Not saying I don’t just LOVE teaching, but with my original degree being journalism…it would be nice to get back into my first chosen career path.

So, a friend sends me this great job opportunity for a morning show host at a really good radio station in the area. Of course, I update my resume and apply! BAM! So proud.

I type up a nice cover letter, attach my newly refurbished resume and even attach my Westside Radio air check that I made a couple years back.

Send the email…

That is when I realize I was on an ex-students email address. I had forgot I had saw her Friday before break and she wanted to show me her scholarship essay to help start working on funds for college.Crap though.

Send off a job application in a students email. So, I logged into my email and sent all the info again…this time adding the funny story of why the first one was in a different email address. Well, perhaps they will find it funny and get back to me because i live an entertaining life? One can hope. My life. Lawdy!

There crazy kids are my journalism class. Some days, they make my life stressful with unfinished stories and the lack of photos they take, but most days, we have a great time for 90 minutes learning about journalism and editing our stories for publishing.

Today I worked hard on their first publication. Since this is the first student publication at Largo Middle for quite some time, I decided to make it look like a newsletter because my students thought the sound of a magazine was cooler than that of a newspaper.

We also started a blog to accompany our publication where all out stories will be held and shown all around the world.

These 32 students are a very hard working, lovable bunch who have been running around campus getting interviews. All I have heard from those interviewees was how prepared my students were and how professional their interviews seemed.

Needless to say I am very proud of them.

Show some love for LMS and these darling students, check out our journalism blog and the PDF of the publication that is posted on the site. Comment, share, get these kids to really understand just how awesome their doing in this fun, new elective class.

Days like today make me proud to be a teacher. GO TIGERS! 🙂

The Tiger Teller

Well, since many teachers have to be in a portable at least once in their teaching careers…even if it is temporary, here are some pros and cons to the portable teacher life. 

Well, let us start with the bad…then I will end on the positive notes! 

CONS to the portable life:

• Rainy Day Schedule: I have never witnessed a more frustrating system than rainy day schedule. Not only is it frustrating to edit your lesson plans to suit another teacher’s room, but you are also floating to a new room every class. Also, your kiddies do NOT handle change well, so they think rainy day schedule means “FREE FOR ALL!” Quickly explain to them that they still have to work…and pretend that you had those lesson plans all along. 
• Bathroom situations: For me, the closest staff bathroom is a good 2 minute walk away…so good luck trying to do your business between classes. I suggest making a friend with a close by teacher who can help you out…and visa versa. Also note that it will take your students a bit longer to go to their bathroom if you give them a pass…if you are doing something important, they can hold it until you are finished explaining the directions. 

PROS to the portable life:

• Air control: You get to control your own air conditioning. It is lovely. Not too cold, not too hot. JUUUUSTTTT RIGHT 😉
• Peace and quiet: You do not have to worry about that loud speaking teacher who you can hear through the walls constantly. You have your room and the sounds of mother nature (if there are any). You also do not get too bothered during your planning period. It is lovely being a hermit some days. 
• Scenery: Most portables are outside of the main school building and have a few windows. Not all classrooms have windows, so the kids can appreciate a bit of natural light in the classroom. 

Apart from the occasional wasp, lizard or thunder storm, I love having a portable. I can lesson plan in quiet. My kids can be a bit rowdy and other teachers can’t hear. 

However, just pray there is not a tornado or a mob of angry kids because portables aren’t the safest while sitting on a few cement bricks. 

For all you teachers in portables. Take advantage of the portable life. There are quite a bit of pros to balance out the cons. 🙂

From journalism to middle school Language Arts teacher…never thought I would see that happen.

Teaching has been a true eye opener. I love my kids. They are truly a clever bunch…even when they drive me nuts.

Today, however, was one of those days all teachers experience (some more than others) where you come home from work and are completely worn out and all you want is a nice BIG glass of wine.

A few fights and in class glares later, I was having one of those days.

As I sit here with my glass of wine, reflecting on why I decided to drop all my journalistic skills to become a teacher…it came to me. Even though these kids may not to the homework I assign, or may talk the entire class without a second thought. Although there are days I could honestly just yell at every one of them…I realize…

Yes, I am a teacher, a person most kids either love or hate. I see them every other day (block scheduling) for 90 minutes. They have bad days. They have good days. They cry in my class. They laugh. They are typical preteens/teens.

I went into teaching so I could make even the slightest difference in these kids lives through my skills and abilities.

I think every person should teach, for even a year, just to see what our upcoming generation is like. Full of the same clever, brilliant, outgoing spirit we once had. Just like us…they need someone to believe in them and love them for all their quirky characteristics.

A month in…I still love teaching and think it is the best career decision I made. I love my students. They bring a smile to my face and seeing them learn and understand what I teach makes my job all the more worth it.

*For any of my students who social media stalk me on the weekends, keep smiling and see you Monday 😉

I have gotten multiple responses and questions about my first attempt at auditioning for Disney, so I figured I should let you all know how my second attempt at auditioning went. 

This auditions was for the voice/face of Ariel for the Little Mermaid show. I saw the audition slightly last minute, but decided I would give it one more try. 

(**Side note for those of you who read my first blog about Disney…I have about 16lbs since the last audition.) 

The typecast for the part of Ariel was too perfect for me to pass up: between 5’1″ and 5’4″,  soprano vocal range and looks between the ages of 16 to 20. 

AKA the typecast WAS ME. 

The song requirements was having 16 bars of a song on sheet music, where you had to sing along with a pianist. Now, since I decided it would be a good idea to do this audition last minute, I had no time to practice this song with someone playing it…

If you audition for a vocal past, I would definitely recommend not just showing up without practicing it like I did. Luckily it was a song that I could sing in my sleep, so I was okay. However, probably not the best thing to just chance it. 

Now, when you got the audition you signed up at the front and they gave you a number. For this audition they had two rooms for auditions going, so they got people in and out of there as quickly as they could.

They had you do the voice audition first, if you made it past that then they took you to costume to check out if your body/facial feature would suit the character…

and let me tell you…they had VERY SPECIFIC measurements for Ariel. I made it past the vocal audition, which made me happy. However, of all the girls there that auditioned, only ONE made it to the callbacks. 

Like I said ladies, VERY SPECIFIC TYPECAST.

Sadly, another Disney dream bit the dust for this girl.

Only difference between defeat and success is how you look at it. I know deep down it doesn’t matter that I didn’t get the part because in my heart I know I am a Disney princess.

If you auditioned and didn’t get it…don’t give up. Audition again and keep your chin up. What am I doing with myself now that I have stopped chasing the Disney princess dream?

I am just keeping on with my happy self; loving life, laughing lots and randomly breaking into song and dance thinking I am in a fairytale. 🙂