Happy with where I am now

I feel like I’ll be retiring in my new school now. I can actually foresee growing old teaching there. Wow. What a very nice vision. I hope it would happen. But before that, I have to be a permanent teacher first. But that would only be approximately 2-3 years from now which I think is not that long. I mean, compare that to the four years of my former school. I truly hope that would happen. And I would make that happen.

I have all the positivity right now.

I just love my new school.

Victory is the Sweetest Revenge

As I was scrolling through my news feed in Facebook, I noticed that I am not anymore a member of the online group of the faculty members of my previous school. It was a closed group, so it would be impossible for me to find that group unless I was invited.

I gave that school two years of my life, you know.

Me being “expelled” from that group left an aftertaste. It was so immature. I have always been a lurker in that group, and yet they would even notice that I was still there. I am inclined to believe that they took me out not only because I am not an actual member of the faculty anymore, but they resent me. They resent me because they know I am in a much better place than they are. I couldn’t think of any more valid reasons.

Well, sucks to be the gay person who administers that group.

I consider it to be the last insult to me.

However, I will make sure that I will prove myself in my new school and slap them in the face with my success. My being hired by a well-known Catholic school for boys is only the beginning, seeing as I am being monitored by them through another former faculty who also happened to be my colleague in my new school,  I will prove to them that I will shine and I will be deemed respected by my new home. Something that they failed to do in my stay there.

Victory is the sweetest revenge.

Victory is my sweetest revenge.

Happy and Contented

I am officially happy with where I am right now.

I have fewer teaching load with better pay, and my new colleagues couldn’t be much warmer. I have easily assimilated to how they do their work there. And I could say that their very positive attitude reflects how their workload is just a breeze. 

It is something that I haven’t experienced in my former school. Though I have yet to gauge the students in this new school, I can officially say that I am contented. I may have some reservations and fears of the English teachers being in my class during my period, but in general, I am happy. 

I love my new school.

For the longest time, I am now officially happy. I am now officially contented with what I have right now. The only thing remaining for me to do is to prove myself to them, that I am worthy of the teaching post I have right now.

I am going to do it right, and I am going to do it perfectly.

At Last

After almost two months of endless, albeit, irregular job hunting and after suffering fits of desperation, bitterness and desperation, I already landed a post as a Reading teacher in an all-boys school. It’s just a bus ride from my house but come opening of classes and the entire school year, I actually have to wake up earlier and when I say earlier, really earlier from usual because the heavy flow of traffic makes the 15-minute ride a fucking one and a half-hour ordeal. I just so hope that my stay in that school would be really good so that I wouldn’t get demotivated and start showing up late.

I am rather phlegmatic. XD

Okay. So, if you are a follower of this blog, you should’ve read my very desperate post about me not being accepted in an all-girls Catholic school even with my credentials. I wasn’t hoping anymore either with the state university because I do not even have master’s degree units as compared to my two former colleagues. I was just randomly sending online applications, basically. Doing everything and nothing to actually get hired.

Applicant high as fuck, looking at holes for jobs and shit.

So it was a relief when a friend of mine referred that a certain all-boys school was in urgent need of a Reading teacher. At first, I was suspicious because I thought that the school did not have any vacancies or I should’ve already sent my application there before. And why, given that they were a well-known all-boys school, would they still have a vacancy this late? So, I planned on passing my application before passing in another all-girls school. 

And voila, the head of the English department called me in the afternoon of that very same day to present myself for an initial interview the next day. 

I was just incredulous when I went there. I actually always heard the name of this school, but I was there walking and exploring its grounds. And the English department head was really accommodating; she made me remember my former head in terms of warmth. 

I found out in the interview that the post was already supposed to be filled, however, the applicant withdrew. And coincidentally, the applicant was one of my friends. This friend didn’t tell me she was applying here, so it was rather a surprise. The head asked me if it was her who referred the position to me, but I told her it was our common friends and not her. She then scheduled me for a demonstration teaching the next Tuesday and gave me the topic, the audience (the entire English department!), the length of time and the level of the lesson.

