Job Hunt Drama (?)

So today was an exciting and interesting day: I had an interview at another school (school P) this morning to be a teaching assistant in an MOID classroom, and I felt that the interview went really well. I really liked the principal and staff, and the principals office was full of awesome comic book paraphernalia, so I was immediately at ease and thought to myself, "Yes, this school."

However, I had no sooner left the interview when the school who had rejected me earlier in the week  (school W) called. Instead of a secretary as I was expecting, it was the principal; she wanted me to come and see her within the next 20 minutes. Another position was opening and she wanted to talk to me again about working there. When I arrived, she essentially said I had been one of the worst applicants she had ever interviewed, which was a downer. After going over my interview guffaws with me, she went on to say that she wanted to take a chance on hiring me, and offered me a position as a teaching assistant in one of their kindergarten classrooms.

Here's where the drama begins. As I was on my way to get my transcripts and head over to HR to be processed into the school district, the OTHER school called me back and said they were eager to hire me. I had missed the call, so I had the opportunity to mull over the two and make my decision. First I called my mom who was at work and couldn't really give an opinion; then I called my boyfriend to ask what he thought and got the time/distance/pay spiel I knew I was getting. All of my teacher friends were (duh) teaching, so I couldn't ask them. I called my department advisor and asked for her opinion; she helped me weigh the pro's and con's, and told me that she thought I would do best in the kindergarten classroom. So I called back to tell school P that I had already accepted a position at another school just before they called. They said they were sad the had missed the chance, and wished me good luck. Then called back twice just to make sure.

Reading Commentary Three

So this is less of a book review and more of a "figure out what is happening" thing. To prepare us for helping students be more involved with their reading and helping them to identify the main points in a story we were introduced to the Somebody Wanted, But, So... format. It's pretty simple and works especially well with picture books;  SWBS makes picking apart children's literature easy for elementary level kids, and this assignment less of a pain than I initially thought it was going to be.




The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell
Somebody: The three javelinas
Wanted: To seek their fortunes and build their own homes
But: Coyote wanted to eat them and destroyed two of the javelinas homes
So: The three javelinas tricked coyote and set him on fire
Lesson Learned: Don’t try to eat your neighbors or they will light you up




Coyote Places the Stars by Harriet Peck Taylor
Somebody: Coyote
Wanted: To climb to the heavens and discover their secrets
But: Rearranged the stars into pictures of all his friends instead
So: The animals were grateful and coyote would always be their friend
Lesson Learned: That is how the constellations were formed

Bittersweet Week

So I got the call this morning, and Better Candidate outshone me again because they had more experience in a classroom setting. Tell me universe - how am I supposed to get more experience when I can't get into the classroom?

I've also been dealing with the most painful ear infection I can recall. The doctor gave me steroidal ear drops but now my ear feels like it is full of water and I would punch kittens if it would make the pain and stuffy-ear-feelings stop.

On the bright side: I got a perfect score on my first math test of the semester.

I have never received a perfect score on a math test in my life, so I'm a bit excited. Part of it I'm sure has to do with reviewing the material several times in order to teach it to other students and explain it in the blog. I also have get to start making a game for an elementary level class involving statistics. We'll see how that one goes. Now if only I can do as well on my art history exam today as I did on my math test - fingers crossed!

Job Hunting

Trying to be appealing to employers is difficult. I know what your supposed to do at an interview, but I never seem to be able to do it and someone is always better than me. I know who I am, I know what I can and can't do, and I have such a difficult time playing up who I am to employers.

It's especially hard in the teaching field. I have been applying left and right for teaching assistant positions and I always receive the "Better Candidate" call. I do not like Better Candidate, Better Candidate is a jerk. Better Candidate takes away my hopes and dreams and then crushes them in front of me.

I bring all this up because today I had an interview at an elementary school. I was not prepared for it - they called last minute, said they received my information from the school districts HR department and asked if I could come in. I of course said yes and met with the principal this morning. Principals scare me, and I found it difficult to read her as she was completely emotionless. I thought I did the best I could at answering the questions asked, and even asked some questions myself, which is a first for me in any interview I've ever had.

However I can feel the call looming in the distance.
By week's end I will get a call.
It will probably be Better Candidate.

Odds

So I'm on a math roll today, finally got my math homework done and realized that I am one math post short for the math blog - oops! So I'll be covering the last and shortest part of the probability section: Odds!

Now, odds and probability are different, and it is important to know what that difference is.

Image from Math Magic website

The numerator for both is the amount of times you obtain the desired outcome, but the difference lies in the numerator. While probability has a denominator that lists all the outcomes, when calculating odds, you have the undesirable outcomes as your denominator.
To find out what the undesirable number is, simply find the total number of outcomes and subtract from that the number of desirable outcomes. This leaves you with the undesirable outcomes, your odds denominator.

Math Magic has a great page explaining probability and how to change from probability to odds. See it here: Math Magic - Probability

Probability Game

This probability game can be adjusted for any grade level, and makes for a great online practicing resource!

Probability Game

Probability (Part II)

I began writing this post a week ago and forgot to publish it! I could kick myself :P

Let me start with this: Tree diagrams are not my friend. They confuse me to no end and I couldn't tell you why, they just do. So when we began our probability section, and tree diagrams were introduced as the way to record information I just about lost it. It took me three lectures for it to click, and even now I couldn't explain it to with total confidence, but here we are. Geronimo!

Multistage Experiments with Tree Diagrams

• One-stage experiment - experiments that are over in one step.
• Two-stage experiment - Ex.: a ball is drawn from a box, and recorded in the same way as in the one stage experiment; then the ball is replaced, and a second ball is drawn and its' color recorded. 

Now, tree diagrams are used to record the results of these experiments using visual representation in lieu of boring old data tables. When recording and performing there are two types: with and without replacement. They are exactly as they sound - in one you perform the experiment and replace what was removed, and in the other you don't.

"Pom Pom" experiment showing probabilities
both with and without replacement.

Above is one such experiment, using puff/pom pom balls. In a box we have 3 balls, two white and one black. The probabilities are calculated based on the ratios: 2/3 of the balls are white, 1/3 are black. Depending on whether or not we replace the balls after pulling them from the box changes the probability of drawing that color next. We determine that probability by multiplying the ratios.

Another example is shown here:

The first example shown in the image illustrates another probability concept using the word PROBABILITY itself. It demonstrates the probability of spelling the word BABY, with the letters drawn in the correct order, both with replacement of the letters and without replacement. Again, we multiply to find the probability.

The second example uses the same idea, only using the word RANDOM to spell DAN. Again this shows both with and without replacement.

So we've been talking about probability, but what is it?

So probability is fractions (kind of), which may explain why I've had so much trouble - fractions are not my friends.