Could it be? Is it really possible? I just may be a real teacher someday... and sooner than I ever thought.

I found out this week that through a meeting with the high school in the articulation area that my name has been thrown into the hat for a long term sub position for the biology teacher at a high school in the area. Ya, that's right.

It sounds like the position is a full semester position for a teacher who teaches mostly biology and one section of marine biology. That's a little different then my 8th grade physical science and will be a pretty big adjustment from middle school to high school but an interesting possibility nonetheless.

Now nothing is for certain in any way and there are other candidates for the job but some of my cooperating teachers were approached by the science chair-person at the school who said I had caught her eye.

This just fell into my lap and that's crazy exciting. Not only is it a potential opportunity for job experience... but its a paycheck!!! :)

Just a crazy thought that God could have such a wonderful plan that doesn't require me to wait it out and hope the job market gets better. He certainly is soooo good to me.

But again, nothing is for certain. Whether or not I take the job, it will be a great experience for me to go through the process for applying for the position.

If you think about, send up a prayer for me. My prayer is that this would all be according to His will. I don't want the position if I am not a good fit so I just pray for wisdom for me as I go through the process and discernment for those who are doing the hiring for the position; I don't want the job unless I am qualified and the best fit for it.

And in the meanwhile, I just pray I can grow where I am planted and impact my students the best I can.

Thanks for reading, friends!!

I know, I know, its only been a matter of hours since my last post. These things are being written MUCH too close together to be from Larissa.

Don't worry, your aren't dreaming. This is happening. This is REALLY happening. :)

Cue the witty post...



So, this will come off sounding like I'm complaining.

Which I am.

So now that you are prepared: I just spent 3 hours grading, and then 6 hours of planning today to get caught up and be prepared for this week. For those of you who are a little weak in the math department, that's 9 HOURS of work. And not fun work but stupid grunt work for my stupid Action Research Project. Dumb. Its just silly amounts of work that are supposed to help me prove that I am qualified to be a teacher but instead make me hate life and wish I was a barista at Starbucks. At least I would get free coffee and not be all drained and caffeine-starved. Instead of being all hopped up and much to happy to be serving way over priced coffee drinks, I sat at a wooden table with a wooden chair, that was incredibly sucky to sit in for 6 hours, and preceded to talk myself off the cliff that I wanted to jump off over and over again all afternoon.

I did however get a good jump on the stupid project and got my tests all graded and inputted which is nice.

If you think about it, pray for me. My attitude obviously needs a little adjustment and I need a hug.

Hope you aren't talking yourself off any cliffs and if I was there with you, I'd give you a hug. :)

With love,
Miss Harder

I keep telling myself, "Larissa, you need to update that blog..." "Just take a minute and write something down..." "You love reading everyone elses updates on their blogs, maybe you should return the favor..."

Ya, I keep having these mini conversations in my head and then I close down Blogger and go do something else.

NOT TODAY!

Im not really sure how many people actually read this but if there is anyone who just wants to check up on me, I wanted you to know that I have never been happier in all my life.

I am student teaching at a middle school in Golden, CO and I am in love with middle schoolers. I teach 5 sections of Physical Science which is a lot of chemistry and while its difficult most days, I am learning more than I could have ever expected. Every day provides a new opportunity for me to make a mistake and learn from it and most days contain several hidden jems.

One of my classes in particular has many kids with special needs and because of all the different levels of learners and behavior issues, it is my most difficult class. I typically have my cooperating teacher in there with me as well as a special education teacher but yesterday I was all alone in the room for the whole class period. There is one student who is particularly difficult because of behavior issues and him and I have had it out a couple times this last week, one of which ended with him in the assistant pricipal's office for most of the afternoon. Well yesterday I was trying to do all I could to keep him in align and called on him to answer a question at the begginning of class. He wasn't paying attention and had no idea what the anwer was so I gave him the option to phone a friend. He preceeded to dial on his palm and then make a "phone" out of his thumb and pinky and called a girl across the classroom who picked up her "phone" to answer. They had a phone conversation about the answer which was hilarious, put there phones back down and then the student gave me his final answer. It was so funny. We laughed as a class for a while and then continued on with class. I think it was the best time the student had in my class and it was a step in the right direction for him and I.

Another thing you may want to know about me is I am madly in love. I mean, head over hills. I mean, I found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Eric and I have been together for almost 7 monthes now and as we say, 7 months down, 60 years to go. This man is incredible. He is hard working and passionate and desires to just serve people the rest of his life. He is getting his masters in rehabilitation counseling and works very hard at school. He is going to be an awesome counselor. I could go on for hours about how incredible he is and how good he is to me but we'd be here all day. Just know he loves me more than I deserve, treats me better than I could have dreamed of, and makes me so happy. I love every minute I am with him and look forward to our whole life together.

But yes, I know this whole blog has really only been about two things: teaching and Eric but that is really all I have time for in my life. I teach and I grade papers and I plan for new lessons and in between I sneek in some time with Eric. I sleep when I can. Its rough some days but incredible other days and I am the happiest I have ever been.

Hope this blog finds you well and that God shows you the important gifts in your life that He has given you.

I'll blog again soon...