Response to the 9 things you should never say to teachers

I admit it, I scroll down the Huffington Post for my news. I feel slightly queasy doing it, but there are some things there I appreciate about it, specifically that they have an education page. Currently education news is a little slow, but I did find this, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/26/never-say-to-teachers_n_3990648.html which intrigued me as a teacher. For the record, I have only heard one of these statements before, but I have heard other comments that are more offensive than some of these. Here are my responses to a few of these:

1. "Teaching sounds like such a sweet gig. I mean, you get summers off."

"During the summer, many educators teach summer school classes, participate in teacher training, earn advanced degrees and plan for the next year."
All of this is true, but my district didn't offer traditional summer school, only offered two days of paid training, and one paid day of prep. You know what most teachers do during the summer? THEY WORK! As we all know, there is very little money involved in teaching, and most teachers need to work over the summer to support their family, that is why this is number one on this list.

5. "It's awesome that the point of teaching is to make a difference, but do you really think any of your students will remember you?

First of all, I could be wrong in thinking that everyone remembers a teacher they had at some point in time, even the idiot who asks the question thinking that it is correlated to teachers making a difference. Secondly, I think teachers and non-teachers would generally agree that teachers are teachers in order to make a difference, but I think the definition of what is a difference would be different between the two groups. While the community and politicians might think that the difference is graduating students into prestigious universities, raising test scores or teaching disadvantaged Latinos calculus (or more recently inner city kids how to enjoy writing), teachers would probably think of smaller victories. As I think of these small victories, most are achieved through kindness and mercy. Like helping students through bad days by giving of time and words of encouragement, spending time before or after school helping students master an important concept or giving students a shot at redemption to help them make the grade. I am actually not good at any of those things, but I know there are teachers out there who are, and that's great. My goal in special education was to inspire students to enjoy doing math and believe they could do more than they had done in the past. Nobody passed an AP test but I can at least say that there was a change in student attitudes while I was at Thompsen and Union. This goal translates into fewer truant students and dropouts, higher grades and test scores, and more graduates. Does it make students remember me? Who cares?

7. "If you get tenure, you pretty much can never get fired, right?"
"As noted in a National Education Association blog, 'Tenure is about due process -- not about guaranteeing jobs for life. And it’s not about protecting 'bad' teachers -- it’s about protecting good teachers.'"
This comes up in every discussion about teacher quality, but there's a shift against tenure in most conservative-run states. Everyone in the district I taught in has a one year contract and the district is under no obligation to renew it. I have seen teachers and administrators alike 'pushed out,' so to speak, so this doesn't really apply to me. But if I taught in California I'm not sure it would offend me.

8. "Can't you just sit back and let the textbook teach for you?"

Some teachers have done this. It is not incredibly effective, exciting or popular, but the answer to the question is yes. I have not seen it done in schools I have taught, but I had a class in high school that fit this definition, and I think that if I was the only one this question wouldn't have made HuffPo's list.

My overall synopsis of the questions is that I don't think people are really stupid enough to ask them. Most of them require the questioner to not value the traditional public education model either for political reasons or personal (like having the same world history teacher that I did). These are the same people who would ask questions #3, 6, 7 and 8 because they think teaching is a super easy job that offers a lot of autonomy and cushion because of the superpowerful teachers union (applicable to unions in California, Illinois, and New York in particular). These are generally the students who did not need extra help to pass their classes, or underachieved and didn't care. As parents they start charter schools to try and keep bad teachers out of their kids' classrooms, which is noble, I guess, but not entirely necessary in my opinion.

I'll end this post with a story of the most offended I've ever been as a teacher. To be honest, it may be the only time I was offended by a parent or anyone else when talking about my profession. It happened when I was a student teacher at parent teacher conferences. I was teaching health education at the time and a parent told me I should have gone into teaching math. I guess I was offended because I did-and still do-believe teaching health in school has great merit, and it actually is more applicable to students' lives and can make a bigger difference in the big picture for students as well. Looking back on it, his tone was more offensive than his words, because I would have gladly been a math teaching major if I wasn't already three years into a political science degree when I decided I wanted to teach. Health was the fastest way to become a teacher, but I got hired to teach special education instead because of my merits as a teacher, and now I teach math anyways. 

The Mockingjay Won’t Get Fooled Again

SPOILER ALERT!!!! This is dripping with details that you don’t want to deprive yourself of discovering when you read the book for the first time.

