FOURTH GRADE TEACHER!!!!!!!!!!! (God's Plan)

Um. Wow. Here I am. Number 1, I just need to say that God's hand was so clearly, obviously in this that it was impossible not to see. Number 2, AHHHHHH! I have a job!!!!!!!! Number 3, darn teaching is expensive and I want to go out and buy every classroom thing I see.... Pray for me to have self-control haha!!

So, the story. I kind of want to remember this forever. My first real job.

Backstory:
At the beginning of May I attended the Ball State Teachers Fair, where I interviewed with 6 school districts. They were short 15 min interviews just to get your name out there. I was able to speak with my #1 choice, Lafayette School Corporation (LSC). I interviewed with the assistant superintendent. At the end, he said I was an excellent candidate, I mailed him a thank you card the next day, and never heard anything. Until this week...

June 14-June 17, 2013:
I  was finally going out to visit Justin at his internship in Houston. As most of you know, I was there student teaching from January to April. And then we found out that as soon as I returned to Indiana, he would be moving down there all summer for his internship. (Also, he won't even be back in Indiana until my first day of school!!) We had a lovely 4 days together, hanging out with friends and doing our registry. The highlight was definitely a cookout with my mentor teachers best friends and their families. It was so fantastic seeing them again! We had such a wonderful time!

God's Plan #1: When I flew down to Texas, I only booked a one way flight, so that IF I got called for an interview, I could fly back anytime.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013:
I wake up and look at my phone. I had an email sent at 1:30am from a principal at a school in Lafayette, Indiana (where Purdue is), asking if I was still looking for a teaching position. After I dropped off Justin at work, I went to Starbucks where I replied to the email with a resounding YES and sent off an application to my #2 choice, the school where I was an intern last fall in Indianapolis.

I get a call at 10:10am from the Lafayette principal asking me to come for an interview for a fourth grade position TOMORROW. I say, Let me call you back and see if I can make travel arrangements. So I immediately look up flights back to Indy for that night. I book one leaving Houston at 6pm, layover in Atlanta, and arriving in Indy at 11:35pm. I called him back to say I could be there and we set the time for 11am the next day.

Luckily, Justin was able to get off work at 11, so we could hang out for the last few hours of my time in Texas. (Let me just say that he was AMAZING through all of this. He definitely could have been mad that I had to leave, but he was SO supportive. He's the BEST!) I was obviously super conflicted with my emotions, but had to look at the future rather than "the now".

We arrive at the airport at 4:30 to find the security line super short and the flight delayed until 6:40. I start to worry about missing my connecting flight in Atlanta. Flight gets delayed again until 7:00. Then 7:50. Finally we take off after 8pm. This flight is supposed to land in Atlanta at 10:52, and my connecting flight is supposed to take off at 11:04. (God's Plan #2) EVERYONE on the plane had a connecting flight to catch, so luckily everyone was trying to get off quickly. (God's Plan #3) My flights were only two gates apart in one of the biggest airports in the world.

When I get to the gate, I hand my boarding pass to the lady to scan so I can board at the last second. I'm ready to run to the plane, when, instead of a green GO light, my boarding pass scans RED. My heart sinks. She quickly looks up something on the computer and say, "Looks like you've been rebooked." I was on the verge of tears. They can't just kick me off this plane... Can they?? I am stressing because in the morning I have to be in Lafayette by 11am for the interview. Luckily (God's Plan #4) They had just changed my seat number. Whew!!

(God's Plan #5) Even though I was only in Atlanta for less than 5 minutes, my luggage still made it to Indianapolis with me. I got home at 2am, only to wake up at 6:15am to get ready.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013:
I was one of EIGHT people interviewing for ONE position. This seriously freaked me out. The top 2 or 3 candidates would come in for a second interview on Thursday. (God's Plan #6) My interview was only supposed to last for 30 min. It lasted for an hour. I apologized once to the principal, but he said it was no problem because there was no interview scheduled right after mine. Throughout the interview, he kept saying "you would..." and then at the end quickly add "if you were chosen" or "if you worked here". I took this as a good sign.

