Hey all,
I just heard that this blog got marked inactive. Sorry. You know how it is when it's crunch time for teaching and there's a baby on the way and every single facet of your life is going to be different in a few short months. I don't know when I'll have the time to post again, but I want this here blog to still be active when I do. So consider this entry filler.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Sunday, September 06, 2009
It's Been a Million Years, So I Thought I'd Drop a Note
Hey everybody. I know it's been a million years or so since I last wrote in this blog. I think the last time I wrote I didn't know I was going to be student teaching yet. Yeah, it was a strange turn of events. I was #7 out of 6 student teachers I didn't think my phone would ring this summer, but fate intervened. Brother Barker, whom I have not met but I have every reason to believe is a fine upstanding teacher, had ASU up his credit requirement and he didn't graduate. Since you have to have a Bachelor's degree to teach, he got bumped and I got his spot. It's certainly a lot like being called up from the minor leagues in baseball: you don't get to come up unless someone else gets hurt. Anyway, I got my call from Brother Moon and he asked if I would like to teach and it took less than a millisecond to decide.
So I've been teaching for nearly a month now (yeah, I know I'm covering ground everybody is familiar with now, but I need to have a record of it so I can look back and remember) and it's been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. At first I had just two classes out in Queen Creek. The schools out in Queen Creek are on a modified year-round schedule, so I started teaching on the 19th of August. It was a bit weird because at first I was making the big commute out to Queen Creek bright and early to teach my first and second hour classes, coming back home to change into my work duds and working the last half of the day at the balloon store. Working at the balloon store got a little depressing because it was a job that paid the bills, but it wasn't what I wanted to be doing with my life.
Fast forward to the point where I had been teaching at Queen Creek for a week and a half and we were having our last preservice inservice, and Brother Moon asked if anyone wanted to pick up another class. I told him I would pick up the extra class and he told me he would work on it for me. I was super excited because I thought I could quit my job at the balloon store and start focusing on just teaching. Brother Moon called me back and initially told me I would get the class, but he then called me back and told me that they wouldn't have the class for me after all. During this time I had put in my two week notice at the balloon store and had to retract it. Then I got another call from Brother Moon who offered me a class at Heritage Academy. Once I got that class I put my two week notice in again and I was off and rolling.
The fun thing about Heritage Academy is that Brady Bingham is the other teacher there. It's funny because they're the other people Paul and Carrie stay with when they're down here. So all the stars were aligning and it was hard to believe that this would be anything but a bed of roses.
Of course the truth of it is that it hasn't been a complete bed of roses. When I taught my two weeks at Mesa while I was taking the classes, I was working with a class that wasn't mine. They liked having a change of pace for two weeks, but they knew that in the end they would be going right back to Brother Dixon. I've found it a very different experience teaching a class that is mine and mine alone.
It's been an out of the frying pan into the fire type of experience. There are classroom management things that I'm having to take care of that I've never taken care of before. There are discipline issues that I'm taking care of that I've never taken care of before. I've even changed around my seating chart because two of my students went on a bad date and some feelings were hurt and they needed to not sit so close to each other.
Also, the strengths I have always fallen back on as a teacher don't seem to matter right now. I know I'm being pulled and stretched, but I have to admit that at times I go home and wonder if I'll ever learn to teach the way that seminary teachers are supposed to teach. My problem is that I talk too much and I don't let my students do enough. That has consistently been my weakness.
Not only that, but I had an evaluation this week and I didn't even get into the important part of the lesson because it was a shortened day and there was too much business to get through at the top of the class. So my evaluation came back really poor and I got a, "Why did you think they needed this lesson?" type question. It's been very hard to handle. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever grow up to be a good teacher.
Now that I've taken everything down, here's the up: every seminary teacher I've talked to has had experiences like the ones I've had. Brother Johnson, one of the other teachers at Queen Creek, told me that when people tell his wife they are thinking of going into CES she tells them, "Are you sure? Are you really really sure?" She asks because he felt a lot of the same things I've felt so far. The good thing is that Brother Moon is a very nice guy. Brother Woodbrey had a preservice director who used to say really mean things like, "I can't believe I thought it was a good idea to put you in the classroom" or my personal favorite: "Your students would have been better off if they had ditched today." Brother Moon is very good when he gives me criticism and I take it in the spirit in which it is intended.