I just finished the Hunger Games. I haven’t talked to anyone who really enjoyed Mockingjay, especially when compared to the first installment of the series. I find it the most complex of the three, but probably because I overthink it, however it does include my favorite part of the entire series. Was it as ‘fun’ a read as The Hunger Games? No—this is the opinion everyone gives of this book, which I totally understand. This is because what people end up finding the most interesting is the account of Katniss as a participant of the Hunger Games (which is pretty funny, because people comment on how obscene the Hunger Games are, but they can’t swallow a book that doesn’t give you a play-by-play of people hunting each other). I admit, I was disappointed when the Quarter Quell got cut short in Catching Fire. I wanted to see Katniss save Peeta and what would happen at the end, but what happened instead was much more mind-boggling.

Let me begin with the sappy love story, because that’s what Courtney always asked me, “Who do you think Katniss will choose?” I was a Gale supporter from the beginning. Gale was the most static of all the characters. Through the whole story, I don’t see Gale change at all. He begins hunting with Katniss and badmouthing the Capitol, he ends hunting and badmouthing the Capitol. His feelings for Katniss don’t even change. Yet Katniss chose Peeta. I don’t like the idea that it’s because they were both screwed up by the end of the whole things (although I do subscribe to the idea that the weird ones find each other—especially at BYU).

The reason comes down to their purpose in life. Gale was dedicated to a revolution—he had been since the very beginning. He was willing to go to any length to seize control from the Capitol, but Katniss was not. The short answer to this is that Katniss believed that ever since the nightlock incident she claimed responsibility for every rebellion-related death and couldn’t support a violent revolution. The long answer is that she didn’t want a revolution. She offers no evidence of desire for an uprising of the districts. In fact, every time she is faced with the prospect of being part of such an uprising, she wants to just run away. In the end her life’s only motivation came from 1) A desire to save Peeta and 2) A desire to kill Snow.

Up to the announcement of the Quarter Quell, I believed Katniss could have—and would have—ended up with Gale (although information revealed in Mockingjay disrupted theory). Katniss felt indebted to Peeta for 1) saving her in the Hunger Games and 2) playing him like a fool for the entire Hunger Games. Here entire behavior from there until Peeta’s rescue had been predicated on her need to keep Peeta alive. Katniss simply couldn’t live indebted to someone who loved her so much. When Peeta had been hijacked, though, she needed something else to get her through. She found strength in the thought of killing President Snow. During this time it appeared that she and Gale shared something, but in reality that was not the case. Not only did she not have different views than Gale, but she also thought less of him for his views, which is not something that is particularly awesome for relationships. She had such arduous hatred towards him for personally ruining her life and Gale’s spun his web of hate for the system through which he brought pain and suffering to people throughout all of Panem. That’s not to say Katniss approved of the system – she most certainly did not – but she wanted Snow for personal reasons, she didn’t think any other form of government could be different, which is why she always wanted to take flight into the woods and live without government interference like some crazy in the Idaho panhandle.

Peeta always loved Katniss. He’s such a figure of moral fortitude through the entire story, too. His hijacking destroyed him, of course, and what I never did figure out is how he got over his hatred for Katniss and began to trust her again. It never made sense to me. In the end I see their relationship a matter of convenience. They both end up in District 12, which is essentially the Idaho panhandle at this point, far from the commotion of an emerging government, and Katniss, after over a year of caring for not much more in life than Peeta’s survival decides she loves him. Gale goes on to serve in the new order of Panem and, I’m sure, is heartbroken over Katniss’ unstable mental state, but will get over it because he’s a warrior. And that’s what warrior’s do.

(For the record, Katniss was warrior, but was manipulated emotionally in a way that screwed her up. Major PTSD stemming from both the Hunger Games and the weird relationship with Peeta)

Now for some interesting questions. Mockingjay prompted so many questions about character decisions and speculation for the future of Panem. Because this is incredibly long, I’ll stick to these four, unless I think of any more.

What type of government will Panem use?

As someone whose political science capstone emphasis was in state building, I asked this question the whole way through. I absolutely loved the commentary on the state building process, especially reading it while this is taking place in Syria, where Alleppo might as well be District 2 (although the Syrians are not blessed with such help as District 13 provided). Although Plutarch tells Katniss that the government will be a form of representative republic, I don’t see that being the case. To keep things short, we’re looking at Stalin’s Russia, here. Coin was ready to step into power and force equality over the entire country, no capitalism; no system that promotes one person or group of people to feel superior or be perceived as such. This would theoretically prevent the previous extreme, cirque et panem, that existed under Snow. Without Coin, a representative republic is certainly more possible, but I still see a protectionist, socialist state run by a council rather than a president (I know they still have a president, but I’m sure they added some form of checks and balances as to decentralize power in some way).

