The End Is So Close I Can Taste It

And it tastes like gingerbread. Mmmmm gingerbread.

I just submitted my HAT for Adolescent Readers on LiveText and now just have to complete my unit for Special Methods (I'd say I'm 60% there), make it through class on Thursday, and endure having that whole class watch video of me teaching. I'm boring. Sorry, methods folks. Once that's done, I can put my feet up and focus on the stress of being broke for the holidays and having no reliabe source of income for the next 5 months or so.

I'd like to sat this has been a great semester. I expected to be able to say it was the best yet--then I started it. Now, it could be that I've been so preoccupied with having to find work from day to day, trying to get settled in a new house with my girlfriend who lived 750 miles away for the past year, and just trying to juggle school, work, homework, and my personal life that I won't realize how much I learned until I take some time off and decompress. I really hope that's what it is, in fact. There's definitely been a lot to learn from--a lot of people, places, fun, and frustration.

If there's anything that I know I've learned, one thing I can point to, it's that I'm happy being in school every day. That seems like it's important for a teacher. I don't like the unpredictability of subbing, and I don't like having to introduce myself to between 25 and 150 kids every day and answer questions about my height, beard, (lack of) hair... I don't like getting stuck in rooms with teachers who yell at first graders for crying because they yelled at them and then answer their cellphones in class, or teachers who yell at little girls for sneezing too loudly. I don't like 17 year-old football players trying to physically intimidate me because I'm the stranger in their classroom. I don't like getting called a leprechaun.

But, all that aside, subbing is still the best job I've ever had because it's teaching, at least sorta. Yeah, I'm tired and ready for vacation (and I could really do without having to bust my butt to try and work all next week), but I am pumped about student teaching next semester. I learned from my days as an audio engineer that any idiot can fake it through the classes and get a degree, but the real test, and the real learning, is in the field. I've been in the field all semester, every day, and all I want is more (after a vacation).