Also, I understand that in order for me to become a good teacher, I have to rid myself of some bad habits and allow myself to be rebuilt from scratch in places. I am putting all my time and efforts into becoming the teacher I'm sure you all think I am. I know I can be a good teacher and I'm not giving up on the dream. There's still no reason to think that I couldn't turn this all around and become a very good seminary teacher. I just needed to make sure I record the fact that it hasn't been a bowl of cherries. It's hard to be a seminary teacher. It's harder work and more exhausting than you would think. I am only now beginning to understand why there is such a tough screening process. Not everyone is meant to do this for a living. Very few people get to do it. I just hope I get to be one of them.
So I've been teaching for nearly a month now (yeah, I know I'm covering ground everybody is familiar with now, but I need to have a record of it so I can look back and remember) and it's been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. At first I had just two classes out in Queen Creek. The schools out in Queen Creek are on a modified year-round schedule, so I started teaching on the 19th of August. It was a bit weird because at first I was making the big commute out to Queen Creek bright and early to teach my first and second hour classes, coming back home to change into my work duds and working the last half of the day at the balloon store. Working at the balloon store got a little depressing because it was a job that paid the bills, but it wasn't what I wanted to be doing with my life.
Fast forward to the point where I had been teaching at Queen Creek for a week and a half and we were having our last preservice inservice, and Brother Moon asked if anyone wanted to pick up another class. I told him I would pick up the extra class and he told me he would work on it for me. I was super excited because I thought I could quit my job at the balloon store and start focusing on just teaching. Brother Moon called me back and initially told me I would get the class, but he then called me back and told me that they wouldn't have the class for me after all. During this time I had put in my two week notice at the balloon store and had to retract it. Then I got another call from Brother Moon who offered me a class at Heritage Academy. Once I got that class I put my two week notice in again and I was off and rolling.
The fun thing about Heritage Academy is that Brady Bingham is the other teacher there. It's funny because they're the other people Paul and Carrie stay with when they're down here. So all the stars were aligning and it was hard to believe that this would be anything but a bed of roses.
Of course the truth of it is that it hasn't been a complete bed of roses. When I taught my two weeks at Mesa while I was taking the classes, I was working with a class that wasn't mine. They liked having a change of pace for two weeks, but they knew that in the end they would be going right back to Brother Dixon. I've found it a very different experience teaching a class that is mine and mine alone.
It's been an out of the frying pan into the fire type of experience. There are classroom management things that I'm having to take care of that I've never taken care of before. There are discipline issues that I'm taking care of that I've never taken care of before. I've even changed around my seating chart because two of my students went on a bad date and some feelings were hurt and they needed to not sit so close to each other.
Also, the strengths I have always fallen back on as a teacher don't seem to matter right now. I know I'm being pulled and stretched, but I have to admit that at times I go home and wonder if I'll ever learn to teach the way that seminary teachers are supposed to teach. My problem is that I talk too much and I don't let my students do enough. That has consistently been my weakness.
Not only that, but I had an evaluation this week and I didn't even get into the important part of the lesson because it was a shortened day and there was too much business to get through at the top of the class. So my evaluation came back really poor and I got a, "Why did you think they needed this lesson?" type question. It's been very hard to handle. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever grow up to be a good teacher.
Now that I've taken everything down, here's the up: every seminary teacher I've talked to has had experiences like the ones I've had. Brother Johnson, one of the other teachers at Queen Creek, told me that when people tell his wife they are thinking of going into CES she tells them, "Are you sure? Are you really really sure?" She asks because he felt a lot of the same things I've felt so far. The good thing is that Brother Moon is a very nice guy. Brother Woodbrey had a preservice director who used to say really mean things like, "I can't believe I thought it was a good idea to put you in the classroom" or my personal favorite: "Your students would have been better off if they had ditched today." Brother Moon is very good when he gives me criticism and I take it in the spirit in which it is intended.
Also, I understand that in order for me to become a good teacher, I have to rid myself of some bad habits and allow myself to be rebuilt from scratch in places. I am putting all my time and efforts into becoming the teacher I'm sure you all think I am. I know I can be a good teacher and I'm not giving up on the dream. There's still no reason to think that I couldn't turn this all around and become a very good seminary teacher. I just needed to make sure I record the fact that it hasn't been a bowl of cherries. It's hard to be a seminary teacher. It's harder work and more exhausting than you would think. I am only now beginning to understand why there is such a tough screening process. Not everyone is meant to do this for a living. Very few people get to do it. I just hope I get to be one of them.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Down From Four
Hey everybody. I've only got a couple spare minutes and then I need to head out to a stake priesthood meeting, but I wanted to drop a quick post because it's about time.
