Friday, December 14, 2012

the end of block two

Another semester over, another semester closer to finishing my degree. I'm pretty pleased with the way things worked out this semester. I mean, after so many semesters of just kind of plodding through, struggling for a passing grade, getting straight As feels good. It feels good to finally know that I'm on the right path. Of course, being on the President's List never gets old either. :)

I will say, it is a weird feeling knowing that next semester is my last one with regular undergrad classes. One last semester of going to campus, sitting through lectures, and taking tests. After May 2013 I'll just be in the classroom teaching.... maybe even teaching my own class if this Project Retain thing works out.

I don't think I mentioned it here, but I'm a finalist for Project RETAIN: a partnership program between GSU and the City Schools of Decatur where they will choose two interns to be hired as teachers during their last semester. Essentially, if chosen, I would be hired by CSD as a teacher, receive a salary, and complete my student teaching requirements by co-teaching with a mentor teacher for the 2013-2014 school year in a Decatur school. I would still graduate in December, but my job would be guaranteed through the end of the school year.

It doesn't get much better than that.

As a finalist, I will be doing my block III practicum in a CSD school. It also means that I will be completing my ESOL student teaching during block III rather than during my student teaching semester. More work now for a possibly huge payoff down the road. It seems to be fitting with the theme Steve and I have had for the last 3 years.

There are a total of 7 finalists and 2 will be chosen as teachers. At the end of block III I will submit my professional portfolio, my ESOL student teaching notebook, and my resume before participating in an actual job interview for the position. I'll know sometime around my birthday if they picked me. Here's hoping they do.

Besides the academics and finishing up classes, block III is when I will be taking my GACE exam (Georgia's version of the Praxis) and applying to graduate. It seems pretty surreal.