After the interview, I felt pretty good. I went around and looked at tons of apartments in Lafayette.
(God's Plan #7) At 4:08pm, I got a call saying I was in the top 3 candidates and to come back tomorrow at 10am.

Thursday, June 20, 2013:
I woke up and drove straight up to Lafayette. I was getting nervous, because the second interview was not only with the principal, but also with the two other fourth grade teachers. I basically just had to convince them that they wanted to work with me over the other two candidates. They were both extremely nice, but it only lasted for 25 minutes. I got a tour of the school and of my potential classroom. (It was nice! SmartBoard, iPads, etc!!!!)

Then came the waiting game. It was only supposed to take 30-40 minutes for them to decide. But apparently it was a close race. I immediately went to Starbucks to sit and drink caffeine (a mistake since I was already jittery). It was over an hour. My phone volume was up super high; I was convincing myself that I didn't get it... It was intense. (God's Plan #8) Finally, I got the call that I was chosen!!

Went to meet with HR that afternoon for details. It was actually a meeting with the same guy who interviewed me at Ball State in May! Funny how things work out AMAZING how God had this all planned out before I even had a clue!!!!!!!!!


A BIG thank you to everyone who has supported me, encouraged me, inspired me, loved me through my entire education. It has all built up to this moment. I'm so, so, so blessed. Now I have my dream job, and Justin and I will FINALLY be in the same city. Btw, the wedding is in 190 days!!

College Graduate

On May 4, 2013, I graduated from college!!

If you would have asked me 4 months ago if I was ready to be on my own, I probably would have said no. But after spending 4 months in Texas, really getting into the swing of things at school and really feeling like I had a job, now I would say yes. BUT... that's not going to happen yet. Haha! I have to find a job first! I am currently living at home (in the middle of a pile of stacked boxes that contain everything I own) until I find a job and find a place to live where ever that job is located... WHICH is hopefully in Lafayette.

Justin still has 2 years left at Purdue, so I get to be the breadwinner until he gets a job after his graduation. Which is awesome and all... except when you don't have a job yet. It's a teeny bit stressful, not only trying to find a job, but trying to find a job in a specific geographic area. I am willing to commute up to an hour (thank you, Houston for preparing me!!), but it's not ideal... Plus I would need a car. Ha. Oh gosh... the life of an eled college graduate... no one gets jobs til the middle or end of summer, so we have no income until school starts!!

But anyway, I would appreciate prayers for guidance and for getting a job!! And now for some pictures of graduation... Hey, at least I'm finished with school!!!!!!! As a student at least...  ;)

Brothers

In-Laws :)

Holly and I

My Texas Ladies

We <3 TX

College roomie for 3 years!!

Wedding days coming up in 2 and 7 months!

And now I have completed all my education (except for maybe grad school later!)

Last Post as a Student Teacher

Ok well, the truth is student teaching ended almost 2 weeks ago! But I needed to share my sweet memories and pictures of my babies and of my time in Houston. It was so BITTERSWEET to leave. I pretty much just wanted to stay down there and just have Justin join me. I LOVE HOUSTON. And I miss my students like crazy right now. Time for a walk down Memory Lane...

On my last day, I arrived super early to school. I had my hands full of gifts, cards, 3 Starbucks drinks, plus all my normal teaching stuff. As I'm walking down the hall, one of my girls (Zayda) comes up to me holding flowers and asks me if she can help! It was the sweetest thing. First thing I did was conference with our principal. She had observed me a few weeks back and wanted to give me some feedback. This meeting was so encouraging! She is such a sweet lady! We were both tearing up at the end of the meeting. It was confirmed to me then what a special place Bethune is.