Megan and I took a bit of a quick trip to Pima this weekend. Megan wanted to go to Christine's baby shower, but didn't want to make the trip if I wasn't coming. So we worked it out for us to go spend the night at Kimberly's and then Megan, Kimberly, Kelly, and Carrie could go to the baby shower together and Emmett, Paul, and I could light stuff on fire and whatnot.
Anyway, we had a nice time at Kimberly's. They are the proud first recipients of the first batch of Badger Family Classics. As some of you may know, I'm working on making DVD's of movies we love that have never been released on DVD. Things like Pure Luck and One of Our Dinosaurs is missing. Anyway, since Kimberly and Emmett don't run on DVD's too much anyway, I ripped my copies of the DVD's to their Apple TV.
It's getting to the point where Megan and I have a little bit of a harder time leaving home because Gamera is getting almost too big to fit in his old terrarium. Actually, he's way to big to live in his old one, but we can let him spend the night in it. When Megan and I take some time off over the 4th of July (We're going back to St. Johns, so if anyone else thinks that might be a good time to go home, we'll be there. So if that isn't a reason to go, I don't know what is) we'll have to pay one of the neighbor kids to come feed him. There's no way we're going to take him with us because his new terrarium (that Megan and I built with our own bare hands) is too big to move around.
I got released from some callings today. I got a default release from my Elder's Quorum teaching gig because they got someone else to do it. I was also released from teaching Sunday School for the 14-15 year olds. It was funny because I had only taught them for a few weeks but they were really upset when I told them I wouldn't be teaching them anymore. They told me they had scared off a couple teachers before and they didn't want me to go. They can be a rowdy bunch, but I liked teaching them. It's funny because I can really feel myself settling into my Elder's Quorum calling. I would much rather teach, but I find myself concerned with home teaching and other such stuff, so I guess I'll stick with this calling for a while. They still haven't released me from being a clerk, but I guess that'll come with time. The ward clerk has been gone the last couple weeks, so I've actually gotten some clerk stuff done despite him telling me, "Don't even worry about clerk stuff. You have too much going on as it is."
Well, that's all my time for today. Megan and I are doing well. We'll miss you all at the reunion, but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen. We'll get 'em next year.
Megan and I took a bit of a quick trip to Pima this weekend. Megan wanted to go to Christine's baby shower, but didn't want to make the trip if I wasn't coming. So we worked it out for us to go spend the night at Kimberly's and then Megan, Kimberly, Kelly, and Carrie could go to the baby shower together and Emmett, Paul, and I could light stuff on fire and whatnot.
Anyway, we had a nice time at Kimberly's. They are the proud first recipients of the first batch of Badger Family Classics. As some of you may know, I'm working on making DVD's of movies we love that have never been released on DVD. Things like Pure Luck and One of Our Dinosaurs is missing. Anyway, since Kimberly and Emmett don't run on DVD's too much anyway, I ripped my copies of the DVD's to their Apple TV.
It's getting to the point where Megan and I have a little bit of a harder time leaving home because Gamera is getting almost too big to fit in his old terrarium. Actually, he's way to big to live in his old one, but we can let him spend the night in it. When Megan and I take some time off over the 4th of July (We're going back to St. Johns, so if anyone else thinks that might be a good time to go home, we'll be there. So if that isn't a reason to go, I don't know what is) we'll have to pay one of the neighbor kids to come feed him. There's no way we're going to take him with us because his new terrarium (that Megan and I built with our own bare hands) is too big to move around.
I got released from some callings today. I got a default release from my Elder's Quorum teaching gig because they got someone else to do it. I was also released from teaching Sunday School for the 14-15 year olds. It was funny because I had only taught them for a few weeks but they were really upset when I told them I wouldn't be teaching them anymore. They told me they had scared off a couple teachers before and they didn't want me to go. They can be a rowdy bunch, but I liked teaching them. It's funny because I can really feel myself settling into my Elder's Quorum calling. I would much rather teach, but I find myself concerned with home teaching and other such stuff, so I guess I'll stick with this calling for a while. They still haven't released me from being a clerk, but I guess that'll come with time. The ward clerk has been gone the last couple weeks, so I've actually gotten some clerk stuff done despite him telling me, "Don't even worry about clerk stuff. You have too much going on as it is."
Well, that's all my time for today. Megan and I are doing well. We'll miss you all at the reunion, but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen. We'll get 'em next year.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Real Quick
Hey everybody. I had a minute and I was sitting in front of the computer so I thought I'd drop a quick post while I have the chance.
