To Sub or Not to Sub...

The big question for the education major right out of college is what to do with your degree when there are so few teaching opportunities.  Upon graduation you are faced with essentially two main roads: private school or public school and with public school substitute teaching.  It is debatable which path is more beneficial towards a teaching career.

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With private schools you may have a greater chance of being hired for an opening fresh from graduation.  Less people tend to go for these positions because they have lower salaries and you may have less protection with your position.  From first hand experience I have seen the trials that come along with the lower salary for full time teachers and lack of job protection.  However, many teachers may prefer the environment, educational practices, and ethics of private schools.  There are many private schools that are wonderful to work in.

 In public schools you tend to have a higher salary and after a few years, if you make it a few years, will have job protection.  You have a great deal of benefits but have to deal with a lot of pressure from the state and administration for student performance and standardized tests.  Generally public school positions are the most desirable because of the higher salary and benefits of being 'mainstream.'  If you are fine with the classroom politics and testing/evaluation pressure then you will definitely benefit from the higher salary.

It's quite a choice.  Do your beliefs match more with a private or public school, and would you sacrifice the higher pay of the public to work in the private?  If you do choose to work in the public school system the question then becomes how do you worm your way in?

The main way is to substitute teach.  It is pretty easy to get hired, but is a thankless job that is unreliable at best.  You can get called at 5:30 a.m. to teach that day at 8:30 or get a call at 5:30 a.m. saying your job for that day was cancelled.  Not to mention that if you don't accept a posting within it's first few minutes it will be gone before you have the chance to blink.  It is also nearly impossible to survive on just a substitute teaching salary.  You need to be a long-term sub, manage to sub every day, or have another job to make ends meet.  Furthermore, as an education student you always hear horror stories: having no plans, students that are uncontrollable, having no organization or information on your schedule.  It seems altogether an  undesirable job.

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Luckily my personal experience has not been so bad.  Most of the rooms I have been in have been great.  Only once have I been left without lesson plans and only once have I had a class that was what I consider "difficult".  It's not a perfect profession but these 'bad experiences' are learning experiences.  Because I get to the school early enough I had time to put together plans and have learned plenty of classroom management techniques during college.  Each room you go in is a new opportunity to learn from the successes of other teachers.  How do they arrange their classrooms?  What behavior management strategies do they use?  What behavior systems do they have in place?  What lessons are effective?  I take so many mental notes each time I enter a enter a new classroom.

Subbing has worked for me this year because I have also managed to get a part-time job as the director of one of the after school programs run by the local YMCA.  It's about three and a half hours a day and leaves my mornings open to sub.  I have been hired as a substitute in three districts and sub about two mornings a week (or more) on average.

If you want to be in the public school and are not one of the lucky few to be hired directly out of graduation I highly recommend subbing.  Especially if you have some kind of back-up salary or other kind of income to support you.  Subbing lets you get your name out into the schools while giving you hands-on experience.  It may not pay much money but you reap the benefits of the experience.  (If you do go the subbing route do get Jobulator.  Its $40 for a whole year, works directly with the subbing system most schools use (AESOP), and can be downloaded to your computer and smart phone.  If you set it to update every minute it will tell you automatically if a new subbing position is open.  I have gotten many of my days thanks to this app!)

Time to Knit

A post confessing my nerdiness.  Yes, I am a 22 year old knitter.  

Basic ribbed scarf in progress

As a college graduate this is officially what I do in my spare time.  My grandma taught me when I was only 10 but with school over the years I never had time to really get into it.  Now I'm looking at different patterns and teaching myself new techniques; it's about time I learn how to use circular needles or how to make cables!  I know, so exciting.

Over the past two months I have knit a scarf, earwarmers (with my second one underway as of today), six hats (currently working on my seventh).  Most of them have been gifts and I'm sticking with flat knitting while working on them because I know I can knit well with straight needles, I don't want to mess up any presents! And to decorate the hats that I have made I even taught myself to crochet some flowers by watching youtube videos.  I definitely prefer knitting to crocheting though, but it is nice to have the accents.

Finished hat with crocheted flowers.

Earwarmers in progress...

