PGCB #144 - Watercolors
8 years ago
Monday, September 21, 2009
FOOD
So, it's been a while...
Wow, it's definitely been a while since I've paid attention to my blog! I did have an excuse during the summer, due to the busy nature of my job, but as for the rest of the year... not so much.
Kevin and I have been married for about 10 months now, and it surprises me how fast time flies by! I graduated last December and was working as a substitute teacher for the Provo School District during the first part of the year, and then I was able to get a job with the Institute of Reading Development during the summer. It was a great opportunity for me and allowed to get a lot of classroom experience with classes that were mine. This was a nice change; substituting more often than not feels like babysitting.... babysitting on steroids, because there are lots of them... Needless to say, I prefer teaching compared to managing other people's classes.
The IRD job kept me very busy. The first 3 weeks of the job was training: 2 weeks of at-home work, studying the curriculum and objectives of the program, having phone conferences with our supervisor and other teachers; and 1 week of "distance training," where we were all flown to Atlanta, GA to meet our supervisors and practice teaching in front of groups and whatnot (there are IRD programs all over the country, I was one of the three Utah teachers). Then the next 10 weeks we taught the classes. The 10 weeks was split into two 5 week terms. Each class we taught met once per week for 5 weeks. Every day was at a different location. The closest location I taught at was West Jordan (40 mins away), and the farthest I taught at was Layton (1 hr 15 mins away)... so basically I did a lot of commuting. And since I didn't have a regular classroom to teach at, I was hauling books and student material kits around every day! That was a pain, but I became stronger for it (literally). I taught eleven classes per week for both terms, and taught everything from pre-K to adult reading classes. It was definitely a little challenging. I'm glad that IRD already had all the lesson plans written out for us! Depending on the age, the classes would last anywhere from 1hr 15min to 2.5 hours, and we would get 45 minutes between classes. Some days were very LOOOOONG! I would get 2 days off per week, but for some reason they didn't let us have consecutive days off. Fortunately, since I taught in Utah, I was able to get Sunday off for both terms. I got a 3 day break in between terms (which happened to fall on Kevin's birthday--score!). It was a tiring job--physically, mentally, emotionally... but I had a great experience. I don't think I'll do it ever again, but I am glad that I had the opportunity to do it once.
Kevin is currently finishing up his thesis on responsibility messages in alcohol ads. He should be defending in October. Once he's finished with that, he will be applying for doctorate programs. So next fall we could end up in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Texas, or England. Until then, we will continue living here in Provo, and then in December we are going to move to Washington DC for a while. It might take a few years, but I'm already looking forward to having a place to settle down in for an extended period of time (I hate packing, and I hate moving).
As for me right now, I've just been relaxing a little bit since my job with IRD ended in August. I went to Albuquerque and visited my family for about 10 days. Brendon, Danelle and Kent were also visiting, so it was fun to see them too. I had a lot of fun seeing everybody, and I was sad to go. The whole week after I got back I had the flu. I was coughing, aching, and had a fever. It was no fun. I just barely started feeling better a few days ago and now I'm focusing on rehabilitating my apartment after neglecting it for over two weeks. I'm also planning for the baby shower that I'm throwing for Devery this coming Saturday. Erica has helped me out a lot with the planning. She also designed the invitations for the shower, and I had some fun putting them all together with Erica, mom, and Danelle. I'll post up some pictures after the shower on Saturday.
Kevin and I have been married for about 10 months now, and it surprises me how fast time flies by! I graduated last December and was working as a substitute teacher for the Provo School District during the first part of the year, and then I was able to get a job with the Institute of Reading Development during the summer. It was a great opportunity for me and allowed to get a lot of classroom experience with classes that were mine. This was a nice change; substituting more often than not feels like babysitting.... babysitting on steroids, because there are lots of them... Needless to say, I prefer teaching compared to managing other people's classes.
The IRD job kept me very busy. The first 3 weeks of the job was training: 2 weeks of at-home work, studying the curriculum and objectives of the program, having phone conferences with our supervisor and other teachers; and 1 week of "distance training," where we were all flown to Atlanta, GA to meet our supervisors and practice teaching in front of groups and whatnot (there are IRD programs all over the country, I was one of the three Utah teachers). Then the next 10 weeks we taught the classes. The 10 weeks was split into two 5 week terms. Each class we taught met once per week for 5 weeks. Every day was at a different location. The closest location I taught at was West Jordan (40 mins away), and the farthest I taught at was Layton (1 hr 15 mins away)... so basically I did a lot of commuting. And since I didn't have a regular classroom to teach at, I was hauling books and student material kits around every day! That was a pain, but I became stronger for it (literally). I taught eleven classes per week for both terms, and taught everything from pre-K to adult reading classes. It was definitely a little challenging. I'm glad that IRD already had all the lesson plans written out for us! Depending on the age, the classes would last anywhere from 1hr 15min to 2.5 hours, and we would get 45 minutes between classes. Some days were very LOOOOONG! I would get 2 days off per week, but for some reason they didn't let us have consecutive days off. Fortunately, since I taught in Utah, I was able to get Sunday off for both terms. I got a 3 day break in between terms (which happened to fall on Kevin's birthday--score!). It was a tiring job--physically, mentally, emotionally... but I had a great experience. I don't think I'll do it ever again, but I am glad that I had the opportunity to do it once.
Kevin is currently finishing up his thesis on responsibility messages in alcohol ads. He should be defending in October. Once he's finished with that, he will be applying for doctorate programs. So next fall we could end up in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Texas, or England. Until then, we will continue living here in Provo, and then in December we are going to move to Washington DC for a while. It might take a few years, but I'm already looking forward to having a place to settle down in for an extended period of time (I hate packing, and I hate moving).
As for me right now, I've just been relaxing a little bit since my job with IRD ended in August. I went to Albuquerque and visited my family for about 10 days. Brendon, Danelle and Kent were also visiting, so it was fun to see them too. I had a lot of fun seeing everybody, and I was sad to go. The whole week after I got back I had the flu. I was coughing, aching, and had a fever. It was no fun. I just barely started feeling better a few days ago and now I'm focusing on rehabilitating my apartment after neglecting it for over two weeks. I'm also planning for the baby shower that I'm throwing for Devery this coming Saturday. Erica has helped me out a lot with the planning. She also designed the invitations for the shower, and I had some fun putting them all together with Erica, mom, and Danelle. I'll post up some pictures after the shower on Saturday.
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