Employment @ MindSay

I was just sitting at my computer, updating my 'references' list on the teachnyc.net website to include an old cooperating teacher instead of a site supervisor, and I was thinking, "man, I just want to live in Brooklyn and work on the Lower East Side", because I'm so stressed out not having a job and the idea of living up here all year long without a job and feeling like a total, complete loser makes me want to cry, and the phone rings.

It's Janelle.  From The Children's Workshop School.  A.K.A. one of the best schools in Manhattan/NYC.  Insideschools.org agrees: Children's Workshop Review. It was one of the schools below where I student taught (it's on the 2nd and 3rd floors, and my school was the 5th), and one of the first schools I sent my resume out to when I started the process.  They want me to zip down to New York for an interview on Thursday night with their hiring committee.

I cannot put into words how excited I am!  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!!!!!!!



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Also, I found this on Craig's List yesterday, and considered it:

Sailing Nanny

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Reply to: job-776498573@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-07-30, 4:55PM EDT

Well ... if this isn't the strangest predicament! I have been offered a strange job. I received an invitation to appear before the board of a local church for the position of Youth Director! Go figure!

 

Maybe even more strange ... I didn't write it off as "spam" ....  I asked for a few days to consider the implications.  OY!

 

Is life really strange sometimes, or what?

 

Have you seen this sign?  Check it out ... the message changes every few seconds!

 

 

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btw ... remember NOT to click on anti-virus programs or scans that you have not installed!  My son clicked when he should have shut-down ... shutting us all down for over a week!  It did LOOK authentic right down to the windows emblem!  sheesh!

I want to tell you about the Bear.  He was, and to me still is, all that is pure and admirable about being a cop.  I was assigned to him during the summer of ’69, and my five months with him left me so in awe, so touched and troubled, that I still often think of him.

 

The bear flew to the scene of an incident like an avenging angel.  His small thick hands grasped the wheel so tightly in anger that I actually feared for the life of the unknown suspect at the other end of the ride.  No red lights or siren; just a gut-wrenching wide-open acceleration born of Bear’s fury.  I was nervous with this field training officer, who was known to all as Bear – or THE Bear to those who were perpetually in wonder of him, as I certainly was.  I stole a glance at him as we throttled around the corner, a block away from our assigned location, and involuntarily shivered at the sight.  A 220-pound, five feet, eight-inch body swathed in blue material, harnessed by a gunbelt partially obscured in fat, topped by an undersized head sporting a marine-style crewcut.  A bear indeed, with an animal-like anger to match.  He scared me then, for he looked so formidable.  But this was before I came to know him.  And it was before his final bout with evil. 

 

READ ON

http://www.police-writers.com/articles/gilbert_bears_lesson.html

As my weekend comes to a close, I feel like I'm preparing to dive once again into a deep lake that I must travel underwater to the next weekend re-surfacing place.  Hope I get a big enough breath!  Strange feeling ...

In my rush to express my enthusiasm for my new position, I touched on a random issue that I should perhaps explain further.  :)

 

I brought up a distinction between men and women in the workplace, but didn't really explain my meaning well.  My apologies!  What I meant to say was from my observation, there is a marked difference between the way men relate on the job and the way women relate on the job.  I have had the fortune of a multitude of work experiences from the military (which was mostly male, but at the time I was in was still segregated for billeting & training), to teaching, to real estate, to convenience store/ customer service to childcare.  I have worked for men and for women and been part of all female teams on numerous occasions.  Again, I say, men and women are NOT the same ... NOT equal and this is a wonderful thing!  It does NOT mean one is BETTER than the other, but simply that we are different. 

 

Men, it seems to me, in general, are much better equipped to transition between work relationships and personal relationships.  This means that when they are put into a position for which they are ill-suited, they are less likely than women to take it personally and/or try to make it work.  Men seem to be much more able to leave work at work and much less likely to micro-manage those under their supervision.  At least, that is my experience.  Sorry, ladies, but I think men are generally easier to get along with in a group setting, although one-on-one, it is the other way around.  hahaha  Must be that communication thing, hmmm?  All of us seem to change, too, when we put on a "title" or "office", if you know what I mean.  I'm sure I'm over-simplifying a complex issue here concerning the way men and women relate, but ... I generally get along with everyone. 

 

My employment pet peeve list, however, is topped with a need for mutual respect.  If management has hired a "qualified" individual, does that new employee not deserve some measure of respect?  If there is not some degree of mutual respect that flows from management to the lowest rung, then the organism is not healthy and production / service will suffer.  This is what is happening in the facility I am leaving.  The DIRECTOR has not yet learned how to value those with whom she works, but instead almost plots for their failure.  This makes for a very uncomfortable place to work and, in my opinion, an unhealthy place to try to teach children.  It is sad, and of course, as always, it is the children who suffer.

 

Your thoughts???

 

~ B

 

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On a lighter note ...

You Are a Question Mark

You seek knowledge and insight in every form possible. You love learning. And while you know a lot, you don't act like a know it all. You're open to learning you're wrong. You ask a lot of questions, collect a lot of data, and always dig deep to find out more. You're naturally curious and inquisitive. You jump to ask a question when the opportunity arises. Your friends see you as interesting, insightful, and thought provoking. (But they're not always up for the intense inquisitions that you love!) You excel in: Higher education You get along best with: The Comma