I'm posting from my Ubuntu box (my old desktop). I don't know if you knew, but Megan and I have had some funny business going on with our computers in days past. My desktop was getting really finicky and hers was just plain quitting on her. To solve my computer woes I got to buy a new computer. I didn't buy a top of the line machine. My old machine is 6 years old, which makes it a dinosaur in computer years, so it didn't take much to buy a better machine. I got a decent computer and slapped some spare parts in it and made it better than it was off the assembly line. As for Megan's computer, we bought her a new 1Tb (That's terabyte, not tablespoon) drive and it came right back to life. My new machine also has a terabyte hard drive.
Anyway, since I got a new machine, I have my old one just sitting around. Since I am the self-titled King of Used Electronics, I figured it just wouldn't be right to leave my old trusty rusty machine to collect dust. So I backed some of the more important files up and turned this machine into a Linux Box. I'm running the latest and greatest installment of Ubuntu. I am really loving it. I guess I'm slowly but surely turning into open source Greg.
Well, this post has taken a turn for the nerdy. I was just super excited to be posting in Ubuntu. It's a first.
So Megan has girl's camp coming up and she'll miss a day of work. Then she will be taking 10 days to do some freelance for Skyline, which is the last company she worked for. It's going to be an interesting month. I won't see her as often as I usually do. It's funny because I've gotten used to seeing Megan all day every day. We work together and we come home together. There aren't very many times when we're apart. The couple times I had to spend at work when she was sick a couple months ago were hard. I guess I'm spoiled to have her around as often as I do. I do, however, think it's funny how many people ask us if there's any tension with us working together. It's the classic sitcom plot: the husband and wife work together and the wife shows up or embarrasses the husband and the they find they don't work together as well as they thought. That hasn't been the case with us at all. We've been basically the exact opposite.
I'm going to really start pounding the pavement for a better job soon. As most of you know, I'm no fan of job searches. It's part of the reason I'll stay at a less-than-ideal job for way longer than I really should. But Megan and I need to be moving onward and upward and I really need to pick up the slack and go win some bread for us.
I guess we should post some pictures sometime soon and show what we did with the living room. I don't think most of you have seen our amazing paint job. Also, I need to show you the new terrarium we built for Gamera. He was getting too big for his old one. He's really growing. We hope he'll be comfy in his current home for at least another 6 months or so.
Well, this post has been all nerdy, disjointed, and fairly pointless. I'm a little rusty. Give me a little time and I'll try to start posting a little better and a little more often.
I'm posting from my Ubuntu box (my old desktop). I don't know if you knew, but Megan and I have had some funny business going on with our computers in days past. My desktop was getting really finicky and hers was just plain quitting on her. To solve my computer woes I got to buy a new computer. I didn't buy a top of the line machine. My old machine is 6 years old, which makes it a dinosaur in computer years, so it didn't take much to buy a better machine. I got a decent computer and slapped some spare parts in it and made it better than it was off the assembly line. As for Megan's computer, we bought her a new 1Tb (That's terabyte, not tablespoon) drive and it came right back to life. My new machine also has a terabyte hard drive.
Anyway, since I got a new machine, I have my old one just sitting around. Since I am the self-titled King of Used Electronics, I figured it just wouldn't be right to leave my old trusty rusty machine to collect dust. So I backed some of the more important files up and turned this machine into a Linux Box. I'm running the latest and greatest installment of Ubuntu. I am really loving it. I guess I'm slowly but surely turning into open source Greg.
Well, this post has taken a turn for the nerdy. I was just super excited to be posting in Ubuntu. It's a first.
So Megan has girl's camp coming up and she'll miss a day of work. Then she will be taking 10 days to do some freelance for Skyline, which is the last company she worked for. It's going to be an interesting month. I won't see her as often as I usually do. It's funny because I've gotten used to seeing Megan all day every day. We work together and we come home together. There aren't very many times when we're apart. The couple times I had to spend at work when she was sick a couple months ago were hard. I guess I'm spoiled to have her around as often as I do. I do, however, think it's funny how many people ask us if there's any tension with us working together. It's the classic sitcom plot: the husband and wife work together and the wife shows up or embarrasses the husband and the they find they don't work together as well as they thought. That hasn't been the case with us at all. We've been basically the exact opposite.
I'm going to really start pounding the pavement for a better job soon. As most of you know, I'm no fan of job searches. It's part of the reason I'll stay at a less-than-ideal job for way longer than I really should. But Megan and I need to be moving onward and upward and I really need to pick up the slack and go win some bread for us.
