Some Good News

So it took me almost a week to be able to come up with a happy post, just one of "those" weeks I guess, but here goes nothing. R got another interview for this upcoming Tuesday. I'm very happy but I have very low expectations. It would be a great job if he got it but he would have to move because it's 2 1/2 hours away from our house. He has to take a portfolio which I don't think any of the interviews he's been on has asked him for so maybe that will be something that will set him apart from the rest of the candidates. He has some great portfolio pieces that visually look awesome.

Another happy thing that happened was I got my insurance info for my new job. I'm going to get a PPO, I've never had a PPO in my life, always HMO so that's exciting. I'm also excited because I get dental and optical so that's great. Also, my insurance starts on September 1, yay!!! When I taught down in FL I had to wait like 3 months for my insurance to kick in so this is awesome.

I'll be writing again soon!

Some Questions Answered

1. Will I have my own desk/space where I can land and keep my stuff? They already explained that they don't have extra classroom space so I will be "pushing in" to the fourth grade classrooms and meeting with kids at tables in their own room which is totally fine with me but I am a little nervous about not having anywhere where I can store and organize my things. I am going to have my own desk/cubicle in the back of one of the fourth grade teacher's classrooms. I didn't get to see my space or meet that teacher because she was the only one that wasn't there when we planned.
2. What will my schedule look like? Since I won't have my own class per say will I get the same types of lunch and breaks during the day as a regular classroom teacher would have? It seems like my schedule is going to consist of about 6 hours total in the fourth grade classrooms with a lunch and break in there somewhere. I am mainly going to be focusing on math and reading and I'll get my caseload of students and then need to get with the teachers to see when they are doing what so I can plan my schedule. It seemed like I'd be getting lunch at the same time as the other fourth grade teachers but I'll have to wait until late August to get more information on what my specific schedule will look like.
3. What other responsibilities will I have? Some schools have specials teachers and other staff members do bus duty or morning/afternoon monitoring. This I did not discuss with the teachers because I totally forgot.
4. What is orientation going to consist of? I do know that I have a week long orientation starting August 17th for teachers who are new to the school's curriculum. I feel like I should be exempt from new teacher stuff since I've taught for 4 years but this is one exception because I have no experience with their unique curriculum. After that week I'll be going to the school for two weeks for things there but I have no idea what yet. The one fourth grade teacher told me that the new teacher orientation really felt like a cult and she was pretty freaked out after going so I'm just going to have to get through it somehow and pray they don't start passing out cups of kool-aid.
5. How many sick/vacation days will I receive and what will the benefits be like? She mentioned pay, bonuses and health insurance, but does that include optical and dental? Is there retirement? I get 10 sick days which includes personal days but I earn one every month so I only start out with 1. They still didn't have any information on the benefits so I'll be getting the booklet in the mail along with the teacher handbook as soon as they are ready. I'm still not sure about optical and dental I forgot to ask but there is retirement.
6. How many other new teachers will there be at the school this year? I think every new school I've went to there were quite a few new teachers so I wasn't alone with learning all the new things. My first job there were like over 10 new teachers and my second job had quite a few, though I wasn't new to the county so I didn't have all the "new teacher" crap. It looks like there's about 6 people that are going to be at the New Teacher thing with me from my school so at least there is a small group of us!

I'll write more later about my planning session and the school calendar.

Life Is Moving On!

R leaves today to go down to the house! J got the people who were living there to move out early so he could get in since he starts his new job tomorrow. I won't be going down until Friday because we only have one vehicle and I can't borrow my mom's until she's done working for the week. R is going to spend the week getting the place clean and in order before I arrive and we get to work on painting and organizing. Our big move won't be until November 10th because we need a little time to notify the family members who are helping us.

Should I do anything for R's first day on the job? I know that if he were a girl I may send flowers or something but for guys, what do you do? I was going to send a card along hidden in his stuff so that he would find it tomorrow either before or during work, but I'm not sure if I should do something more? Any thoughts?

I'm going to be on my own for Little Man's third Halloween (R will be at the house). He's going to be a bear and he just loves the costume. My mother in law is a wonderful seamstress so the costumes always look professional. This will be his first year Trick or Treating. We are going to do one street of houses up town and take him up to my aunt and uncles. I think I may have to replace all his unhealthy candy with goldfish, raisins, and apples, HAHA after we get home because I know that he will want to eat it all! Next year will be nice because we'll have a subdivision neighborhood with sidewalks to go T or T in.

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!!!! I'll keep updating about R's new job, the house, and the move. Things are going to busy!!!!