First Day at Work

Today I finally got a phone call to sub in the Carson City School District.  It was for Special Ed and was only for the afternoon.  I was so disappointed in what I found.  There were 12 children ranging in age from 6 (kindergarten) to 9 (2nd grade) with a huge range of disabilities all in the same tiny classroom.  Six of these children were non-verbal, though only one tried to communicate with screams.  Most were silent, using hand signals or quiet murmurs.  Their mental abilities were wide-ranging, too.  I felt like I was in a classroom of the 1960s. These students never interacted with the larger school population.  Even for their recess time they had the playground entirely to themselves.  My professors from Carlow would be mortified that this is still standard procedure for a school today. 

In PA all students spend at least some time in the regular classroom.  Those who need it have a one-on-one paraprofessional.  Most are pulled out for the areas they need extra help with such as physical or speech therapy. Not only was this a healthy environment for those who needed additional help, but it was also a learning experience for the "regular" kids.  The students in my 3rd grade classroom helped and encouraged their autistic classmate.  What a great life lesson for all of them.

I read in the paper this morning that Carson City Schools is one of the finalist districts competing for the "Race to the Top" federal monies.  I'm hoping that if they are awarded that money, they will be required to change the way they "educate" all their students.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dawned cool and sunny.  Mom and I spent the morning baking pies - apple, pumpkin, and her favorite, mincemeat.  The turkey went into the oven at noon, and then relaxed for a while before starting the potatoes, sweet potatoes, lentil loaf (Amy is a vegetarian) and vegetables.  My sister Amy and her husband JB were driving over from Grass Valley, CA to join us for dinner and introduce us to their two new daughters.

Star

Star is a Pit mix and is about eighteen monts old.  She has a sweet and gentle spirit, and has no idea how big she is.  I was on the floor petting Little Bit, and Star came running through, banging against my nose.  I thought for a while there I was going to have a black eye!

Little Bit

Little bit is a Chihuahua and is only about a year old.  She is a goody little thing, and loves to play. They have always been together, and Amy and JB adopted them from a shelter where Amy volunteers. They are so bonded that they enjoy playing together, and get a little nervous when the other is not close by.  If you look closely at the afghan behind Little Bit, you can see that she lift her mark.  They are both still puppies!

We had a nice dinner, and even "the girls" got a turkey treat.  They all  spent the night and on Friday, we relaxed, played games, JB fixed our kitchen faucet (woo hoo!) and we ate wonderful Turkey Barley Soup.  Thanks, Elaine for the recipe!  They all left later in the afternoon taking with them left overs of turkey, potatoes, dressing, lentil loaf and pie. (There was plenty for us, too!)

Today, Saturday, Mom and I spent part of the day cleaning, and then headed out into the beautiful



60 degree sunshine.  We cleaned up the yard, raking and bagging the last of the leaves.  That should take care of it until spring when we will do a more thorough job of cleaning out garden beds and deciding what to plant.

I did talk to both boys on Skype.  Aaron went out with friends and had sushi for his Thanksgiving dinner.  Connor went out with friends, too, but they know a chef who created a Thanksgiving meal just for them so they enjoyed the turkey with all the trimmings.  This is the first Thanksgiving for me with both of them out of the country.  Kind of different.

Hope yours was a good one and you enjoyed family and friends in a relaxing and joyful atmosphere.

A Real Substitute?

Today I dropped off another ream of filled out paperwork to the Administrative Office of Carson City School District, got fingerprinted - again (evidently no one can share that information with each other so I've done it 7 times now!), and am really now on the sub list for the elementary schools!

Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical.  I did go online and found I was actually entered into the system.  That's encouraging.  I'm eligible to be called tomorrow.  As long as this process has been, I'll believe it when I get that call.

So thanks for your ongoing prayers for me.  Hopefully, I'll be back in the classroom soon.

A Little Slow

I know I'm a little slow in getting updates out to let you know how I'm doing - what I'm doing.  I keep waiting for something definite to update you on.  But God in His infinite wisdom, is allowing me to practice patience and rest, caring for my mom, cooking, and helping with housework.  I'm still not working.  There is quite a process to becoming a substitute teacher, so I'm still working on getting through all those hoops.

I have tried to do some volunteer work.  I first volunteered for the Literacy Council and never received a phone call.  I called several times, to no avail.  Although they advertised that volunteers were needed, I can't seem to make headway.

Then I signed up to be a math tutor at the local charter school.  I went for my orientation and talked to the principal about where he could use me.  He instructed me to go get fingerprinted (everyone needs their own - no one shares the info - I think I've done that 6 times!).I was to call when I had them so I could make an appointment to come in for a photo ID and set a schedule.  When I called, I left him a message and he emailed me back and said just come in any time - at my convenience.  So I did, and he was out of town for a week!  So I haven't started on that yet either!  He should be back this week though, so I have hope!

There's a group called "Food for Thought" that collects food and distributes it in backpacks to poor children as they leave school for the weekend.  It's to help the entire family and is a great mission.  I saw the brochure at my church and gave them a call.They were getting together the next day to make Christmas ornaments to sell as a fund raiser, and invited me to come help.  And I did!  Yea! Something to do!

And then last week I saw an ad in the paper for auditions for parts in a community theater production, so I decided to audition.  I met some nice people there, and though I didn't get a speaking part, I will be part of the cast, and will enjoy the weekly rehearsals.

So that's kind of where I am at the moment: doing a couple of things on my own, but having a lot of time to spend with my mom and trying new recipes (she's on a "no sugar, no wheat, little meat" diet) and getting to know Carson City.  She and I play a lot of Scrabble - both online and with a board.  We both love to read, and we've worked many puzzles.

God is good!  I'm still trusting Him for each day as well as the direction for my future.  I know He'll let me know what that is as soon as I'm supposed to!  Thanks for your continued prayers.  I think of you all so often, and pray for you daily.  God bless.

We've got snow!

    
      After an inch or so yesterday, we awoke to find about three inches covering our driveway.  Although the nearby mountains have gotten a little snow before today, this is the first we've had.  I smiled to myself as I listened to people saying how much we got because of the lake effect from Lake Tahoe!  Those of you from Pittsburgh know what I'm alluding to!
    

     Carson City is in a kind of valley surrounded by the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  We do get snow but not nearly as much as Tahoe which sits about 2000 feet higher than we do.  The ski resorts, according to this morning's paper, got from 14 to 18 inches, and they're all open this weekend - glad to have the weekend to open the season.
 

      By the end of the week, we'll be back in the 50s which is more normal for this time of year, but it's nice to see the white.  And from what I hear even when we do get snow it doesn't stick around long.  I'll let you know!