I guess we should post some pictures sometime soon and show what we did with the living room. I don't think most of you have seen our amazing paint job. Also, I need to show you the new terrarium we built for Gamera. He was getting too big for his old one. He's really growing. We hope he'll be comfy in his current home for at least another 6 months or so.
Well, this post has been all nerdy, disjointed, and fairly pointless. I'm a little rusty. Give me a little time and I'll try to start posting a little better and a little more often.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thoughts on Our First Year
Hey everybody. As you may well know, it's been a really long time since I posted here. Part of that is due to the fact that I'm not sitting in front of a computer with nothing to do all day like I was when I worked at the library. The other part of it is that I really didn't want to talk about taking 7th place in the seminary teaching sweepstakes. Then days turned into weeks and I don't know how many months it's been, but I don't want to bother looking at the moment. Let's just suffice it to say that some time has passed and I have a little catching up to do.
I guess all sorts of interesting things have happened since I wrote last. But let me do something else entirely before I launch into a discussion of things you may want to know (and some you might not. I dunno. I just write this thing).
It was a year ago today that Megan and I were married. In some ways it feels like it's flown by all too quickly and in other ways it feels like we really should be married for more than a year by now. I feel like I've known Megan forever and I can hardly remember what life was like before having her around. I can still vividly remember how excited I was the first time we held hands, the first time we kissed, and when I finally convinced her to marry me. It's all been one amazing ride thus far.
In the past year we've had more than our fair share of trials and hardships. I'm proud to say that during all our trials Megan and I have pulled together rather than apart and we have grown so much closer than we were a year ago. Our first year of marriage has definitely been an interesting one. Megan and I have lost three jobs between us. I've held more callings than I thought one person ever legally could. We've somehow managed to stay afloat financially in difficult times. We have been blessed beyond measure, but we've also been lead to some transitional states and I honestly don't know where we'll end up. It's all been one amazing and frightening roller coaster ride thus far and I'm sure it will continue to be interesting in the years to come.
I am grateful to have Megan in my life. I can't even quantify how much better my life is since she's been in it. She inspires me to be my best self and believes so much in what I can become. I have been told time and time again by various people how lucky I am to have Megan as my wife. I know I'm lucky. She has been an amazing wife. I have been happier in the last year of my life, trials and all, than I have ever been at any other time. I love Megan more than I have power to express. I think if I can hold on to her, no matter what happens in life I'll be ok.
Yesterday we went over to the temple to do some sealings in commemoration of our anniversary. It's always great to be reminded of the covenants we've made and the blessings that come with them. After the temple, we went over to Deseret Book to pick up a picture of Christ to put in our living room. We have pictures of our wedding, and a picture of the temple, but we really wanted to get a picture of Christ. We really wanted to get "O Jerusalem" by Greg Olsen (pictured below)
But they wanted $50 for it and that seemed way too much for a print. We ended up buying this picture, which is a detail from "Christ and the Rich Young Ruler" by Heinrich Hoffman.
I really like this picture and it will look really nice in our living room. As time goes by and we build more and more memories here, this house is really starting to feel like home.
So I got set apart for my fourth calling today. That's right: I currently have four callings. They gave me another one and haven't released me from any of the others. My four callings are 1) Membership Clerk 2) Elder's Quorum Teacher 3) Sunday School teacher for the 14-15 year olds and 4) 1st counselor in the Elder's Quorum. I just got set apart in the Elder's Quorum today. A couple members of the bishopric joked that they might have another few callings for me before all is said and done. At this point I don't know whether I should take them seriously or not.
I'm glad to serve in the callings I have, but I have not sought out these callings at all. This has been the 2nd time in the year that we've been in this ward that I got the "We have a calling for you. Bring your wife" call from the Stake Presidency. I don't mind serving but I don't want to get a reputation as a mover and a shaker. I'd like to get one good calling and stick with it for a while.
When I told the ward clerk about my fourth calling he said, "Yeah, I heard about it in bishopric meeting. I told them that the third calling was funny but the fourth was just cruel." I thought the third was funny and the fourth was scary. The ward clerk all but kicked me out of the clerk's office today telling me I had way too many things to worry about right now and the last thing I need to be doing is figuring out why a new child of record shows up as accountable (I still don't know how I took a left turn in making that record. We might just leave it because he'll be accountable 8 years from now). All I can say is that this is an interesting position to be in.