After that, I spent the whole morning with the students. We continued learning cursive and took a class picture (which my teacher still has haha). All day we were gearing up for my going-away "party". After doing some VERY impromptu teaching during Math and after specials, my mom came and the party started.

I had a few things for each student:
An award, such as Pencil Queen, Most Enthusiastic Volunteer, Always Smiling, Biggest Hello Kitty Fan
A sweet poem about how I loved being their teacher
A coupon for half off admission to the Houston Space Center (which they were so pumped about)
Their graded space project
Their popsicle stick with their name on it
Class book with their own illustration as the cover

After I was gone, I sent them personalized pencils with their unique names on them, a picture of me at gradation and a personal note.

The dance students performed their dance routine for us during the party as well. As the party wound down, some of the students started getting emotional. One girl (Aubri) cried for the last 15 minutes. Alisha wouldn't let go of me. I could barely let go of Khyla. She was going through personal issues and I feel like she needed those last few minutes of encouragement. After school, I tried to avoid saying goodbye to my AMAZING teachers (I was blessed enough to have two) for as long as I could. Finally that moment came and all three of us were crying like babies. They were the best possible combination of mentors and best friends. I had such a ball with them and the rest of the Bethune staff. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. I miss them all so much!!

Here is the video that my teacher (Kristina) made for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR29LLlpqJw&feature=youtu.be


Now for the pictures :)

The STAAR Pep Rally

Our beautiful Spring Poetry bulletin board

The Staff and I on Sci/SS night all dressed up!

My precious babies

Reading to them

So excited about space

On the way to see Flat Stanley: The Musical

Fredrick

Working hard!

Haha so cute

Gosh I miss them!

Two of the GREATEST women ever!

Texas: Rodeo Edition

Wow, this is from a few weeks ago, but still thought I'd share :)


Me: I went to my first rodeo this weekend!
Kids: WHAT?!? You've never been to rodeo?
Me: No, we don't have rodeo in Indiana...
Kids: (Jaws drop)

Kid #1: Do you know who you look like, Ms. Wade?
Me: Do I really want to know??
Kid #2: Taylor Swift!!
Kid #1: Heyyy I was gonna say that!
Kid #2: I love Taylor Swift.

Me: (teaching about how/why Pluto is no longer a planet) Astronomers and scientists decided that Pluto couldn't be a planet anymore.
Girl: (face scrunched up; really confused. Cautiously raises hand.)
Me: Yes?
Girl: .... Uh so if our space ships can't go to Pluto how.... Uh how did they like get it out of space?
Me: No, no! Pluto is still out there; it just isn't called a planet anymore. (Make eye contact with my CT and try not to lose it!!)

My kids are so excited about the space unit that I'm doing with them. Yesterday about 3/4 of them checked out space books from the library and were showing me proudly. Afterwards, they were reading their books. Three separate kids came up to me and said, "Ms. Wade, Ms. Wade!!!!!!! Look look! You were right!! Saturn DOES have rings!/Uranus DOES spin weird!/Jupiter IS the biggest!" I was like, Yea I know!! Haha! It was cute that they thought the information was super official because it was in a book!

Taking a math test...
Boy: (raises hand) How do you spell "peninsula"?
Me: Do you have the correct test?? Why do you want to know?
Boy: I need to spell it correctly.
Me: Uh, let's just focus on the numbers since it's a math test!

Girl: (holding ribs) Ms. Wade, my spine feels like it's broken!
Me: You mean your rib?
Girl: Yes...?
Me: Does it hurt?
Girl: Kinda...
Me: (thinking: then why did you come to tell me this???)

