the books after not hearing back from my advisor for awhile. I may end up canceling one or both of those and just go with his recommendations because I am sure the books will still be interesting to read and/or I might end up taking those classes at a later date. I am guessing that taking 16 credits would be borderline insane but I have been known to do worse. During my first year of teaching, I took 21 credits one term while working full time. Not all the classes met each week, so it was doable and I got all A's while still managing to bestow lots of important knowledge on my little first graders.

It has been quite a project trying to order books considering they take between 3-6 weeks to arrive. Apparently everything takes a long time to get through customs here, not to mention the delivery time is extended anyway because of the international shipping. I was very jealous of the free shipping on Borders.com and Amazon.com because I cannot take advantage of that from Germany! I am experimenting with ordering from Borders.com (because Amazon did not have one of the books I needed and I had a coupon and some Borders bucks that basically negated the 13.00 shipping fee) and Amazon.com which charged around 18.00 for a somewhat expedited international shipping fee. That was the first batch of books for the online courses I registered for over the holiday weekend, but now that I heard back from my advisor, I have a few more to order. My husband said that a co-worker of his is going to be traveling to Germany in two weeks, so we are thinking of having the books shipped to his friend in OR who can bring them to the co-worker who can then bring them on the plane to me. This will be the cheapest way because I can avoid the expensive international shipping fees and I won't have to wait SUPER long to get the books, but I always feel bad asking favors like that. I would also like to try Amazon.UK, but they did not have all the books I needed the first time around. I did however enter in an order for the second batch and it seems that shipping will be much quicker from there. The prices are listed in Euros, but they do have a function that converts the purchase into dollars and lets you pay in USD which is cool.

I am really excited to have a plan that I can move forward with. I have no idea how much work this independent study stuff will entail but working part time sure affords me a lot of extra time. Rather than watching TV or just reading for pleasure (current read is The Time Traveler's Wife), I can be working on my doctorate! Woo Hoo!

More Dr. T updates to come once I get more info!

Given my initial reservations about moving to Germany and the tears that were shed (sorry mom, I know you hate to hear that part!) over my job situation, small German appliances, not being in Portland, and the fear of the unknown, I do have to say that so far being here is fantastic. I am in awe of how cool it is to work at an international school where I come into contact with people from all over the world every single day. Although some Germans can be a bit stern, like the secretary in the office who was very hesitant to give me the key to the supply room because she did not know me (even though I have been working there for three weeks now), I can tell that my husband and I are on the journey of a lifetime.

Learning along with the Kiddos!

The third graders I am working with are learning about counting money and making change. Since I am new to using Euros, I am learning right along with them which is fun! There are 1 Euro and 2 Euro coins which is taking some getting used to. The smallest amount of paper money is worth 5 Euros. The teachers both use a reward system where the kids earn coins for being prepared, being good listeners, and other positive behaviors. They keep their coins in a little Ziplock bag which are called Toppits here and they can trade in their coins for bills or "notes" when they have enough. For certain incidences, students get fined, however I have only seen that happen once. At certain points during the year, the kids can cash in the money they have earned for certain prizes. Some of the things they can choose are having lunch with their teacher, having lunch with the principal, sitting next to a friend for the day, a popcorn party, a free choice period, or a chance to select something from the prize box. The prizes are all priced differently and the students are allowed to pool their money together if they want to get a large prize such as the popcorn party.

I really like this reward system. In my classroom, I would have had to be concerned about particular students stealing money from other students, however this is not an issue. The students are told that thier money is their own responsibility and they should keep it in a safe place. If the money gets lost, they have to start from scratch. Not only do they learn the value of money and saving, but they also practice responsibility and good behavior. Seems like a good deal to me.

I keep thinking about whether or not this would work with first graders. I know that they still struggle with identifying coins, yet perhaps if the money was being used in this way there would be a greater motivation to master those skills because they would not be able to obtain a prize without counting their money and knowing how much they had to spend. I think that it could work and I think it would really help to reinforce the importance of taking responsibility for one's own items because that is something first graders are still trying to learn to manage!

Have you ever used a system like this? Did it work for you?

I heart Skype!

Have you heard of Skype? It's a way to make free calls using the internet and it also has a video function so that you can see the person/people you are talking to. Since moving to Germany, I have barely touched my cell phone. We did go to the T-Mobile store and get a new SIM card for my phone so I have a local number, but I don't really have anyone local to call. I have mostly been using Skype to keep in touch with my family and friends. I can't tell you how much I love it!

We usually make several calls on Sundays because for us here in Germany, there is not a whole lot to do on Sundays and when calling family on the West Coast, the time difference is so large (9 hours) that it is really hard to connect during the work week. Yesterday I talked to my mom and my dad and I absolutely love that I can see their faces when we talk. If my mom gets a new haircut, I can see it! If I want to show her a few wardrobe choices, she can watch my virtual fashion show! When her kitties are in her office, I can see them and hear them too! It's so fun!

Despite the distance, I actually feel like we can stay better connected while we are here than we did in Portland because of the videos. I am really looking forward to Skyping with my brother, his wife, and my niece because it will be so fun to see her in action. They can point the camera right towards her and I can watch her crawl!

My husband also put some money on the account and I can use my computer to call my mom's actual phone and the rate is only 2 cents a minute. That way, if she has things to get done around the house, we can chat while she is on the go. I still have to be at my computer, but that is fine with me.

If you have loved ones that live far away, I highly recommend skyping as a way to stay in touch. Although it was not well received for use to help me take my doctoral classes, I am definitely loving it for other reasons.