So I guess I ought to talk a little about being #7 in seminary teaching. I knew going in that this was going to be a hard year. There were 2 guys in my class who were already teaching seminary classes due to some interesting circumstances. So they basically had a semester's head start on the rest of the class. I also knew they were taking fewer student teachers and that I had some pretty stiff competition. Before the evaluations began, my Mom talked to Brother Greer, my old seminary teacher, and he said, "Couldn't James have picked some other year to go into seminary teaching?"
As fate would have it, it has been an extremely difficult year for seminary teaching. There were 5 preservice locations that didn't have any student teachers hired (Arizona was one). Everybody has been surprised by how difficult this year has been for student teachers and prospective student teachers.
When I went in for my interview with Brother Moon, I expected him to tell me how much he enjoyed my teaching, which he did. I expected him to mention how well I bonded with the kids, which he did. Then I expected him to say I was either #2 or #3. I was being realistic and I knew my competition. When he told me I was #7 and that I was the first alternate and would not be teaching next semester unless someone drops out, I was stunned. I thought I would be teaching for sure. Everything in my life had aligned for me to take the classes and all signs were pointing to me student teaching next year. I just couldn't figure out why things didn't work out.
As I've considered my options in moving onward and upward in my life, I can't escape the fact that I have never been as excited to do any job as much as I was to teach seminary. I loved doing it. There are very few things in this world that I have loved as much as I loved my two weeks of teaching. Of course I'm frustrated not to be doing it this year, but there has to be a reason for it.
One reason I am seriously considering is timing. It would be very difficult to get hired if I was student teaching this coming semester. Chances are it will be easier to get hired next year. So I'm not letting go. Of course I'll be applying for other jobs and moving on with my life any which way I can, but there's no reason why I can't go back next year and try it all over again (aside from them telling me I can't, which I haven't explored yet). So there is still hope that maybe someday I might get to teach seminary. Also, as the first alternate, I'll be the first one called if anyone drops out and Brother Moon said he's never had a summer where he didn't have to use the alternate. This could be the first summer where he doesn't. I don't know how it will go. But I'm not giving up on the dream too easily.
Well, I feel like I've written enough. I need to go and spend some more time with the wife now. It is our anniversary after all. I won't make any promises about how often I'll write in the future. I'll only tell you that I'll try.
I guess all sorts of interesting things have happened since I wrote last. But let me do something else entirely before I launch into a discussion of things you may want to know (and some you might not. I dunno. I just write this thing).
It was a year ago today that Megan and I were married. In some ways it feels like it's flown by all too quickly and in other ways it feels like we really should be married for more than a year by now. I feel like I've known Megan forever and I can hardly remember what life was like before having her around. I can still vividly remember how excited I was the first time we held hands, the first time we kissed, and when I finally convinced her to marry me. It's all been one amazing ride thus far.
In the past year we've had more than our fair share of trials and hardships. I'm proud to say that during all our trials Megan and I have pulled together rather than apart and we have grown so much closer than we were a year ago. Our first year of marriage has definitely been an interesting one. Megan and I have lost three jobs between us. I've held more callings than I thought one person ever legally could. We've somehow managed to stay afloat financially in difficult times. We have been blessed beyond measure, but we've also been lead to some transitional states and I honestly don't know where we'll end up. It's all been one amazing and frightening roller coaster ride thus far and I'm sure it will continue to be interesting in the years to come.
I am grateful to have Megan in my life. I can't even quantify how much better my life is since she's been in it. She inspires me to be my best self and believes so much in what I can become. I have been told time and time again by various people how lucky I am to have Megan as my wife. I know I'm lucky. She has been an amazing wife. I have been happier in the last year of my life, trials and all, than I have ever been at any other time. I love Megan more than I have power to express. I think if I can hold on to her, no matter what happens in life I'll be ok.
Yesterday we went over to the temple to do some sealings in commemoration of our anniversary. It's always great to be reminded of the covenants we've made and the blessings that come with them. After the temple, we went over to Deseret Book to pick up a picture of Christ to put in our living room. We have pictures of our wedding, and a picture of the temple, but we really wanted to get a picture of Christ. We really wanted to get "O Jerusalem" by Greg Olsen (pictured below)
But they wanted $50 for it and that seemed way too much for a print. We ended up buying this picture, which is a detail from "Christ and the Rich Young Ruler" by Heinrich Hoffman.
I really like this picture and it will look really nice in our living room. As time goes by and we build more and more memories here, this house is really starting to feel like home.
