By George, Something Went Right!
I'm kind of happy right now, and it may be a fluke, but
I'd like to think I've been slowly working toward it with a combination of good (well, better...) decisions, personal effort, and some selfless giving too. Maybe that's over reaching, but even if it's half true then I will be content with that. Remember Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day book? Well, today was the opposite of that. I had practically given up on expecting to get more classroom sub jobs since the ones I've been seeing lately were all cafeteria work, but last night there were several different options. One of which was the same school where I had been for almost three months in the kitchen, but it was for a special ed. classroom assistant. I almost chose that one just to see some familiar faces, but decided on the unknown.
So I chose a school I hadn't been to before based solely on proximity to home, and worked from eight to three in two different classrooms, the nurse's office, and on recess duty.
It was a smaller school, situated on a side street, next to an old community church, in a cute old fashioned schoolhouse building. Despite getting little sleep last night, I had my proverbial act pretty together this morning. Traffic was very light for the directions I was heading, there and back. It turned out that most of the classes were taught in Spanish, so I got to review some dormant language skills. There was free cinnamon cake in the break room. There was a back and neck massager set up on a chair in the staff room, which I took advantage of for the duration of my lunch hour. I met many lovely people, all of whom were younger than myself, but what can you do, I'm late to the game. I spoke with a very motivated sub who encouraged me to sign up for the supplemental training course offered by the sub office this summer to provide certified training for teacher's aids for students with disabilities. That would improve the opportunities for chances to work with special education classes.
Besides wishing I had taken eight years of Spanish instead of French, and running out of breath while jogging with the kids at recess, it was a really positive, nothing to complain about, pretty cool kind of experience. I really do enjoy working with children, but I don't know if I could be a full time teacher and deal with all the paperwork and disciplinary aspects of the job. Maybe that could come with training and experience. The teacher stepped in a few times when my kid I was working with behaved in a way she didn't deem appropriate, and I was glad of it, she seemed strict but fair, and had reasonably high expectations for her students, who were to my eyes, all on the above average level.
When I got home I cut some beautiful yellow roses from outside for our neighbor (just to be nice) and myself to brighten up the dark apartment space on this gloomy weather day. I wanted to share these feelings whilst still overflowing with gratitude for a super positive day, because even my optimism will wane and I may need something to look back on that was concrete and real in order to remember: Happy Can Happen. And it does, and being grateful really does help. "Attitude of Gratitude, Dude."
P.S. I should give a little shout out to Dress For Success non-profit organization for helping me put together a couple decent outfits and accessories to make me feel more confident and appropriately attired. I wish I had been able to go to them long ago, as the experience did wonders for my esteem.
