Where in the world is One Teacher...

I know, I know I have been gone for a bit and you have been wondering if I fell off the face of the earth. Glad to know that I am still loved and missed. lol Actually, a funny thing happened on the way to "Smiley's" school. I got a call from the HR director of the district I interviewed for the librarian job. She left a message saying that the principal of said school was requesting me to come in starting the next day (mind you this would be the first day of school for that district) to teach in the library. First thought, hum, now why would they want me to teach in the library when they just hired someone to do just that, hum. Don't mind me I was just a little baffled by this. I know the principal is not missing something in her brain so I figured the HR director had some screws loose-this would not be the first time I questioned the capacity of said director-Anywho, I called her back and said "sure, I would be glad to come in and to tell the wonderful requesting principal (gee it's nice to be wanted) that I would be at her school EARLY the next morning to get the WHOLE story.
Good thing, as I thought, Princi-Pal did have a totally different plan that somehow the HR director didn't quite understand-mind you-Prinici-Pal had been negociating this deal since May-an item I did not know about until further snooping had acurred later. The deal was they wanted a fourth specialist (ie PE, Music, Library, ME) that would teach STEPS TO RESPECT, this is a great safety/communications/civics curriculum that I had seen, purused, knew of buy had not specifically taught as of yet-no biggy for me. The assistant Princi-Pal (bless her wonderful heart) was frantically typing up my lesson plan while head honcho and I spoke that I would impliment with all grades focusing on the rules and consequences for the school-what I like to affectionately call "Guidelines for Success". Starting a curriculum from scratch is right up
my alley (I am just kooky, creative, and crazy enough to do it)
So off I trot to my little portable with a box full of student handbooks and a rubberband encased set of pencils-what every new teacher needs with less than 30 minutes to prepare for their first class of the year. Luckily, many of the students remembered my as "library lady" from the end of last year.
Needless to say, I don't know if I should be honored or worried that the first person the Prici-Pal team came up with when they were looking for someone who could "hit the ground at the last minute running" and make this work. I laugh now, but man what a whirlwind this created.
After speaking with the head HR on Tuesday night I immediately called my mom to ask her to move back in with us to help with "Smiley" and his school transport etc. Thank goodness she was home and not on a business trip! With her rolling into the driveway at 7:30am on Wednesday morning I was out the door and moving. I guess today was the first day I had to stop and reflect on where I have been and what I did.
After two weeks, which was the initial commitment, at least until the district would look at the enrollment numbers and tell Princi-Pal or not that she would have a 4th specialist for the entire year-I am sad to say the district said "NO".
Many, many people (kids, parents, EA's, teachers, admin) are very sad-especially the teachers who were not so gung ho to be teaching the actual STEPS TO RESPECT curriculum-were not happy about this decision, but alas-can't do what the district doesn't want to pay for, no matter how much a benefit it was to the kids. Once again, Princi-Pal challenged me to rise above my comfort level and take a new adventure that truly taught me more about who I am as a teacher and why I am so passionate about what I do. Yesterday was tough, but in the long run this is just not my year to have a full time gig and still meet the needs of StraightGuy, Stretch, and Smiley. I am however already scheduled to sub in one of the 2nd grade classes at said school so the kids won't miss me for too long!! hehehehehe