So I got set apart for my fourth calling today. That's right: I currently have four callings. They gave me another one and haven't released me from any of the others. My four callings are 1) Membership Clerk 2) Elder's Quorum Teacher 3) Sunday School teacher for the 14-15 year olds and 4) 1st counselor in the Elder's Quorum. I just got set apart in the Elder's Quorum today. A couple members of the bishopric joked that they might have another few callings for me before all is said and done. At this point I don't know whether I should take them seriously or not.
I'm glad to serve in the callings I have, but I have not sought out these callings at all. This has been the 2nd time in the year that we've been in this ward that I got the "We have a calling for you. Bring your wife" call from the Stake Presidency. I don't mind serving but I don't want to get a reputation as a mover and a shaker. I'd like to get one good calling and stick with it for a while.
When I told the ward clerk about my fourth calling he said, "Yeah, I heard about it in bishopric meeting. I told them that the third calling was funny but the fourth was just cruel." I thought the third was funny and the fourth was scary. The ward clerk all but kicked me out of the clerk's office today telling me I had way too many things to worry about right now and the last thing I need to be doing is figuring out why a new child of record shows up as accountable (I still don't know how I took a left turn in making that record. We might just leave it because he'll be accountable 8 years from now). All I can say is that this is an interesting position to be in.
So I guess I ought to talk a little about being #7 in seminary teaching. I knew going in that this was going to be a hard year. There were 2 guys in my class who were already teaching seminary classes due to some interesting circumstances. So they basically had a semester's head start on the rest of the class. I also knew they were taking fewer student teachers and that I had some pretty stiff competition. Before the evaluations began, my Mom talked to Brother Greer, my old seminary teacher, and he said, "Couldn't James have picked some other year to go into seminary teaching?"
As fate would have it, it has been an extremely difficult year for seminary teaching. There were 5 preservice locations that didn't have any student teachers hired (Arizona was one). Everybody has been surprised by how difficult this year has been for student teachers and prospective student teachers.
When I went in for my interview with Brother Moon, I expected him to tell me how much he enjoyed my teaching, which he did. I expected him to mention how well I bonded with the kids, which he did. Then I expected him to say I was either #2 or #3. I was being realistic and I knew my competition. When he told me I was #7 and that I was the first alternate and would not be teaching next semester unless someone drops out, I was stunned. I thought I would be teaching for sure. Everything in my life had aligned for me to take the classes and all signs were pointing to me student teaching next year. I just couldn't figure out why things didn't work out.
As I've considered my options in moving onward and upward in my life, I can't escape the fact that I have never been as excited to do any job as much as I was to teach seminary. I loved doing it. There are very few things in this world that I have loved as much as I loved my two weeks of teaching. Of course I'm frustrated not to be doing it this year, but there has to be a reason for it.
One reason I am seriously considering is timing. It would be very difficult to get hired if I was student teaching this coming semester. Chances are it will be easier to get hired next year. So I'm not letting go. Of course I'll be applying for other jobs and moving on with my life any which way I can, but there's no reason why I can't go back next year and try it all over again (aside from them telling me I can't, which I haven't explored yet). So there is still hope that maybe someday I might get to teach seminary. Also, as the first alternate, I'll be the first one called if anyone drops out and Brother Moon said he's never had a summer where he didn't have to use the alternate. This could be the first summer where he doesn't. I don't know how it will go. But I'm not giving up on the dream too easily.
Well, I feel like I've written enough. I need to go and spend some more time with the wife now. It is our anniversary after all. I won't make any promises about how often I'll write in the future. I'll only tell you that I'll try.
Friday, March 20, 2009
What it Takes
Hey everybody. As you may have noticed, I just don't update this thing very often anymore. Mainly it's because it cuts into my weekend. I can't write updates from the balloon store so that leaves me with my weekend, and lately I've been doing things with my weekends. But, as luck would have it, my back went out so I'm not at work at the moment. I feel bad having my back go out again. I don't want the nice folks at the balloon store to think they hired Greg Oden.
On the bright side of things, I'm watching the ASU vs Temple game (March Madness: Catch It!) and writing in this blog so aside from not getting paid for the day, it's a win-win.
As I mentioned before and as I'm sure you all know, I'm taking the seminary teaching classes at the institute. I have no idea how this all will turn out for us. Some days I feel like a sure bet and other days I feel like there's no way I'll be getting in. You know, standard overthinking and paranoia. I have only spent one day teaching so far (I'll get two weeks to teach at the end of the semester and that's when they'll decide whether or not I get to move into the next phase) and although I did get some really good feedback from the teacher whose class I was teaching in, I have been obsessing for a while over the things I could've done better. I really want to get back in the classroom and show that I've learned a lot since my first teaching experience, but I guess my two week teaching assignment will be right around the corner (late April and early May).
