I had Ross order this for me today:
It took a lot of convincing (and by convincing, I mean saying, “Ross. Don’t be a tool.”) because apparently Scott McCloud is the nemesis of Gabe and Tycho over at Penny-Arcade. I didn’t realize *I* was supposed to care about that. Oh wait. Yeah, still don’t.
Anyway, I asked him to get it because David Garfinkle Copywriter Extraordinaire suggested it. He points out that a good comic and good copy need to essentially do the same thing. He says,
“I can finally put the part I suspected into words. Comics use the smallest amount of ink and image space to create a world apart built on wide-spanning imagination, and tell a story in that world.
Does not copy do the same?”
Seems like it should be a pretty good read. And anyway, you’d think Ross would be all about me getting it. It might encourage me to support his X-men habit.
I was chatting it up with my boss today (who repeatedly asks me to not make fun of him on my blog - Hey, Boss!) and he pointed out to me that I say “right” a lot while in conversation. I had absolutely no clue that I do this, but naturally became paralyzingly aware of it after he mentioned it…to the point where he kept laughing at me (in a constructive manner, of course).
I realized that I do this because my former job involved talking to children, some of whom need great amounts of encouragement while talking to adults (I was one of the children, for sure). Apparently, adults don’t need you to do that.
- people who are good at talking on the phone
- people who know html
- prompt responses to emails
- honest feedback
- Special K snack bars
I’ve had a lot of people ask me why I haven’t posted any specifics about my new job/place of work. It’s partly because I don’t want to reveal anything that I shouldn’t concerning the goings on there. Honestly though, it’s mostly because I don’t want you all showing up there to get in on the free snacks and awesomeness. It’d be like telling King Kong where we keep the bananas.
At my last job I had to make lots of decisions about things like how to approach a parent about a child’s suspected learning disability, or the best way to differentiate instruction for a classroom with children ranging in abilities from identified gifted to borderline MiMD (that’s mildly mentally-delayed for you laypersons). Or about really important things like who gets to go get a drink of water when. Those of you who teach know that is one of the most important calls you will ever make.
The new job is definitely different. The only water-drinking schedule I have to worry about it my own (p.s. if you drink a lot of water, you have to go the bathroom a lot, so much that it seems almost disproportionate). I spent over 30 minutes today fuming over the fact that sometimes there just isn’t a better word for better but you can’t use better 34,621 times in a sentence but you don’t want to use the wrong word because to use the wrong word is a cop out and copping out is not tolerated, particularly by me and definitely not by my boss.
As the end of the school year approached, I found it very hard to get up the motivation to come in on time and to not bolt right when the kids left. That is totally not a dig at my school- I love my school with all of my heart. It just gets like that. Now my hours are from 8 to 5 (I actually picked the earlier option-awhaaaaa?) and I have not left at 5 yet this week. Staying here a little bit longer just doesn’t have the soul-sucking effect that putting in extra time at school started to have. I don’t sit in the car in the morning, banging my head against the steering wheel and pleading with the good Lord above to spare me from any verbal assaults that day or for him to orchestrate a massive blizzard in the middle of May so I could just go home and go back to bed. I’ve been excited to come to this job everyday-nervous beyond belief at times, but excited.
I turned in my first copy the other day and it was totally not what it needed to be. Thankfully my boss told me that. I’m not one who appreciates anything wishy-washy, especially when it comes to the quality of my work. I don’t want to think I’m awesome while everyone else knows I suck, talks about while I’m not there, and has to pick up the slack when I’m not looking. The only thing worse than being dead weight is not knowing you’re dead weight. I have a lot to learn and I’m willing to screw up a ton at the beginning if it means that I’ll become good at my job-better to crash from a low altitude, I say. I just hope my ego doesn’t get in the way. Although, it takes a lot to hurt my feelings considering some of the things that former students and parents have said to me. My skin is pretty thick and I appreciate honesty. I don’t BS and they don’t seem to do that here.
Plus, today there were some festivities involving a chicken suit AND chocolate cake. I mean, seriously, how many of you can say that you were at the office today and saw a chicken discussing specific padding on a page’s html? Uh, that would be zero of you unless you work with me.
I’m glad the first week is over and I’m excited for Monday-even for the whole crashing and burning part because apparently I’m a masochist (not *that* kind, though). And, there’s word that there are some leg warmers in our future. CAN YOU HANDLE IT?
I got news from my old school today that all my kids passed their SOL tests. It was pretty exciting and a great way to end my time there. Now, hopefully this new job will go just as well…
I started my new job today. Boy howdy, it is different from teaching. I mean, obviously it would be different but it was a total shock to my system. I didn’t get home until 6 but I actually had enough energy to get some things done around the house AND to have a conversation with Ross. I’m getting ready to go to the gym in a few minutes, too. And I’ll have you know that I made several trips to the bathroom without having to worry about what was going on in my absence. I thought about sending an email to my former teaching colleagues letting them know when I had finished my first lunch hour (as opposed to lunch 15 minutes), but I thought that would be unkind.
Everyone is really nice and they all seem to enjoy being at work. I didn’t hear anyone complain about one thing all day which is very encouraging.
This job definitely requires me to use a different part of my brain, but I’m excited about the challenge. I’m out of my comfort zone and I like it. Honestly, I’m thrilled about going to work tomorrow.
Thanks for all of the good luck wishes!
We just finished up our last day of school, my last day of school for for a long time. I was fine saying goodbye to the kids. You get kind of used to the fact that you probably won’t see the kids again. However, it was very hard saying goodbye to my colleagues. I’ve learned so much from all of them. I will say that there was A LOT of ugly crying in the car on the way home.
Goodbye, Reams Elementary. I love you!
I walked into the office to see one of my well-behaved students looking red-faced and guilty. It seems that at a school event last week he decided to damage school property. This is the conversation that followed. The names have been changed to protect the extremely guilty.
Me: What happened?
Tom: Well, it seems that something came over me on Friday night and I decided to [insert specific vandalous act here] with Tim.
Me: When is it EVER a good idea to do ANYTHING with Tim?
Tom: (now crying in that adorable and hilarious 10 year old boy way in which they don’t look at you and they sniff a lot) Never.
Me: Good. At least I taught you SOMETHING this year.
There are only five more days of school. I will turn in my key on Friday afternoon and move on to a different career. These five days will be spent cleaning our drawers and purging the mountains of stuff I’ve managed to acquire in just four years of teaching. I’ll also watch my kids graduate and move on to middle school.
I thought I would describe this time as bittersweet, but it’s not. I’m not sad about leaving. I will miss my school and my co-workers, as well as certain parts of being a teacher. I will miss the things the kids say and do. I will miss playing such an important part in the lives of children. But, it’s time.
I admire teachers who stick with it year after year. We have teachers at my school who have been there longer than I have been alive. Most of them still approach it with the enthusiasm of newcomers. I just don’t have it in me. I’ve loved it while I’ve done it, but I’m ready to see what else is out there for me.
I’ve been trying to picture what it will be like to work in an office, only conversing with people over the age of eleven. Each time I think about it, I draw a blank. This is something totally new for me. I have absolutely no clue what it will be like. It will be very strange to work the same schedule as most of my friends. I’m actually going to have a lunch hour if I want. I can’t even imagine what it will be like to come home without stories of who did what during recess. I know Ross is thrilled that my work stories will involve people who are old enough to drive, vote, and even buy beer.
I’m prepared for the adjustment period. I imagine that it won’t feel real until September comes around and I’m not gearing up to go back to work. I’m sure it’ll be strange when the first day of school comes, but don’t worry. I’ve already got a lunch date set-up for that day.