Why did Katniss shoot Coin?

If there was one thing Katniss was able to recognize still through all the mental health issues, it was the scent of Snow’s grasp of power, and Coin stunk of it. This was my favorite part of the book. Snow was going to die either way, but why not take out Coin while you have the chance? Both a genius plot twist, and something that was totally characteristic of Katniss’ character. This obviously brings up the more pressing issue presented by Snow in the rose garden (does anyone else love that the president has a rose garden, just like the president of the United State has a rose garden?).

Did Coin send the parachutes?

When I read it, I thought Snow was sending the kids help as a publicity stunt, but Katniss’ description of the situation sounds like an atrocity beyond understanding. Snow had motive to lie to Katniss about it in order to enrage her to the point of still distrusting the government in hopes that she might just bring down the woman who brought him to his knees (Coin). Coin had motive to do it in order to make Snow look completely inhuman. Snow had zero motive to kill those children. He knew he was done, and what would killing the youth of the Capitol do for him? What an excellent way to end the book.

Why did Katniss vote for the Capitol Hunger Games?????

Would Gale have voted yes to a Capitol Hunger Games?

It makes no sense to me. The Hunger Games were a symbol of the Capitol’s power over the districts, which Gale did not like. I’m sure he harbored resentment for everyone from the Capitol who did not immediately join the uprising, but I do not see him enjoying the Hunger Games when it represents submission of those people to the new order. Peeta, the unchanging moral compass of the book believed this. I feel Katniss should have felt the same way. I don’t buy her position that she voted as a reaction to Prim dying, because it was likely Coin’s fault that Prim died, and the following events suggest that she must have believed it at that point. Now more children will die because of Katniss, a thought she abhorred since claiming responsibility for all uprising-related deaths in Catching Fire. If not for the other points I thought excellent, this could have given me a nasty aftertaste of the series. It still lingers a little bit.

There are other matters worth discussing, but I really should be working on schoolwork, the same way I should have been from 8:30-12:00 every night since Friday when I started Catching Fire.

Abbreviated Notes from Pondering while Wondering

I felt inspired to post today. It may be that I'm just avoiding an assignment that I must do for a training tomorrow, but nevertheless a post is a post. There a many issues in the past month that have crossed my mind as I have been working my summer job. This summer I am working for mosquito abatement, which entails driving around looking for mosquito larvae and killing it during the day, and driving backroads at 10 mph with the fogger on at night to kill fliers. All that driving, searching, and swamping gives me plenty of time to let my mind wonder. The topics I've been thinking of include:

• A documentary about all the weird summer jobs teachers have
• The definition of marriage 
• A theory I came up with four years ago explaining how an influx in popularity of far-right groups   could cause the Republican party to lose elections that it should easily bag...in Idaho......and that theory's pertinence to the situation on the national stage today
• Said theory's ominous raincloud over the Romney campaign
• The need for campaign finance reform--ugh
• The need for a paradigm shift in education reform--We just aren't providing a sufficient free, appropriate, public education any more. How is it that a college degree is the new high school diploma when the cost of secondary education only rises and students graduate with a lifetime's worth of debt? How is that the American dream? Speaking of which:
• The American Dream: Does it really exist? Can it only exist with a mountain of debt?
• Next year I really need to find a college research job or something
• The European financial crisis--how different are we and what are we doing to avoid it?
• The Affordable Care Act--again, what are we doing to avoid a government bankruptcy?
• The Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act--if the quick, sly fox is Chief Justice Roberts, is the lazy dog Clarence Thomas? And how can we get past this chalk party line on the bench? I mean, I learned in high school that there are two ways to read the constitution (liberal and conservative); is there any way past this?
• Baseball-I think the Giants and Nats will make a good NLCS and Rangers and Angels will make an even better ALCS.
• Entertainment-I wish GI Joe would have opened on its expected date
• More education reform-When will I have time to work on preparing for next year's classes? Why are teachers expected to improve without being paid to work towards improvement when they don't have to worry about teaching classes? What's the idea here? Does anyone have a plan for professional development?
• Recreation: Will I ever regularly run again? When will I make enough money to go golfing? To go camping for a week with my family?
• Basketball-Did Lebron finally make 'the jump'?
• Money-How will I pay for a doctorate?
• Money-How will I pay for another vehicle to hold more family?
• Money-How will I pay for hospital bills when we expand the family?
• Money-How will I pay to visit the family we love that live so far away?
• Money-How will I pay for whatever it takes to make my lawn turn green again?
• Oh yeah, working mosquito abatement over the summer will help
• Man I hope I find a better job next year

I someday I'll address these topics, but for the most part I spend what time I'm not at work, with my family and what time I'm not with my family or at work working on my master degree. 

