Status Update

I feel like I am running in circles with no destination. No, more like a cook without a kitchen. A cowboy without a horse. An actor without a stage..? Well you get the idea. I have been applying to jobs for almost a year now- ummm, yeah, don't get me started.

Aaaannyyyyway, I went on a fantastic interview two weeks ago. It was great. The principal was fabulous. We laughed. I had superb answers to all of her questions. The school was nice and had a family atmosphere. It was the perfect interview. As I left the office, I actually did a little hop and skip routine! Well, as you can tell the ending isn't a happy one. I got an email stating that there were over 500 applicants for the position and (of course) I wasn't chosen. 500 teachers applying to a Catholic school. Of course they were exaggerating right?!? Until I got this from the South Pasadena USD:

Dear Ashley,

Thank you for submitting your application to our district for one of the elementary teaching positions. We were overwhelmed by the response as we received over 1,000 applications. For us, this is a mixed blessing... blabittyblahblah...

Personally, I don't like those odds. How am I even supposed to compete? Things don't look good. So, I've done the only thing that a sane person would do. I sold out. Yup, I took an office job at a preschool. I guess it'll have to do. For now.

xOOxx

Smell the Roses... or the Shirt

I was just thinking about our senses. While we're teaching we try to stimulate them in order to get our little ones engaged and thinking. We obviously use sight and hearing a lot. When we bring in realia we use touch but rarely do we use taste and smell in lessons. Come to think of it, the sense of smell is one of those things that we take for granted every day.

I always stop to smell the pretty flowers growing outside our apartment building and absolutely bask in the smell of fresh bread from my bread machine, but otherwise I don't consciously smell things. I like knowing that I don't stink and that there is dog poop nearby (so I don't step in it) but I can't say that I use my nose for anything constructive (except maybe determining if the milk is expired).

Welllll....(you had to know a story was coming) when I was teaching pre-K I found a sweater on the floor and no one would would claim it. Of course it had no name on it, so after a couple days I decided to send it to the lost and found. When I gave it to a little girl to bring to the office she stuck her nose in it. She said that it was Peter's*. I gave her a questioning look so she handed it to another boy and he smelled it and said, "Yeah, it's Peter's. It just smells like him." So of course I had to give it a sniff and sure enough, I smelled it and it was his!

xxOOxx *Names are made up... as always.

Take one!

Alll righty then...

I've landed an interview for a fourth grade position. Can you believe that it is the first teaching interview that I've been offered? I can't. In the real world, I should've been on at least 20 interviews with the amount resumes I've sent out. Well, I was really happy when I read this in the email today:

Although we are really looking for teachers with a few years of classroom experience, I was so impressed by your portfolio and recommendation letters, I would like to invite you to our school for an interview.

So, I got an interview despite the fact that I am under-qualified! I donno, because in the email she informed me that the school is Jewish Orthodox. While I'd LOVE to learn more about the religion and culture, I can't think that my being Catholic will help get the job :_Oh well, she must've seen something she liked right?! FINALLY! It's nice to know that SOMEONE took the time to look at my portfolio! haha, sometimes I think that all the energy I put into it wasn't worth it... Well, wish me luck!

xxOOxx