Thursday, September 09, 2010

Subbing (again)

The new school year has begun so I'm trying to get motivated to substitute again after thoroughly enjoying having the summer off. I have a half day tomorrow, that'll be my first day back in the saddle and I have to admit that my heart is not in it. The one good thing about it is that it'll be nice to have some income coming in again.

Oh by the way, did I mention that I do not qualify for unemployment? Yup. For two reasons. First of all, when you work for a religious organization (which I did from Jan to June) they do not take money out for unemployment, so those six months don't count. Also, when you are subbing, you cannot apply for unemployment during the breaks because you are technically employed (there's just no jobs available). Lame, huh?

I'm registered to take my last science class, Botany. This (should be) my last requirement to fulfill the Science endorsement. It is a 6 credit online class, which basically translates to a lot of reading and hard work. I'll be glad when it is all over. Once I finish the endorsement, and it will be January, I expect one of three possible things will happen:

1. I'll get a science teaching job somewhere (maybe in Washington, if I am lucky)
2. I'll get a position teaching abroad (which may not happen until next fall, but the job fair for International Schools is in Jan or Feb)
3. I'll get a job doing sometime completely different.

I'm ready to go abroad again, I am sick and tired of not getting a job around here. I've heard from local teachers that many open positions get several hundred applicants. How can I compete with that? With teachers who have 20 years experience, teachers coming in from out of state, yadda yadda. I've hardly bothered with applying for jobs for this fall. The one hitch to going abroad is my 14 year old cat. I don't want to leave him again, like I did when I taught English in Ecuador and when I was in the Peace Corps. But it'll be strenuous on him, and I'd want to make sure that my living conditions would be favorable for him, as well as making sure I get good vet care.

I was helping out with the Peace Corps booth at Bumbershoot festival recently and was talking to a recruiter. She encouraged me to pursuit working for the Peace Corps. It's an interesting idea...

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