Weekly Wrap-up for October 30, 2011: Crossroads.

Hi guys. Like usual, I had a bit of a crazy week. I recently took over the Student Government (Student Council) class at school, and I had my first event with them on Thursday night. It was a great success and we had a record number of teams sign up to participate in the Dodgeball Tournament. We also managed to raise a good chunk of money for the school. I feel pretty darn good about that!

I have also been swamped with papers over the last couple of weeks. I fell behind about two weeks ago and I am still playing catch-up. I only have two sets of assignments to go until I am COMPLETELY caught up. This will be victorious for sure. I am usually very good about getting papers back right away, but with taking over the Student Government class...well, I fell behind.

This week also marks the end of our first marking period. I'm a little sad about it. I only have four weeks left in the building, and two of those weeks aren't even full weeks (one week the kids have 2 days off and for another, they have 3 days off-Thanksgiving break). *sigh* I have made some great strides with the kiddos in the last couple of weeks. I finally feel like we have a groove down and that they are doing better with understanding my teaching style. That's going to disappear in a few weeks.

I also have some apprehension about leaving. This is the first long-term assignment I have been in where the teacher I am covering is returning to teach "my" kids. In my very first long-term, I left after the second trimester and another long-term sub stepped in to end the year. And of course, last year, she decided to take the rest of the school year off. So, of course, I am a little nervous about her reentering the classroom and taking over. What will the kids say? Will she think that I did a good job? Will she decide, after talking to the kids, that I was horrible? The whole situation makes me nervous. And I don't know what to really think about it.

And with the end of my position coming to an end, I have to think about what's next. For the first time in a year and a half, I am staring at unemployment for a few months. Yes, I will be able to do the daily subbing thing, but that isn't always steady. I'm a little worried about what that will mean (yes financially, but also emotionally). I can be honest and say that my emotions have been all over the place since the beginning of the school year. I hate uncertainty. And that is what Thanksgiving will bring (the Tuesday before is my last day-the 22nd).

So if I freak out and seem more like..well, not myself, you'll know why. In any case, I'm at a bit of a crossroads and I am mulling over a lot of big life decisions. I'm trying to decide what my goals are. I always come back to the fact that I am 26 and have no real job. It bothers me. And as much as I try to avoid thinking about it, I am still bothered by it. But, I am doing my best to remain optimistic, taking advantage of any opportunities that come my way, and doing research about what I really want to do. I just hope it all works out some way.

Anyway, in reading this week, I had some missteps coming off of the readathon last weekend. I did manage to finish Inferno this morning on a break from grading papers, but haven't started anything new. I don't think Richard III is going to work right now, so I might pick out something else. The kids won't be turning in any big assignments until the end of the week, so I will have my weeknights almost free to read as I please. Does anyone have any suggestions of things I should read?

I am going to spend the next hour or so fixing up my reviews of Julius Caesar, Winter in the Blood, and Inferno for posts this week (Inferno will go up first). At least I'll have some new things for you all to read! :)

Oh, has anyone else had a LOT of spam in recent weeks on their blogs? I have been getting a ridiculous amount...on older posts...and I find it really irritating. Anyone?

Happy reading!