Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Its all MY fault. No one else to blame!

I am extremely frustrated with myself. Procrastination has put me in a lurch. The last day of school was May 31. I was supposed to turn in my application packet for my license on that day. However, when I went down to the District Office, they said that they would not fill out my verification papers until that day and then I would have to wait for them in the mail. So, I took my time gathering all of my other paperwork & obtaining signatures. I’ve been waiting on the verification forms for 2 weeks now. Still haven’t received them. So, I called down there today and the lady tells me that she sent them directly to the licensing officer instead of sending them to me. I WISH I HAD KNOWN.

I still need two signatures on my paperwork, should be completed tomorrow. I was taking my time because I thought the verification was supposed to come in the mail. Urrrrggghh, so now I need to call the chair of my department again to make sure she will be able to come sign my paperwork tomorrow. I hate to annoy her—and its my fault b/c it would have only taken minutes to get done before school was out. But procrastination kept saying, “you’ve got time.” I THOUGHT I HAD TIME! So, I feel like I’m annoying her by calling and asking “when can you come sign and I’ll come to you.” These are words of desperation. I am scared now that they won’t approve my license b/c I was late. However, I know this won’t be too big of an issue b/c they do licensing all year long. (As I typed this, the chair called me back saying she had already signed and stuck it in my box—sweet relief)

What irritates me more, is that I can NOT find my evaluation for last year. In all the packing a moving to a new classroom, it some how got misplaced. I kept in the top drawer of my desk because I knew it was safe there. Unfortunately, I don’t know what box it is in. When I went to the school secretary to get a copy, it wasn’t in my file! So, I’ve somehow got to hunt down a copy of it. I’ve been looking in EVERY SINGLE bag, book and stack of papers here at the house. No, luck yet. But I know that there is “a ram in the bush.” I have alternatives; but I just don’t like to bug people—especially when I’m the one who has been incompetent.

There is excitement and fear as I apply for this license! I’m going to be fully licensed. It means I can go anywhere and teach within my state. I can begin working on other things b/c stuff licensure. I get to set all new goals and benchmarks for my life. I finally feel like I’m a real adult. I know all of these things sound so girlishly silly, but after hearing from my family all the time that I will be college student forever, I began to believe it. Its probably true, b/c I’ve still got to finish my master’s degree which will probably be another year. Once that is finished, I want to shoot for National Board Certification. In my school district, they give up to a $10,000 bonus for being nationally certified. There are only about 50 teachers in the district that have gotten it. Well, I guess new goals have been set!

5 comments:

Lara said...

wow, national board certification is a big goal! i can't even beging to contemplate that big a project right now, having just come off all the papers and projects to get my credential and my master's. but it is, as you say, a great goal. :)

Midwest Teacher said...

Incredible--National Certification? That would be amazing. Go for it! I think you can do it. The $$ is a nice incentive, to be sure. I just wrapped up my certification, so I'm not even thinking about a Master's yet (not in a tangible sense at least)...

Anonymous said...

Oh, how familiar, this feeling of procrastination. And how familiar the paper-overload of the highschool teacher. I will start my third year teaching after the summer, and still haven't found a system to order my papers that works right for me.

Ms. H said...

Procrastination gets such a bad rap...but it's really just trying to help us cope with our stress.

Or at least that's what I tell myself when I realize I've over-procrastinated!

HA!

I SO feel your pain!

Anonymous said...

National Board is such a worthy goal, for more than just the money. I'm going for it this year and am really looking forward to the challenge. On the other hand, I dread my own tendency to procrastinate. The National Board is way to big to be able to complete at the last minute. Kudos to your licensing and I'm glad you're gearing up for the NBC!