Texas: Week 5

1. I'm teaching all morning now! Woo hoo! And whew! It's a lot of planning!

2. I have been asked multiple times if I have a daughter.

3. The kids think I'm 32 years old.

4. I'm learning what to do when students tell you NO.

5. I have come to expect talking back when I give instructions to students.

6. I was thrilled when they loved a book I am reading to them that was MY favorite in 3rd grade. (From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler)

7. I was bummed when it took me almost 2 hours to go 20 miles tonight. (Avg speed of 6mph on the freeway)

8. Today, I said, "Rain is bad. Hail is worse. A hurricane is the worst" while teaching about adjectives. A couple kids go, "Ooooo she said a bad worrrrd!!" I was so confused for a minute before I realized that "hell" with a Southern accent sounds like "hail". I died laughing, then explained that hail is a type of precipitation when ice balls fall from the sky. 

9. Today, the student with the worst behavior in my class was referred to an alternative school for students with behavior problems.

10. It's a learning process, but I couldn't be more grateful for the two WONDERFUL teachers that I have been placed with!!! :)

All day, every day

When you sign up for student teaching, you know it will be a full time commitment. What you don't know is that it never ends.

You don't know that you'll be staying at school every day until 4:30 or 7pm.
You don't know that you'll have school commitments every Saturday.
You don't know that you'll be spending all day Sundays lesson planning because you don't have time during the week.

But you DO KNOW that retail therapy always works.
The gorgeous weather helps A TON.
You find out you get to wear jeans to school for the entire month of February!
And you get to make totally awesome bulletin boards (if I do say so myself)!

Side note:
It's funny how little Groundhog's Day matters down here, because it's already spring haha. Mid-70s and sunny! Last night, we made a bonfire and had s'mores. In FEBRUARY!!

 EAT. SLEEP. DRIVE.

Texas Life Lessons: Week 1

1. Going 25 mph on the 6 lane highway is normal in the mornings and afternoons.

2. When people merge, they don't use their blinkers.

3. People will give you tons of space on the road once they see you have an Indiana license plate.

4. There's a Chick-fil-a on every block.

5. Every morning students say the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the Texas State pledge.

6. Schools can look like prisons.

7. Your school can have only 2 white students.

8. Third graders get into physical fights.

9. When it rains, it pours... and floods.

10. Humidity sucks.

11. 70º in January is AWESOME.

12. Texans have major Texas pride.

13. Everyone knows everything about football.

14. If you are blonde and don't say "y'all", you will probably stand out.

15. Country music is wayyy more legit.

Every Storm Runs Out of Rain

Somewhere around Hour 6 of Day 1's 11 hour drive, I picked a theme song for my semester: "Every storm runs out of rain" by Gary Allen. It was a little rough seeing everything I loved and that was familiar in my rearview. This song popped up on so many random radio stations during the drive from Bloomington to The Woodlands, TX over 3 days.

Anyways... with my parents' mini-van completely stuffed to the gills, I made my way down to Little Rock, then Dallas, and finally Houston. Little Rock traffic and highways were miserable, especially during rush hour in the dark with one headlight burnt out after 11 hours in the car. I don't think I've ever slept better than I did that night.

At the last minute, I decided to swing through Dallas and visit some family. Then finally on last Friday, I made my way into Houston. I have been extremely blessed by family during this move. Dad, Christian, and Jonathan (along with Justin and Benny) packed up the van for me. Then when I arrived, my great-uncle who lives in Houston was here to help me unload the car, bring me lunch, set up my bed, and give me all sorts of tips about Houston living.

During the first few days in H-town, I made it to Walmart, a local BBQ place, Cracker Barrel and my school. It killed me to wait a whole week to go to the HUGE mall less than 10 minutes from our house! But we (my roommate Sarah and I) finally went yesterday! It took a little edge off being away from my fiancé and family.

Speaking of... that song kind of came true for me. I have really been missing my fiancé especially with his birthday and our 4 year anniversary coming up. And so, I bought a plane ticket for him to come down and visit me THIS FRIDAY for an extended weekend. I was already planning on coming home for spring break in March, but I was a little depressed at the thought that I wouldn't get to share any of my experiences from down here with him. So now it's only 5 more days until I get to pick him up at the airport!