Sunday, May 9, 2010

May 9th


I have a ton of posts that I haven't put up.. from Earth Day, Book Club etc... but work has been really chaotic lately. There have truly been a ton of crisis-- true crisis that have involved DCFS, police, hospitals, mental health professionals(other than me)-- parents, students, administrators etc. It really got me thinking.. I truly do love my school-- I have a great principal, some super teachers and I really like my kids.... but I've been in my district for 10 years-- and my principal retires at the end of 2010-2011 and I can't tell you what a difference it makes having your boss have your back no matter what- and also having someone who really thinks you are competent is also awesome. Plus in the past two years, my two friends at work who have been the ones to work on my extra projects with me left to have babies. And now we've learned that the teacher that I work the closest with at school, who I eat lunch with and consider one of my good friends outside of school is being moved to another school in the district and none of us have any control over it. So, I guess the question is where to go from here. I have a mortgage and tried to sell my condo about 3 years ago, but needless to say with the housing issues, there was no movement. I know that it would be difficult for me to move as a school social worker as I have 11 years experience and 2 master's degrees... I also got an administration degree in education several years ago and ideally I'd love to be a Special Education administrator, but with the education crisis in Illinois and the amount of layoffs, I don't know if that is a reasonable goal at this point. The other fear of leaving education for another type of social work is that I'd lose my summers and I LOVE my summers... I can't imagine not having the ability to plan another trip like last summer.

So I guess at this point, I should focus on making my trip this summer the best I can, heading into next school year with as much positivity as I can muster, if not for me than for the kids and my principal as it will be her last year. And the funny thing is I do want to work on the projects she and I've discussed, I just feel like we do that and then another shoe drops and I'm told I can't. And I guess try to find someone else to eat lunch with. :(

But next year, I need to really evaluate my options.. Do I try to sell again? Do I look into the possibility of working overseas?

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