I was nervous when I went home. I was still jobless and I have three options in my hands, one is a stint in an international school, the other one was the all-girls school and lastly, this all-boys school. So I was incredulous and I was already weighing these options. Still, I prepared for my demo teaching. 

Since I was given time to prepare, I looked in the internet for possible lesson plans and asked my fellow teachers, friends and batchmates for possible techniques. Apparently, all of my teacher friends were giving me the same answers. So in the end, upon thinking of injecting social science in my English lesson, I started my lesson plan. I made sure that the plan, the photocopying of the materials that fucking hurt my already dwindling money (thanks to my former school that was still not giving us our backpay) and I myself was ready for this. Especially, now that I learned from the head herself that there were three of us applying for the only slot. 

Fucking box-office.

However, the HR of the all-girls school called up to make myself ready for a freaking interview with the head the next day, though mercifully, it was hours earlier. But still, I was disturbed since I scheduled the morning for my final preparations. 

I still went to the interview though. And I was scheduled for a demonstration teaching the next day. I was fucking shocked. Sure, I can create a lesson plan and deliver it the next day, but what I was thinking then was that I would sure be fucked as hell after my demo in the all-boys school later that afternoon. And she was actually asking me to do a lesson for the freaking 10th grade which never in my life have I taught yet. I tried to bargain, but she said no. So I said yes. 

So, I went home again, ate my lunch and made my delayed final preparations that I was actually fucking late for the demo. Mercifully again, I was originally scheduled to be the last demo teacher, but apparently, another applicant would come at a later time and I ended up being the second. So, I waited for forty minutes (the time allotted for each applicant was 30) in the principal’s office and the first applicant went in with the head for the post-conference. I was told to go to the classroom already and there I saw the entire English department sizing me up. But luckily again, they were given 15-minutes break before I start. So I used that time to prepare my materials. The good thing about the classroom was that it had an LCD TV and computer unit that I only had to bring my flashdrive. There was also an installed LCD projector, so I reckoned that if I got hired, I could still bring my laptop. And yeah, they have whiteboard. As far as the facility inside the classroom was concerned, I was pretty satisfied. 

I was supposed to put an orgasm face here. :D 

And yeah, I did the demo and all of them (the freaking teachers of the freaking English department) were fucking active and intimidating. I was told that they would act as students so I did what I do normally inside the classroom in terms of routines and such.  I had to cut some parts of the lesson and explain some parts of it since I didn’t have much time. So in the end, they clapped their hands and asked me things about my lesson plan and such. But through that demo, I already sensed who among those teachers I would have a difficult time with. But because my knees already turned into jello after I taught, I actually shoved it first at the back of my head.

The department head brought me to the principal’s office for the conference and told me that they were happy with my demo, though she cited that my materials were too advanced for potential grade 8 students. She told me to wait for her message later that day. So I went home. 

She texted me saying that I was chosen among the three but I should come for the tests and interviews. I was still not hired, since she said the appointment would be based too from the tests and interviews. Still, I already had this inkling that I have a very strong chance of being in. Because of that, the next day, I called the HR of the all-girls that I wouldn’t be able to have the demo that day because I was already hired.

So I had the tests and the interviews. And I was made to report the same day I had the final interview with the principal. 

Yeah, it was a rollercoaster. I was really thankful to my friends who referred this post to me. Though I still don’t get to teach in college, still, the environment and the pay were really promising. So I’m happy for that.

The politeobserver will not be in a not-so-indefinite-hiatus anymore

With the sudden turn of events like me being hired in a Catholic school once more, I will have to return to posting in this blog.

The original plan was for me to open another one should it happen that I get hired in the state university where I sent my application and my misadventures be recorded in a cheerier and looser manner in a way that I actually have to be more open as to who I really am and what I really do. However, since it didn’t happen, then I should continue writing in here to of course, protect myself and my students.

I am hoping that even if I am still teaching in a Catholic school, my experiences would be a lot memorable and happier.

Rest assured that the flow of new posts will continue, as the politeobserver is not anymore on a hiatus.

Keep thinking, be curious, continue the wonder.

