The end is nigh

The school year is almost done! I'm not looking forward to most of June and August without work. But I'll be teaching summer school in July, and needless to say I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be doing 4th grade, which is exciting (one of my own daughters is going into 4th, so it's personally meaningful too as I intend to help her along the way while I'm helping all those other people's children). It will be held at My Favorite Elementary School, and I'll get to collaborate with the sixth grade teacher my eldest had this year. The guy rocks. He's all about pushing the kids, creating poetry and sculpture (he has a kiln at home so they did a lot of pottery) and dramatic performances and pop-up books and so on to summarize their learning on all sorts of topics from forest biodiversity to Shakespeare. My daughter definitely grew in his class, and working with him will be fabulous. Also, if all goes exceedingly well, a sixth grade position could maybe possibly, but hush it's Not Official Yet, be opening up at that school and the principal told me this in secrecy and it sounds like he'd like to hire me but it's Not Official Yet so I can't count on anything (story of my life lately). If that sentence made any sense at all I'd eat my hat. Not really because it's still snowing around here and I'll need the hat.

Anyway. My daughter's 6th grade teacher was great and I'll be working with him this summer and possibly next year. There. Sheesh. There was also an elementary position at another nearby school that was posted in the middle of last week. I applied, and tomorrow (unless I get called to work) I think I'll pop in and cold-call the principal over there. I could walk to that school in about 15 minutes. That would be sweet. I don't really care what grade level it is, though I'm thinking I'd like upper elementary. I've been reading a lot about writing strategies and would really like to put it into practice. I know, I know. My day will come. It's just very frustrating right now because I'm not making anything like enough to pay the bills right now, the nest egg is rapidly depleting, and even with a full time contract job I probably will have us breaking even at best. I haven't earned any brownie points around here lately in the fiscal responsibility department. But full time work (I mean actual full time, not this working 5 days a week and somehow only netting about 19 hours routine) would be a big step in the right direction. I'll need a second job though. Sigh. At least in my state all the gas stations are full serve. I could put that master's degree to work pumping gas after school. And there's a station a couple of blocks from here. Sheesh.