It definitely is different knitting now with so much free help on the internet.  When I was little I used only knitting books and knitting magazines but now there are so many free resources! Even though I technically have known how to knit for such a long time I am by no means an expert.  This is the first time that I actually have the spare time to learn new techniques!  It is such a great hobby, once I finish one project I am searching for my next one.  When I'm not at work I knit while watching tv or movies, or in long car rides--when someone else is driving of course!  It's a wonderful way to make meaningful gifts for the people I care about.  And it's always great to see the finished project with all of your hard work.

Legolas being a very handsome hat model.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is finally the day, Thanksgiving!  It's one of my favorite holidays because A) I love food, B) I love getting together with my family and C) I love watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (like I currently am).  This year it's a big deal for me because I'm cooking half the meal myself.  My aunt is making the turkey, stuffing, and dessert while I'm cooking the appetizers and sides.  I'm really excited, it feels like my first 'adult' Thanksgiving.

But my favorite part of Thanksgiving is taking the time to think about what we are thankful for in our lives.  And this year I have a lot to be thankful for.  In the wake of Hurricane Sandy I am thankful that my home is safe, as well as my friends and family.  I am thankful for the traveling I have been able to do over the past couple of years; it's a dream come true.  I am thankful for my home, my health, having food in the fridge, and having the opportunity to work in the field that I have always dreamed of.  But most of all I am thankful for my loved ones near and far.  I am lucky to have such wonderful people in my life who consistently love and support me in all that I do.  Thank you all for being part of my life.  I am finally in a place where I know everything is going in the right direction.  I am truly happy and it's due in large part to the wonderful people I have surrounding me.

So Happy Thanksgiving everyone; I hope you have a day of great food, great family, and great friends.  And remember to count your blessings everyday! :)

Summertime Adventures August, Part 3: The Finale

So for my last week/week and a half in Spain we somewhat took it easy.  It was all about spending time together as a couple and spending time together with our friends before I went home and my boyfriend went to Madrid to start his engineering Master's.

We decided to have a picnic in the Parque de la Magdalena with the delicious cheese we bought while in Asturias.  We picked a nice quiet spot overlooking the historic boat display and with a view of the lighthouse, Cabo Mayor.  It was a delicious picnic and with our cheese we had fresh bread and jamón (for those who don't know this is referring to the Spanish cured ham, I could spend my entire life just eating it).  It was a nice, relaxing picnic and afterwards we walked around the little 'zoo' they have here.  I love the animals, and in general this park is one of my favorites in Santander.

Later that weekend we went out all together for the last time.  All the girls wore dresses and we all met at our friend's apartment to spend time together before actually going out.  I definitely miss going out in Spain, it was always so fun and it was great just being able to walk around from place to place.  I miss the bar food and the different drinks they have, like vino coco (coconut wine) and calimocho (a red wine and coca-cola mix).  I also like the music they play in the clubs MUCH better, it's way more fun and dance-able.  I even almost miss the intense bar futbolín playing which I was terrible at... 



The next day some of our friends went surfing at the beach Liencres.  I watched safely from the shore since there was a red flag that day and a lot of wind.  Not being a very experienced surfer I felt that was the best choice...but you can see my boyfriend in the picture on the right enjoying the surf for me!


That Sunday instead of having lunch with his grandfather, like they do every Sunday, we took a road trip to Madrid to go apartment hunting with his new roommate.  It was my second time to Madrid and I really like it.  Madrid is huge and there's so much to see and do!  It's about a five hour drive and after trying to read in the back seat I felt unfortunately carsick :s But we finally got to Madrid and were staying in one of our friend's apartments.  In Santander the weather is pretty mild, usually not above 80 in the summer but Madrid was stifling hot and more like 90+, it even felt that hot at night!  We saw two or so apartments the first day before going out for some pizza and going to bed.  The next day however we saw about twelve or more apartments (!!) before narrowing it down to our favorite three, which actually were the same three for everyone.  It was tiring and hot but in the end they got a nice apartment, in a good location, for a decent price; not bad for an impromptu trip to Spain's capital city!



Later that week was the celebration of the founding saints of Santander, las Fiestas de los Santos Mártires.  They had a firework display and we went to the top of one of our friend's family's apartment buildings near Sardinero to watch.  We had a great view of the fireworks and thanks to a laptop a great view of La Liga, a Spanish soccer championship (which Real Madrid won).  Throughout the fireworks you could hear people everywhere cheering for the teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two most famous Spanish teams.