It's funny because I had sort of forgotten about the fact that I told people I might want to be a seminary teacher back when I was in high school. I think I was mainly inspired by the fact that Brother Greer was as sarcastic as I was and yet he managed to be a seminary teacher. After I got back from my mission I thought I might want to be a seminary teacher. Mainly it was because I had no idea what I could do with my life and the only thing I had been doing over the previous two years was teaching the gospel and seminary was the only way I could think of to teach the gospel and make money at it was to teach seminary. Coincidentally, not knowing what to do with your life and not wanting to come home from your mission are two of the worst reasons to get into seminary teaching. I'd like to think that over the last few years I've gotten my reasons right. It can't just be because you don't know what else to do. You have to really have a desire to teach and be smart enough to know that it isn't as much about you as it is the kids you can influence. If I've learned one thing in my studies thus far, it's that teachers have less to do with effective teaching than you could possibly think. A good teacher knows when to stop talking, when to listen, and when not to get in the way of learning. Those are all things I still need to work on.
So as we get closer and closer to the day when ASU stops paying me for not working, we get a little more nervous. We have a lot of plans in the works to get some supplemental income going, but a lot will depend on whether or not I'm moving onward and upward in seminary teaching. We'll see how it all shakes down, but there are a lot of question marks out there for us. At the very least, our lives have been so much better since I got laid off. I don't think either or us would trade the last couple months for anything.
I wish I had more to report on. There are a lot of things going on right now, and a lot of them are too personal for me to write about them here. As much as I have hope and faith that I can move on to the next phase of seminary teaching (which is kind of like an internship) I still know I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot to learn and a lot of bad teaching habits to break down. I just have a whole lot that I need to do. So because I have the time to do it, I think I'll end this entry now and go get a little something done today.
On the bright side of things, I'm watching the ASU vs Temple game (March Madness: Catch It!) and writing in this blog so aside from not getting paid for the day, it's a win-win.
As I mentioned before and as I'm sure you all know, I'm taking the seminary teaching classes at the institute. I have no idea how this all will turn out for us. Some days I feel like a sure bet and other days I feel like there's no way I'll be getting in. You know, standard overthinking and paranoia. I have only spent one day teaching so far (I'll get two weeks to teach at the end of the semester and that's when they'll decide whether or not I get to move into the next phase) and although I did get some really good feedback from the teacher whose class I was teaching in, I have been obsessing for a while over the things I could've done better. I really want to get back in the classroom and show that I've learned a lot since my first teaching experience, but I guess my two week teaching assignment will be right around the corner (late April and early May).
It's funny because I had sort of forgotten about the fact that I told people I might want to be a seminary teacher back when I was in high school. I think I was mainly inspired by the fact that Brother Greer was as sarcastic as I was and yet he managed to be a seminary teacher. After I got back from my mission I thought I might want to be a seminary teacher. Mainly it was because I had no idea what I could do with my life and the only thing I had been doing over the previous two years was teaching the gospel and seminary was the only way I could think of to teach the gospel and make money at it was to teach seminary. Coincidentally, not knowing what to do with your life and not wanting to come home from your mission are two of the worst reasons to get into seminary teaching. I'd like to think that over the last few years I've gotten my reasons right. It can't just be because you don't know what else to do. You have to really have a desire to teach and be smart enough to know that it isn't as much about you as it is the kids you can influence. If I've learned one thing in my studies thus far, it's that teachers have less to do with effective teaching than you could possibly think. A good teacher knows when to stop talking, when to listen, and when not to get in the way of learning. Those are all things I still need to work on.
So as we get closer and closer to the day when ASU stops paying me for not working, we get a little more nervous. We have a lot of plans in the works to get some supplemental income going, but a lot will depend on whether or not I'm moving onward and upward in seminary teaching. We'll see how it all shakes down, but there are a lot of question marks out there for us. At the very least, our lives have been so much better since I got laid off. I don't think either or us would trade the last couple months for anything.
I wish I had more to report on. There are a lot of things going on right now, and a lot of them are too personal for me to write about them here. As much as I have hope and faith that I can move on to the next phase of seminary teaching (which is kind of like an internship) I still know I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot to learn and a lot of bad teaching habits to break down. I just have a whole lot that I need to do. So because I have the time to do it, I think I'll end this entry now and go get a little something done today.
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