What's Been On My Mind

So today has been a teeny bit stressful, to say the least. Luckily, it's all school-related. For the second day in a row, my supervising teacher has decided it would be a really cool idea to tell me five minutes before class starts that I'll be teaching the hour's lesson. Never seen the material, didn't plan the lesson, no idea what I'm doing. I don't mind teaching, but I sure would like a chance to look over the material a bit, think about what a good way to teach the concept would be, and come up with something fun to do so that I don't make the kids do the next 4 workbook pages, which is what she had me do today. Tomorrow is my first observation, which means that someone from the University of Florida is coming to watch me teach third grade math. I'm actually more comfortable with this thought, since I made up the lesson and there's not a boring workbook page in sight. Still stressed, but at least I'm able to prepare.

I left school at noon today because I had a professional orientation seminar with the other interns here. We were supposed to learn about the certification process, resumes, how to get hired, etc. After overhearing from students that the special education program at UF has THIRTY other interns this semester who will be looking for jobs in the middle of the school year (OU only has three, counting me), I was a bit surprised to hear the certification director of UF tell the group that in order to have more than a temporary certificate in the state of Florida, one absolutely must get his or her master's degree in education. This is not the law in Oklahoma. So, to summarize: If I attempt to obtain a teaching job, I will be competing against 30 special educators with master's degrees, while I will only have a temporary certificate. In the middle of the school year. Riiiiiight. The principals who were there to answer questions told us that there are typically up to 200 applicants for a single open position in this area. Needless to say, this seminar started to deteriorate quickly for me, as I have no intention of getting my master's degree in special education.

Okay, so I suppose now would be an appropriate time to talk about my future plans, which I referenced a couple blogs back. I actually wasn't planning on talking about this for several more months, but I intend to take the GRE this semester in order to be accepted into UF's speech pathology master's program. Teaching is not something that I'm enjoying, and it's not something I see myself doing long-term. I absolutely believe teaching is a worthy profession, and I fully support all my teaching friends in their endeavors. Unfortunately, it's just not for me. I've been struggling with this idea for the past 1-2 years, and the goal was always to wait to make a decision until the pieces of the puzzle become more clear. Well, everything has become crystal clear for me this semester as I take on more teaching responsibilities and spend my days in a classroom.

My current intentions are to take my last certification test in Oklahoma in October, finish my student teaching internship in early December (so that I do have a certificate, rather than just a wasted 4 years of college education), take the GRE in December (which I've been studying for in the evenings), and find a full-time job as soon as student teaching is over. Because of above-mentioned circumstances, the likelihood of that job being a teaching job is low. Pending acceptance to graduate school, I will begin the speech pathology program in the fall, because the program only begins once a year. Because I don't have an undergraduate degree in speech pathology, the program will take me 7 semesters to complete, but that also includes summers. All things going smoothly, I should be done with the master's program in 2 1/2 years. I would like to work with adults, possibly at a hospital or nursing facility. This has been the decision that I've been struggling to accept for awhile now, and I finally feel at peace that I'm making the right decision for myself. I appreciate the support of others during this somewhat unexpected and difficult change in career paths upon which I'm embarking.

"My life, my career has been like a roller coaster. I've either been an enormous success or just a down-and-out failure."

-Judy Garland