The next day was the birthday of my boyfriend's sister, and my last full day in Spain.  Before lunch with the family we walked around Santander where they were having a Medieval Fair with lots of gifts, jewelry, and food.  We had visited earlier that week and he had wanted a drinking horn, literally a hollowed horn of an animal that you could drink out of.  I surprised him by buying it as an early birthday gift and he thanked my by buying a creme stuffed chocolate churro; now that's what I call that fair!  We walked along the Paseo de Pereda and took pictures along the water.  He is so lucky to live in such a beautiful city!  The landscape surrounding Santander is stunning.

Puerto Chico

Venus's signature 'butt shake'

At home we spent some time with his two dogs, who I absolutely love.  While I stay with his family I literally play with them every day and even help take care of them.  I'm a total dog person and I love these two more than pretty much any other dogs.  They're my babies and every time he visits home I make sure he sends me tons of pictures and videos of the two.  Orión is a Spanish Mastiff and Venus is a boxer.  While Orión is absolutely huge, it's Venus who's the troublemaker.  I love them both dearly and while she's a cutie who likes to cuddle and give kisses, he definitely is the sweetest goofball.

With his favorite octopus

After the birthday celebration of his sister we decided to visit our friend in a nearby village called Corrales de Buelna.  That weekend they had their annual reenactment of a famous war between the Romans and the ancient Celtic tribe of the area, the Cántabras.  Each side had replica buildings, both Roman and Cantabrian and it was really cool.  Everyone participating was dressed up and there were even places to buy food, drinks, and souvenirs.  

The actual reenactment would be later in the weekend but that night they had everything set up for people to come partake.  As a history major I was pretty much in love with everything.  I have always wanted to be part of a reenactment so I absolutely appreciated all the detail the village and the participants put into the buildings and outfits.  We stayed for a few hours before driving back to Santander to say my last goodbyes before leaving the next morning.  It was bittersweet; I love and miss all my amazing friends, and boyfriend, back in Spain but I was a bit excited to start the next chapter of my life college-free.


The next day my boyfriend and his family drove me to the airport in Bilbao so I could catch my flight to Madrid and subsequently Boston.  His mom is adorable and packed me two sandwiches to eat in Madrid during my connection, even including some jamón for me!  He waited with me to make sure I got through security all right.  It's always hard saying good-bye to one another because we know it will be a few months before we can see each other again.  Thankfully though we're both really busy this year, which helps keep our minds off of it a bit.  Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I am incredibly lucky to have people kind enough to let me live with them for two months.  I'm blessed to have such great friends in such a wonderful country, I hope to get back as soon as I can!

Summertime Adventures August, Part 2

Such delay in posting!  Lost power for a few days when Hurricane Sandy hit and it took a while to get everything working again.  Anyways, this is almost the finale of my two month European vacation.

Back in Santander it was the el Festival Intercultural de Santander.  There are tons of booths set up with food and drinks from countries around the world along with goods from countries around the world, like jewelry, etc.  We visited a couple of days and tried food and drinks from Brazil, France, Germany, Cuba, and Australia.  At the France booth we had delicious crepes, of course with cheese, and wine.  With our friend Pedro we visited the Australian booth and had a kangaroo burger!  It was actually good, weird, but good...and purple... I was able to buy some cool gifts there, including some cool gifts for myself. :)



That weekend my boyfriend and I decided to take a day trip to the south of Cantabria, where his Dad's family is originally from and a part of Cantabria I had not visited yet.  First we visited Reinosa, where most of his family came from in this area, and took some coffees and typical pastries called pantortillas (which were delicious).  From there we traveled to town of Fontibre which is known for the Nacimiento del Ebro, the 'birthplace" of the Ebro River.  It was awesome to see where the most important river in Spain begins!  We walked along the river for a while and took pictures along the way.  At the head of the river is a statue of the Virgin of Pilar that shows the crests from all the provinces that the Ebro runs through.

When we left Fontibre we traveled to Julióbriga, the most important ancient Roman city in Cantabria.  It was mainly ruins, but it was still very cool as a history major to visit something so ancient.  Especially coming from the United States where very little is older than a couple hundred years.  We walked among the different ruins, of the wealthy and poor homes, along with visiting the Romanic Church where you could climb up to the bells.

