According to the site, I haven’t posted here at the SDMB since January of 2004. Wow! Mrs. Chef was right - I really DO spend a long time in the bathroom.
A lot has been going on since then. In case anyone around here still remembers me, I thought I’d do a catch-up thread.
Just before the last post I made on here, I was laid off from my editing job, which I’d held for nearly six years (the longest I’d ever held a job). I was confident (maybe “arrogant” would be a better word) that I’d find something new right away - I really am a purty goddam hot writer and editor, surely someone will snap me up, I thought.
It didn’t turn out that way. You know, if one sells cars for a living, getting a new job isn’t hard at all, but billets for writers and editors are hard to come by.
It’s a long and depressing story, but during the months I idled without prospects, I kept up my webcomic, Scandal Sheet!. My nephew asked me to come and speak to his kindergarten class about illustration, and it went so well that I left thinking about maybe becoming a teacher.
I decided to give it a whirl and in the fall of 2004 I went back to college to get a teaching certificate. It’s been going great - I love being back in school and I wish it could go on longer, but this is my final semester before I begin student teaching after the holidays. Unless I screw up spectacularly, I’ll be a certified English/Language Arts/Reading teacher, grades 4-8, by next May. I can’t wait.
Well, I’ve just finished running the leaf blower in the front yard…
Good luck with your final bit of schooling! You’re a brave man taking on kids in that age bracket - at least braver than I am. You realize all Doperdom is counting on you to teach the next generation the difference between their, there, and they’re. Don’t let us down!!
Good to see you back! And good for you for entering the noble profession of teaching. You’ll be fighting ignorance professionally, not just as a hobby like the rest of here.
Ok, Chef, not only are we back on the same day, but we are doing the same thing. I’ve been substitute teaching for the last year, and will be getting my education degree soon. How wierd is THAT? :eek:
There were a couple of people banned. Can’t remember who offhand. There were some Mod’s decisions questioned. Some recipies exchanged. A few joke threads to die for!
And this
My life’s been pretty uneventful … unless you count the part where my husband was in Afghanistan for 15 months … or the part where my boss wanted to fire me because I wasn’t getting my work done while he was gone, anxiety and depression be damned.
I’m grateful for people like you that enjoy the fine art of teaching. May you be blessed with literate tweenagers.
An interesting year, filled with a car wreck, unemployment, a CD release, and a trip to Europe. And too much time on the Dope.
Oh, and good on ya for the teaching thing, particularly with middle schoolers. I work a lot with high school kids, but wouldn’t even consider teaching middle school. It takes a special kind of patience, I think.
Here’s a brief synopsis of my SDMB highlights from April to September of '04. Ignore my self-aggrandizing and just click the links at the bottom of my long long long OP.