A lot can change in one year...

One year ago I was relentlessly applying for teaching jobs and receiving a constant flow of rejection emails. Yesterday I finished my first year of teaching. And while I wish I could actually be paid to work for another few weeks so I could work out some kinks in my instructional scheduling and prepare for the new curriculum I'll be teaching in the fall, paying teachers to do so is not as important to everybody, although it certainly should be. (Great idea note: most experienced teachers, while they will deny actually needing this, probably need to take time to reflect the past year and make necessary changes to their instruction just like young teachers. All teachers should be allotted contract time for this and should be held accountable for the process of refining their teaching skills, and there is really no better time to do so than right after the school year.)

What new curriculum? Well, I applied for a district job in the district and got transferred to the high school where I'll be teaching three periods math and three language arts. While I feel comfortable teaching the same math I have been this year, I need quite a bit of prep time for my new language arts course. Here are some reasons this is more difficult than it might seem at first:

1. The Common Core Curriculum: Our district began teaching the nationally accepted Common Core Curriculum this year. I am up to date on my math, aligned with the junior high courses being taught (the math department at RJHS helped me out a ton on this) but the high school English department is not exactly on the same page concerning how to teach this new curriculum (or whether or not they want to, I think). So it will be difficult closing the gap when I'm unsure of what mark I'm trying to catch up to. Speaking of which:

2. IEP Goals: Previously, I had written very specific IEP goals for the kids at Thompsen, but I was told this week that there are no specific academic goals for students at the high school, just that they pass all their classes and are preparing for graduation, and a behavior goal or two if they need it. This is wrong on so many levels (on a legal level, first of all, but also on educational, organizational, professional, and caring-about-the-kids-you-teach levels, to name a few). It's not like I'm incredibly anal about not being in compliance with special education law (well, I am, actually), but these goals are there not only for students to work towards something and the parents to hold the school accountable for trying to catch their children up to the mainstream curriculum, but also to guide instruction. So I can't really plan what I teach unless I know what they need to learn. Urgh. Frustrating.

3. Other Special Education LA teachers: There is another special ed teacher who teaches 5 periods of language arts. If I had the time to collaborate with him we could streamline the department's LA curriculum in order to curb the amount of students who will undoubtedly try to switch classes when they find out one of us is harder/easier than the other. (Disclaimer: The district does provide two paid days before the school year to prepare for things, but that usually includes at least half a day of in-service. Special education teachers also get a couple of extra paid days to review their new IEP files.) This likely will happen, but not to the extent that I would like it to happen.

4. Differentiating Instruction: This means providing challenging learning opportunities for every student despite what level they’re actually on. I’ve developed a program to do this in math, but I’m not so sure of how I’ll do it in English. It’s a vital part of special education instruction because in my classroom students will have goals on all sorts of different levels (well, not yet, maybe; see 2. IEP Goals), so to meet all of them I need to give them all specific instruction towards what they need. This hasn’t been happening in math, nor has it been happening in language arts, so I need to do that to, which is a problem because…

5. I don’t do language arts: Or at least I never have before. No one ever taught me how to teach someone to read or write. Mainly that’s because I’m still working on my masters in special education and my two undergrad degrees were political science and health education. So I don’t really know what I’m doing anyways, but I’m sure I can give it a pretty good shot.

So that’s what I’m doing. I feel fairly confident in half of the new job I’ll be doing, and a little wary on the other half, but I’m excited to be a part of some big changes.

