Not much fun...

I substituted for a 6th grade class last week and I got my butt kicked. Not physically, but mentally. The class was rambunctious and I couldn't really get them to focus on anything. And to finish the day off, a student told me that he had just "sharted" in his pants.

Just Different

"It's not new. It's different"

Applying for a teaching job is a totally different than applying for a job in the business world. For my last 2 jobs in the business world I had to have a resume. A sleek, refined, professional resume. That piece of paper was then submitted online to companies or posted on dice.com or monster.com.

Well, for teaching here is what you have to provide:

1. A completed school district or county application
2. A cover letter or letter of interest
3. A resume (still sleek and professional; no apple or schoolhouse graphics)
4. Copy of your teacher credentials
5. 3-5 Letters of recommendations

Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed at first by this "different" process. But teaching is a "government" job, so I should have expected a lot more paper.

A Realization...

Last week, as I was washing sand and dirt from "linker cubes" (similar to Legos) after building mountains and building models in the school sandbox, I realized that I have taken quite a turn in my life.

Four months ago, I was sitting at a computer developing "business intelligence" applications for a multi-million dollar company. Yesterday, I got to play "Father Nature" by pouring water (flooding) on sand mountains and "linker buildings" constructed by my students during an erosion simulation. Let me tell you Father Nature is a pretty bad dude, wiping out mountains in about 30 seconds.

The good thing is I don't really miss my old job. I miss the people, but not the work or the corporate red tape. Yes, schools have plenty of bureaucracy, but I think it's for a better cause...kids.