Afterwards we drove around to look for special churches, iglesias rupestres, churches that are built into rocks.  This region has multiple churches like this and we went to visit some of the major ones.  They were very difficult to find because they were in very small villages or in narrow passes.  Once we found them, most were very small or were blocked off so you couldn't go inside or see inside very well.  We did go to one that was very cool though, as we tried to go up a steep road to where we thought the church could be (so steep the car couldn't make it up), we noticed an old man sitting outside.  We drove up to him and asked him for directions, turns out he is in charge of the church's key and he gave us the key to go inside and visit the church.  Inside the church was actually very big and had two floors, usually my boyfriend warns me against doing "reckless" things like climbing trees or trying to go out on the old, rickety fire escape at the hostel we stayed at in NYC...but he actually encouraged me to climb up to the second floor of this couple hundred year old church!  Of course I did...

Before heading home we drove all the way up the hills to the Observatorio Astronómico de Cantabria, where we were able to observe the Sun through special telescopes.  The road up the mountain was so steep and treacherous; we were in his mom's small car and there were parts where we were concerned about making it up.  Fortunately we did make it in one piece, though his mom was not happy to hear about her poor car on the roads down here. It was extremely cool, I've been to observatories to see the night sky before but I've never been to the observatory to view the sun.   We looked through two telescopes, the first was not as high powered but the second one you could even see the sun bursts around the sun as well as the sun spots.  It was not as detailed as you would see the night sky but it was still very impressive.  It was also cool that up near the observatory there were some wind turbines, it may seem weird, but I've never been so close to wind turbines in person.  Before heading back to Santander we stopped back in Reinosa to take a drink before the long drive home.

I was coming up on my last week in Spain and we still had a lot to do together!

Summertime Adventures August, Part 1

We spent the majority of the first week and a half of August glued to the TV to watch the 2012 Olympics.  I'm used to watching it in the USA where winning medals is so common it's not always a big deal and no one I know really cares.  It was different to actually watch the Olympics for the first time, and sorry USA, but I was rooting for Spain.  Every day we woke up and checked the schedule to see what events Spain was competing in for the day so we knew what to watch.  It was a slow, start but once the first medal was won in swimming things started to pick up.  It was really exciting and I got really into sports I have never watched before like: taekwondo, handball, and polo, and started getting into sports I had never liked before like basketball. All in all it was a great Olympics and I was proud of Spain and the USA, though my boyfriend's mom sure was glad when it was over and we stopped watching TV all day long!

When the Olympics ended we felt a little bit lost without following it everyday.  But it had been a nice few weeks to just relax and hang out together and hang out with our friends.  The past two times I visited we traveled a lot and saw so much that everything felt rushed.  It was definitely nice to have seen the main things in the area already and just enjoy everyone's company.

Talking with a few of our friends though we decided to take a day trip to Asturias.  It's the province to the west of my boyfriend's province of Cantabria and though I had been very close to the border before, I had never actually been.  We first stopped in Llanes, a town not too far over the border.  It is a port town and is known for its harbor and the colored blocks along the port.  I've seen similar blocks at other ports in Spain, and with my boyfriend being the good civil engineer he is, he tried to explain the use of them (which I take to understand is to help protect the harbor  from large waves) but with his engineering mind and subsequent explanation it was a little too complicated!  

Anyway, it was a very pretty area and we happened to visit on the day they celebrate the Fiesta de San Roque.  It was fascinating because everyone was wearing the traditional Asturiana outfits and there were people everywhere dancing and singing to traditional music.  There was also plenty of sidra, a drink I love that comes from Asturias, which is a apple cider type drink that has to be poured in a distinct way to taste correctly.  It was so much fun and I even bought some delicious cheese to have a picnic with later, can you tell the common theme of my love of cheese?!

After we left Llanes we went to a beach called Gulpiyuri which is a small beach with no ocean.  Instead the water comes from the sea through underground caves and tunnels.  It's still salt water and even has a tide!  

