Serenity. Decision Made

Had a discussion with the Principal of the other school on Friday. The field through the gate is not as idyllic as it may first have appeared. Some of the time would be made up by a team teaching position on a year 5/6 class. It decided me. I'm staying where I am for now.

I feel very serene about the decision. Must have been the right one.

:-)

Meanwhile I'm watching 4 more overlockers on ebay; Himself is on Kangaroo Island for a few nights and I read 'Twilight' on the weekend. Rats. Addicted.

Where Do I Go Wrong?

Year 11, Language Disordered, ADD and acutely anxious.

For a term now we have been working on mastering the process of finding a percentage of a quantity.

First he does a sheet like this:

Change this percentage to a decimal.
23.5%

He moves the decimal place back two places and gets 0.235. He does 50 of these in around one minute now.

Next he does a sheet like this:

23.5% of 252.5

He converts to a decimal and puts the numbers into his calculator.
0.235 x 252.5
He does 50 of these in under 4 minutes.

Finally he does a sheet like this:

What is 23.5% of $252.50?

He has to convert the words to a number sentence
23.5% x $252.50
Change the percentage to a decimal
0.235 x $252.50
And put the numbers into the calculator.

Today was his 'exam'. He had three pages: 50 questions like the above on each page. He completed the first page. He mostly completed the second. He froze on the third.

After his exam time was up he came to me and told me he couldn't do the third page, they were just too confusing. He had no idea where to start.

"You've done these problems lots of times before." I protested.
"I don't care, I can't do them today. It's too confusing Mrs A. I don't know what I'm doing."
"But it's exactly the same process as the page before only this time it's in words..."
"I don't care, I can't do it. It's NOT the same. It's too confusing."

I explained the process again. I showed how the three sheets built up, one from the other using the same skills. I gave him another 15 minutes to complete the last page. At the end of the time he came to me and said "It's no use. I can't do them," and flounced away in a state of high anxiety.

What am I missing? Where has my process fallen down. Can someone please give me his perspective because I am at a loss!!!!!!

Still, on a positive note, at the beginning of term he couldn't even do 1 sheet of any type without asking for constant reassurance and asking questions every 30 secs. At least he got through the first two pages unaided today......

Oh. This young man has an average IQ by the way! He has what is called a Specific Learning Difficulty.

*&^%$#@ EBAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My next overlocker auction ended this evening. Half an hour before I went to place my final bids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was AEDST (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time) and we are ACDST (Australian Central Daylight Savings Time) a fact which escaped me because the last auction item was here in South Australia! AND it went for within my price range.................
>:-(
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It looks like I am not meant to have an overlocker............

Back to the drawing board.

And In The Grey Corner....

Thanks to all those bloggy mates with advice on the job dilemma.

Here is the story.

Four years ago I was in a lovely school doing a fulltime job which I really enjoyed. I taught little kids with learning difficulties to read and spell, blundered my way through some Gifted and Talented groups, ran the school's standardised assessment program, liaised with parents, co-ordinated Special Needs and took a group of Y9 boys for Additional English (extra help instead of French). It was great. I loved the staff, my kid went to the same school so transport was not an issue and I got to help out in the primary and secondary musicals which I loved.

Unfortunately, the teacher who had been on leave for two years came back and I had to find new digs. Thus began my strange and unforseen journey into secondary teaching, a journey which has not been without angst and frustration but which occasionally offers glimpses of vivid white light at the end of the tunnel. I am challenged by the secondary kids but I am also motivated and inspired from time to time. I love the staff where I am and I am familiar with the routines and surroundings.

Last week they first school rang to tell me the job had opened up again and would I be interested?

Time and money are big questions here. My current job is 0.76 EFT and this other one would be 0.8-full time. However, my current job is increasing to 0.93 next year and having done the calculations it's only about $70.00 a fortnight more to move.

Some people have suggested I do a pros and cons chart and indeed I have already done one. There are equal amounts of bullet points in each box.

The real question is.....can I be fagged moving? Do I need this upheaval? I don't think I'm in the mood for change despite this post. The trouble is that was Term 2. Since then there has been The Musical and somewhere along the line this year I have let go of a lot of control issues both at work and at home (stop sniggering those of you who know me). I am settled and comfortable.

I am still undecided.

Some Are Lucky, Some Are Not

You know when you're standing in a field and looking over the fence and going, "Gee it looks good over there in that neck of the woods. Boy I'd like to get over there. My life would be SO different if only I could get into that field."

And then someone opens the gate?

And suddenly you're not sure why you wanted to go there in the first place and your own, mud ridden, bumpy patch seems very comfortable, thank you very much, and why on earth would you want to leave?

Well that's how I'm feeling right now.

Any advice? It's job related by the way ;-)

PS: The Weather Widget Is Asleep Again

It currently says 27C.
Well, yeah! Here under the air conditioning vent MAYBE!!!! I wonder where their thermometer is???????

Bloody Ebay

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I lost my overlocker in the last 10 seconds of the auction. Small Boy was by my side and giving me advice on the way.
"30 seconds to go...now you can get worried A"
"OK should I up my maxi,mum bid now?"
"Put it up to $100.00"
"oooo I don't know...that might give too much away, I can just put a max in and be ready to press the button.."
"you should refresh every 10 secs"
"OK"
..............

"Alright Small Boy, we're down to the last 5 secs....OMG I'VE LOST IT.....
"Quick....up your max! I TOLD you to go to $100"
"OK but OMG I"VE PRESSED THE WRONG BUTTON...."
"QUICK QUICK............."


Too late.

I think I may have sworn.

My highest bid was $98.89 and she won it for $102.50 :-(

I say 'she' of course. I just can't imagine men bidding on overlockers although I guess it must happen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I have other news to share about a job offer but I'm off to see A Free Family in this disgusting heat so that will have to wait. The Small Boy and his Dad have left for sailing and No2 Son was dragged out of bed too. He is sailing with last year's champion this year so he is feeling pretty good about himself. Last week they won and Himself and Small Boy came second!

I shall have to come up with some 'names' for their boats so I can report race results more quickly, with less key strokes that is.

Hmmmmm.....let's call them....

Jester: Skipper; Himself, Crew; The Small Boy
Gunshot: Skipper; Dee, Crew: No 2 Son
The Other One: the main competition..previous State Champion.

Right. Off to commiserate my ebay loss with The Free Family!