Recent History

Hey everyone! I was very glad to hear from a few of you when my birthday rolled around and then I saw Rebecca at Lisa Wilson's wedding and it all just reminded me of how out of touch I was with you all. This last year was very crazy for me since I was getting my Masters in Arts and Teaching (MAT) which basically amounted to me being both a full time student and a full time teacher. This summer was spent on the job hunt which finally panned out for me this Monday. I have been hired to teach 7th graders geography at one of the Middle Schools here in Springdale, Arkansas. It is one of the schools that I student taught at last year so I had a few connections, but even then the adminstration didn't hire anyone for the first three weeks of school. This has made things very interesting this first week since the students more or less treated me like just another substitute (they had had two or three in the first few weeks). Luckily I had some of the same students this year that I student taught last year, so they have still treated me like a real teacher. Unfortunately seventh graders usually suffer from rampant stupidity which is complicated by the fact that they think they are smart. The fun thing about being a teacher is recogninzing how much I don't know, but also not ever letting them think that I am not smarter than all of them (even the few who would give you a run for your money!). My wife is currently getting her MAT (in Spanish) and will graduate in May. After she graduates, we will have to see if we want to stay in NW Arkansas, which we probably will for a few years because they pay very well up here. I have also thought of moving to New Orleans simply because they will probably offer very good pay to attract teachers and also have cheap land, but my wife seems to think that I am just being sarcastic and that my idea is full of stupidity (maybe it is...).
I think I'll let that be the main update for now. I look forward to keeping up with you all on this blog!
Mark