It was beautiful, but we came at high tide so there wasn't much of a beach left to lie on.  We all went swimming and even though it was small, it was pretty deep.  Once in the water a couple of us tried to sit out on some rocks, but the waves were so strong it kept pushing us off.  We quickly found out not to stay on the rocks anyway because a few of us left with some scratches, my poor feet included.  It was well worth it though because it's so rare to find a land formation like Gulpiyuri.  In fact, there's only a few in the world!

Next we tried to find the cliffs of Pría, which was quite hard.  The GPS wasn't working and we drove up and down different tiny dirt roads in tiny villages trying to find the right one.  Finally we found where we meant to go in the first place; it was quite the adventure just trying to get there!  The thing about these specific cliffs is that there are holes that have been carved from the water and when the waves are big enough water will shoot out of them looking like a geyser.  

We looked up when the biggest waves would be for the next couple weeks and it was supposed to be the day we went.  However, the waves still apparently were not big enough to shoot as much water as they usually do (apparently they can get big enough to throw people down if they're too close!).  There were some decent ones but usually all you could see was a stream of mist.  Although you couldn't see much, you could definitely hear it, and there were still very beautiful views from the cliff.

The Sella River

Before we went home we decided to stop by the town of Ribadesella.  This town is known for its river and the party that takes place at the beginning of August where people have a rowing race, and of course because it's Spain, drink.  We stopped by to take a drink ourselves and have some tapas but didn't stay for long because we were heading back to go to the parties of a village nearby Santander called Bezana where one of our friend's family has one of their restaurants, Pizzeria L'archetto.  There they had a lot of different foods to try and I of course got something with cheese, and it was delicious!  I had one with blue cheese and honey and another with goat cheese...he such a good friend that he knows how much I love cheese!!

Although my summer in Spain was starting to come to an end, I was glad we got to have a relaxing start of August.  Especially with so much left to do before I went back home!

Summertime Adventures July, Part 2

PARIS!!!

For the third week of July we went to Paris with a group of friends so get prepared for the mother of all posts!  We all stayed in this adorable apartment in the Latin Quarter.  From the balcony you could just barely see the Eiffel Tower, we were literally next to the Church of Saint-Séverin (as you can see in the picture on the left), and were about three minutes walking from the Notre Dame.  Amazing!  The very first night we got there we walked around for a while to see a little of Paris at night.

 

On our first full day in Paris we did a lot of walking, no metro for us!  First we saw the d'Orsay Museum, which I personally loved because it has one of the most extensive collections of Impressionist paintings, my favorite style of painting.  After the museum we walked up the seine to see the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, a famous bridge that my boyfriend and his other civil engineering friends studied in class.  It was really cool how you could walk from the lower level to the upper to cross the river.  

After that we had lunch in the Tuileries Gardens and continued on to see the Luxor Obelisk, La Madeleine, the Vendôme Column of Napoleon, the Arc d'Triomphe, and finally the Eiffel Tower!  So much walking in one day! Even though I have studied the art and architecture of Paris in my history classes I was still surprised by everything and how quickly I fell in love with Paris. As for the Eiffel Tower, the line to take the elevator was very long--and more expensive--so we decided to walk up as far as we could; which is about half way before taking the elevator.  After we made it to the top we rested in the park below for a bit before our long walk home.  I'm glad we got the experience walking because you got to see great views of Paris.  We were exhausted but did manage to get some wine and delicious cheese, cheese being of course my absolute favorite food, for dinner!

  

Our second full day in Paris we spent the morning at the Louvre.  It was wonderful because I studied many of the artwork and sculptures in my art history classes so I was almost overly excited to see it in real life, especially the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.  It was all spectacular, though a bit overwhelming fighting all the photo taking tourists to even look at the pieces!  After the Louvre we walked some more around Paris and got to see the Opera before we headed to Les Invalides.  It was once a hospital but is now where the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte is and is also a arms museum.  The tomb of Napoleon was huge!!    My boyfriend and I went back a little earlier than everyone else because like clockwork my hip was hurting again, and we went to a cafe near the Notre Dame to have a snack and some Paris.  If it wasn't such a cliché, I would have felt almost Parisian sitting in a cafe in Paris, let alone with a view of Notre Dame!