The Very Late American Idol Season 11 Review

I know that this post was really, really late but I am still going to post this nonetheless.

I was planning on not watching American Idol for this season seeing the travesty that was Season 10 wherein I thought that the rock poser James Durbin had a very very great chance of winning and I actually stopped watching after Haley Reinhart got eliminated. However, the media was pimping up Jessica Sanchez so I started watching.

The voting system is rigged because Scotty won last season. And yeah, he looked like MADdie.

So here is what I think of the contestants for American Idol season 11. But I started watching in the Top 8 performance night so I’ll start with…

Heejun Han – can’t really say much about him. But he doesn’t have charisma and even a powerful voice to suffice. He just really didn’t make a mark because I only watched him once. 

DeAndre Brackensick- I’m annoyed with his falsetto. Falsetto is good in some parts of songs but it just doesn’t sound good if you sing an entire song using it. But I have to admit that his whole voice sounds good. I wish he could’ve used that to strengthen his chances of staying longer.

Colton Dixon – He is the James Durbin of this season. And not because of the talent. Colton’s similarity with Durbin lies in the fact that the former e is also a rock poser. He was a travesty of what Durbin was last season. Sure, Durbin was also a poser, but does he have fucking sick vocals. Unlike Colton who tries so hard to rock it makes me want to puke (that Lady Gaga cover was overdone and was so forced). He also knows that he is cute and does he know how to use it whenever he looks at the camera. God, I just don’t like him. Though Philipps can’t hold a candle to him in terms of vocals, well, he at least is not as irritating as him.

Elise Testone – She is my favorite among the girls. But god, she was so inconsistent that it was actually not a surprise when she got eliminated. I like her smooth and soothing voice and her runs were just sick. However, the only performance I liked from her was her version of “Whole Lotta Love.” Sure, the song was just wrong since it was about sex in the perspective of a man, but she killed that one. Sure, Lambert killed this song too before and killed it with his atmospheric voice, but Elise gave justice to it by paying tribute to the classic that it was. And yeah, I love her scream. I find it ironic though that she got eliminated during the Queen week, seeing as her voice really soars whenever she does rock songs. I hope though that somebody would sign her up. We definitely need female rockers like her.

Skylar Laine – She is a good singer, hands down, but I just don’t like her and I just don’t know why.  Maybe because of her vocals that, I don’t know, it just sounds to scream-y and screechy it’s uncomfortable.

Hollie Cavanagh – Vocally speaking, I also do not like her. Skylar’s better. She can’t belt, she actually shouts those high notes. Enough said.

Joshua Ledet – Well, hands down to him. People might say that they don’t like him because he screams and all. But that’s what makes his voice unique. He can shout and scream a fucking note without going off-key or sounding too much. And we should also note the fact that his lower register is just as fucking gorgeous. So it was rather a let-down that America let him go.

Jessica Sanchez – Fucking powerhouse vocals. If she were in my country, she would have won. I can’t say anything anymore about her. People might say she’s boring and shit, still whenever she sings, the audience just gets captivated. And yeah, I liked her rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner during Pacquiao’s fight. It really roused nationalistic tendencies (okay, that’s not about AI). Oh well.

Philip Philipps – Okay. His voice his good, but vocally, he doesn’t hold a candle to Jessica. So as to why he won just blows me to no end. 

I was actually rooting for a Jessica – Joshua face-off with either of the two winning because, come’ on, both of them are talented, talented vocalists that I would actually not mind the other one losing because the one who would win would still deserve it. It’s actually a win-win situation should that have happened. They would have both deserved it. So, I was truly disappointed that Joshua got eliminated before the finale because right there and then I knew that it would be Philipps that would win and not Jessica. Right then and there I knew that the fangirls will choose a non-threatening Philipps over a much more fucking talented Jessica. And I decided to stop watching. I didn’t watch the finale nor got interested in the results. 

So much for fucking letting the voters vote to no end. Good going again, American Idol.

P.S. Jessica and Philip look cute together. XD So for that, here's a picture of them.

I ship them. :D *fan squeal*