As I’ve said before, I’m a fan of anyone bad enough to start their name with an indefinite article. Jose at The Jose Vilson asked for some help with his Ginsberg-inspired poetry meme, so here’s my contribution (read his post if it isn’t evident how I’m helping).
I’ve announced it through Twitter and Facebook, but not yet blogwise: I have been hired as a maternity leave school psychologist for next year. I’ll be working at my current school as a psychologist from September through early February, at which point I’ll transition back into my teaching role for the remainder of the year (we’re on the 4×4 block schedule, so it won’t be as traumatic for the kids as it sounds).
In all honesty, a maternity leave position is not how I thought I’d be starting my career in school psychology, especially a position that isn’t even an entire year long. I’m grateful for the opportunity to get some paid experience, though, and wondering if it’s not a blessing in disguise. It’s a low-risk way of entering the field – I’m at the same school at which I’ve taught for eight years, I know the people and the culture, and I’m pretty well-versed in “how things work” around here.
I had my sights set on a full-time tenure-track position from the outset (not necessarily an unreasonable goal in K-12 education), but the more I think about it, the more I think this may be the right position at the right time for me.
–Damian,
who occasionally needs to be reminded he must learn to crawl before he can walk.
Thanks for the shoutout. We still got a few more days, and then I’m going to round everyone up by Monday. Good luck to you in your new position.
Really pleased to hear about the new opportunity that has come your way; even more, I appreciate your P.O.V. about it being a blessing in disguise. Hopefully we can still swing the Skype stick later in the year with our classes when you return to BritLit-land, too. Enjoy the ‘new beginning’ and the comfort of familiar territory.