The Queen's Chambers

The Hall of Mirrors

The Next Day we were at Versailles, it was just a quick train ride away and was luckily a beautiful day.  Once we got to Versailles we had to wait in a HUGE line, over an hour.  But during this time we at least got to take pictures of the front before we went in.  Once inside it was honestly a little bit of a let down for me, it was so crowded and so many rooms were closed off.  You were funneled through the rooms and because of amount roped off and the amount of people, there was not a lot of time to look at each room because everyone was essentially shoving you through!  Despite this it was very beautiful.  The best part for me though was the gardens, even though you had to pay extra because it was the summer.   And my absolute favorite part of the gardens AND Versailles was the hamlet behind the Petit Trianon that Marie Antoinette had built for herself.  It was beautiful and had a working farm complete with adorable farm animals.  My boyfriend and I visited it just the two of us, so we had some alone time walking around the different buildings and petting the farm animals--well I pet the farm animals while he shook his head at me!  When we finally returned from Versailles we visited the north of Paris to see Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge and have dinner.  

  

 The following Day Adrián and I took our own day trip to Giverny to see Monet's Garden, which is actually the main reason I really wanted to go to Paris!  Ever since I was little I loved Monet's paintings, so much that my Grandma said that for my high school graduation trip she would take me to his famous gardens.  Sadly she passed away  before I graduated and I was not able to take our trip.  This Paris trip was partly planned by our friends so I could go because they knew how important it was to me, it was very sweet.  And it was such an amazing feeling going because it was like I had my grandma with me.  Getting to Giverny is a bit Chaotic though.  You have to take the train in the North of Paris to Vernon

and from Vernon you have to take a bus to Giverny, unfortunately we missed our first train because of the long ticket line.  When we finally got to Giverny we had a picnic with some French cheese I had bought the other day along with a fresh baguette, chocolate, and jamón.  The cheese was absolutely delicious and it was probably one of my favorite meals in France!  Giverny was a tiny little village and was so absolutely beautiful, but for me it was nothing compared to Monet's Garden and the lily pond.  It was a dream come true, I was so happy I was practically in tears!  It was truly one of the most beautiful places I've seen, absolutely breathtaking and quite truthfully a dream come true!  If you're going to Paris I highly suggest this day trip, you won't be sorry.

On our final day literally before leaving we visited the Notre Dame.  In the morning we saw the inside but we had to come back later to climb to the bell towers.  The inside was beautiful; I love the Gothic styles and, thanks again to all my art history classes, I had previously learned about the symbolism in religious art and architecture and was able to explain it to my friends as well--which I proudly overheard a tour guide repeating everything I had just explained, winning!  As for going to the top of the Notre Dame we had to wait in line for about an hour and a half, but the view to me was worth it.  While waiting we got some shopping done and took a quick look at the Pompidou building.  

When we finally walked up more stairs we saw that it was worth the wait.  From the bottom looking up you couldn't see any of the gargoyles but from above you had a perfect view!  It was like a scene from the "Hunchback of Notre Dame."  You got to walk across the building to the famous bell tower from the novel to see the actual bell, then climb all the way to the top of the tower.  The views of Paris were beautiful and we were even able to see our apartment from the top!  After the Notre Dame we bought some sandwiches to eat along the Seine.  I even indulged in an éclair, not cliché right?

When we arrived in Santander it was actually the start of their annual parties celebrating the city called, Semana Grande.  All around the city bars set up 'casetas' or little wooden houses, at these houses you can try different tapas and drinks.  Usually there is a special where one tapa and a beer are 2.5 euros.  They also have some areas where tents are set up for different provinces in Spain.  I loved going to the Asturias one because I love the sidra, since we don't have anything like it at home.  

Also at the same time there is a feria or fun fair going on near the stadium.  It has a bunch of food, rides, and games where you can win prizes.  We went on a couple rides with our friends, tried a special coconut treat--where my boyfriend, not so humorously for him, chipped his tooth--, and he even won me some stuffed animals!  It was really fun and I loved trying the different tapas and foods from different parts of Spain.  

During this week it was one of our friend's birthdays and we decided to have a tapas party to celebrate where each person cooked one dish of tapas to eat for dinner.  My boyfriend and I decided to make American food, and cooked buffalo wings and then pancakes for dessert.  Everything was so delicious, I love Spanish food!