Awesome meets Disappointing

I saw Styx for the first time in 2007 and was amazed by the band's energy, especially Tommie Shaw parading around the stage with his long blonde hair and skinny jeans looking like a teenage girl from my view on the grass. My wife surprised me with tickets to the Styx-REO Speedwagon concert this year while I was attending a conference in Salt Lake. I joined my good friends Atlee, Danielle and Brett, who came done from Logan. Once again the band was awesome, from Foolish Young Man to Grand Illusion to Crystal Ball to Come Sail Away to Renegade, it was well worth the next day's heavy eyelids through the morning's four-hours of seminars and the concluding keynote speaker.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself (even through Speedwagon's set of deep tracks before they finally played Ridin' the Storm Out), but I have to say I saw something that disappointed me. No, not the hundreds of boozed up fans of all ages screaming and slurring together verses of 'Man in the Wilderness' or the Tom Arnold look-alike getting stoned out of his mind sitting behind us, or the fact that the 50+ year old booty shaker fifteen yards in front of us wore out after Speedwagon and left the concert wheezing in her husband's arms during the intermission. No, what really got to me was the healthy young kids in front of us aged somewhere between 18-24 who were singing, dancing and having a great time, but also smoking.

I guess I really have been sheltered in Provo, and even out here in Roosevelt at teaching at the behavioral unit where most of the kids smoke or chew or both. Now those 'kids' at the concert weren't that much younger than me-the concert was a present for my 26th birthday, but I was still surprised and disappointed to see young people passing cigarettes around for a puff. Only about 20% of Americans smoke today, which makes sense seeing that people who smoke live 13 years less than those who do not smoke (all stats from the CDC). It ruins quality of life and life expectancy, so why start, right? Well people still do--every day about 3,450 youth under 18 smoke for the first time and 850 begin smoking on a daily basis.

As a health educator, I feel great disappointment when I see young people smoking. One statistic that shocks me is that nearly 30% of adults with high school degrees or less smoke compared to just 9% of college graduates. So there's something about education that keeps people from smoking. It's not surprising because, the more educated you are the more likely to know that your life expectancy is greater by not smoking and life insurance is cheaper, as well. But it's odd because college graduates are more likely to be able to have the discretionary income to afford such an expensive habit, and those who do not have degrees are more likely to be employed in jobs requiring physical labor, which is made more difficult by smoking. Quite the paradox, but the powers of addiction and the influence of peers and parents is greater than that of a health teacher or a schoolwide scare campaign or Red Ribbon Week or a couple of PSA's with statistics like the one's I've thrown out there. Without solid, loving efforts in the home to keep kids on track to reach high goals, youth will engage in risky behaviors.

The moral of the story-don't believe in the grand illusion of tobacco use or what fun is had in renegade behaviors--you're fooling yourself and you don't believe it, killing yourself and you won't believe it. Don't let life end too early, be smart, don't even start.

The Rising

Ten years ago the tragic events of today inspired Bruce Springsteen to write some incredible music dedicated to the victims and heroes involved in the cowardly attack against innocent people. I've been listening to that album--'The Rising'--all weekend. I highly recommend the whole album, especially the songs, "You're Missing", "My City of Ruins", "The Rising", and "Into the Fire". These four sum up the feelings of sorrow and resolution felt in every American's heart that day. The common theme is right in the album's title--to rise after being beat down. In "My City of Ruins" he sings, "Rise up!" and "With these hands I pray for the faith Lord, I pray for the strength" and in "The Rising" the chorus goes, "Come on up for the rising, come on up lay your hands in mine". And the chorus of "Into the Fire" (specifically about the firefighters) is a prayer that "My your strength give us strength, may your faith give us faith, may your hope give us hope may your love give us love." Again, I would highly recommend listening to these songs. If not to rekindle the feelings we felt after the events of 9/11, to cheer up the heavy hearts we are all feeling in our current day and age.

Yes, ten years following the disastrous terrorist attacks on our country we seem to be falling apart all over again. Faith in and approval of our political leaders is much lower than it was in 2001, and it seems that we are running out of hope. Have we fought terrorism. Yes we have. Are people afraid of terrorism? More than they were Sept. 10, 2001, but less than they were Sept. 12, 2001. Terror is not our number one priority anymore. We even caught Osama bin Laden this year, but even that wasn't enough to lighten everyone's spirits through this time of economic turmoil. What we need now is a rising. The media is painting a dismal picture of the future and the people are buying it. Honestly, it doesn't look good, but it didn't look too great ten years ago, either. So I think we need to follow the same recipe for success in raising the nation's spirits.

1) Go out and buy a flag and fly it-the first part of having faith in the future is to at least look like you do.

2) Listen to The Rising-Those lyrics have the same power for us now. Did we feel beaten the week following 9/11? No, we felt like we could take on the world (and we did, sort of). We felt like Toby Keith did when he sang "The Angry American," we felt like Bruce in The Rising.

Will these solve our economic crisis. No, but they should make us feel a little better about things. I listened to "Into the Fire" a lot when I was looking for a job, and it did make me feel better about the situation. Some nights I would listen to "My City of Ruins" and that would make me feel better about going to bed after a day filled with applications, rejections, and no new leads. It's hard to go to bed without hope. 'For if ye have not hope ye must needs be in despair' (Moro. 10:22). Sometimes I woke up feeling like the song "Empty Sky" but got out of that funk because I knew "The Rising" would come and "a dream of life comes to me like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line." This is the dream that we must learn to dream again. It is the American dream, but it can only be brought to pass by a rising.

The Miracle of Getting a Job

I don't normally blog about my life or the spiritual experiences that drive it, but this week I got a job that was clearly provided by the Lord. So as an answer to President Uchtdorf's challenge to "use your hands to blog or text message the gospel to all the world" I have decided do so now.

I applied for a biology teaching job in Roosevelt, UT and they called me for an interview, but we were camping so we had to schedule it on a different day than they wanted. Courtney and I were really excited and I worked extra hard preparing for the interview, but when I called the day before, I found out they gave the job away already. The asked me if I had any math background and I told him, "No" because, well, I didn't take a single math course in college, but later that night I found myself writing the principal an email, telling him how awesome I'd be at teaching math. So I interviewed for the job two days later and it went really well. I felt really good about it and--despite my lack of proof of my math proficiency--I thought I would get the job. Nearly a week passed, however, with no word from them, so I called the principal to see what was going on. He said that I beat out the other 20 Utah applicants hands down, but they were interested in seeing a few of the out of state applicants in person, which would be on Tuesday, and he told me that they would call me after the interviews so I could make my case for hiring me. I started the next day (Thursday) preparing to take a practice math teaching exam (called the Praxis) so I could show them I was proficient in math. Friday I got a call from Jerome High School asking me to interview for the biology teaching position over there and heavily hinting that they wanted to straight up hire me. Well, I took my practice test and passed the Utah passing score by 6%, and we drove to Jerome after church on Sunday. Monday morning I had the interview, and I hadn't been home an hour when they called to offer the job to me. I asked for a day to sleep on it, but really I just wanted to hear about the Roosevelt job. Tuesday came and the principal phoned me with the sad news that I did not get the job. BUT apparently the assistant superintendent who was in my interview was really impressed with me and wanted to contact me about another job in the district. He called about 20 minutes later and had me on speakerphone with the principal of their alternative school (the school where kids who behave poorly go). The job would be teaching math and science to kids at this school and perhaps even starting a basketball program. Just to let you know, earlier I substituted for an alternative high school and I absolutely loved it. After that day I wanted to teach at a place like that more than anywhere else. So they ended the call and five minutes later they called back and offered me the job. I took it, of course I did. So here are some of the little miracles:

1) We knew we were supposed to move to Roosevelt from the start. It was a strong spiritual impression that both Courtney and I felt, so I kept doing all I could do to get hired there--for as we learn from Nephi, "it is by grace that we are saved, after all that we can do." I knew that it was only through a constant, faithful effort that God would make up for what I lacked. (Which is also the reason I applied for every job I could this summer)

2) I didn't make it to the biology interview. If I had, I wouldn't have gotten that job and maybe wouldn't have even applied for the math position.

3) There was a math position open. It wasn't even posted online because it was their third round of interviews, they were still interviewing original applicants.

4) They needed a football coach. A big reason I was considered was because I could coach the football team. If not for that, I wouldn't have been given the time of day.

5) The assistant superintendent was impressed by my interview, so he pursued hiring me for the alternative school job. The interview went really well, but it was hard to judge who was skeptical of me and who wasn't.

6) I was offered the Jerome job. Without the Jerome offer I wouldn't have been able to push them to make their decision about me the same day. They wanted me to come in and interview and drag it out over another week, which would have been torture.

7) I actually think this job is the one I would prefer over the other 200 I applied for (and I didn't even apply for it)

So this is going to be awesome. This week has been yet another revelation to me about the power of fasting and prayer (which I had done the last two Sundays with the purpose of gaining the faith requisite to bring to pass the miracles necessary to get a job). I had told Courtney a number of times, "It's going to take a miracle for me to get a job," and as it turns out it took at least seven--I don't know what else happened that I'm not aware of.

This experience reaffirms what I already knew--God and Jesus Christ love us and that if we ask our Father for bread he will not give us a stone, but will give us even more than we asked for. I just read Elder Bednar's conference talk and I have a testimony that revelation and blessings come line upon line, but he who is patient and has faith will eventually receive God's blessing.