Life Changes
It has been quite some time since the last post I've made on this blog. What can I say? Life has been a crazy mess.
I moved to teaching first grade last year to teaching third grade this year. I started, then stopped, then started the process again to teach for VIPKID. Ryker, my one-year-old, in now walking, running, climbing, and causing complete chaos around the house. Brodie, my three-year-old, is potty training with an attitude too big for his tiny body. We decided to buy a Rainbow machine and are doing the demo program to earn ours for free. Finally, I have decided that by this time next year, I will have us mostly debt-free and in the process of our property becoming a homestead.
A lot, right?
So, about my teaching career. First grade was great, but it did not come without struggle. When I taught first grade, I taught absolutely everything under the sun. I taught the normal reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. I also taught social skills, speech, phonics, adaptive behaviors, manners, and how to function normally in a school setting. I did love it, but it was so very exhausting. Mentally, physically, emotionally exhausting.
I was given the opportunity to leave first grade, and I took it. To be perfectly honest, I didn't know if I was going to stay in teaching for the long haul. Heck, sometimes I still don't know if I'll do this until I'm 60. It's a lot! Regardless, I applied for and was offered a position in third grade teaching math. I'm very glad that I went for it, as math is definitely my strength! Although I have 70 some-odd students, I feel much more in my element than I ever did teaching first grade. All things considered, this is the best school year that I've had in my teaching career. It's not without its own set of problems and obstacles, but I will say that it's the best so far.
VIPKID has been great for me and my family. If you're not familiar, VIPKID is an online-based teaching platform where teachers from the US and Canada can teach English to students in China. Its hours are either extremely early or late in the day, but that makes sense because of the time difference. I started teaching for VIPKID back in March and taught pretty regularly until August. There are very strict rules for teachers working for VIPKID, and they take punctuality and presence very seriously. And why shouldn't they? They are a very well-known and established company. They can afford to be that way, and they should. Due to sickness of my own and my children, I had missed about 6 scheduled classes. I learned a little too late about how to make sure classes missed due to illness aren't counted to the limit, so I wasn't able to apply for soft/medium cancellations because I had no documentation.
Anywho, the limit for missed/cancelled classes is 6, but one evening when I was trying to log on for my class, I couldn't get into the classroom to teach. I don't know if it was a computer issue, a connection issue, or an app issue (VIPKID has an app for the computer that makes teaching and connecting to students much easier). Regardless, I was unable to log in and after talking with a "fireman" (same as customer support), I decided to try restarting my computer and try logging in again. I finally got logged in 8 minutes late to my class, and the student had already reported my absence and the class was labeled as a Teacher No Show (TNS for short). Basically, it had counted as my 7th missed class and my contract was terminated.
I don't have any hard feelings at all. They're a business and they have to hold their teachers accountable. Now, I'm in the process of becoming a teacher again because the extra income is literally life-saving. You can make up to $22/hr with them with their incentives, which is nice. I only have gotten to $20/hr, but that's still pretty great! It turns around 10 hours a week into about $800 extra a month. Plus, I can do it when my kids are in bed! I can pretty much go on and on about it, but that's another post for another day.
About my children: They are insane, chaotic, messy, and clingy. That's all I can say about that.
We bought a Rainbow machine back in May and we absolutely love it! It is a 24 hr air purifier, and when put on the high setting, can vacuum, sweep, dust, shampoo carpets, inflate/deflate objects, mop, and double as a leaf blower. It's basically an all-in-one miracle machine. Of course, it requires attachments and effort from whoever is using it to clean; but in all, it's pretty amazing. As you can probably imagine, it was not cheap. We are doing a demo program in order for us to get it for free. We basically have to set up demos with 12 homeowning couples within 6 months for it to work and for us to not have to pay for it. Unfortunately, these demos take a long time, but we are 11/12 right now and only have one more to go! Thankfully, we have a couple who said they are willing to watch, I'm only waiting to hear what time and date is good for them! It's almost over, thank goodness.
Debt-free is something I've wanted for a very long time. We're not terribly close to achieving this, but it will happen sooner rather than later! I'm trying my hand at this blog, want to start a Youtube channel, want to write a young adult series (work in progress, peeps), and am hoping for the best with my VIPKID journey. I'll let you know how that goes.
Finally, homesteading. I have always wanted a farm. I love the idea of producing your own food and being self-sufficient, and I've always dreamed about actually doing it. When we bought our house last July, I honestly hadn't thought about that dream in quite some time. Honestly, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind again until about a month and a half ago. It hit me: We finally have a place that is ours that we plan on staying for a long time. I could actually do some of what I had always dreamed of.
I know, a little late to the game. We had lived here for a year before I actually realized that for the first time ever, we could change what we wanted on the property with no repercussions from someone else. Anyway, I'm going to add a page to the blog that'll follow my progress with setting up our little homestead. We only have .66 acres, but I'm planning on making every bit of it count!
That's it for now. Just a bit of an update to my crazy and ever-stressful life.
Check in again soon!
A lot, right?
So, about my teaching career. First grade was great, but it did not come without struggle. When I taught first grade, I taught absolutely everything under the sun. I taught the normal reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. I also taught social skills, speech, phonics, adaptive behaviors, manners, and how to function normally in a school setting. I did love it, but it was so very exhausting. Mentally, physically, emotionally exhausting.
I was given the opportunity to leave first grade, and I took it. To be perfectly honest, I didn't know if I was going to stay in teaching for the long haul. Heck, sometimes I still don't know if I'll do this until I'm 60. It's a lot! Regardless, I applied for and was offered a position in third grade teaching math. I'm very glad that I went for it, as math is definitely my strength! Although I have 70 some-odd students, I feel much more in my element than I ever did teaching first grade. All things considered, this is the best school year that I've had in my teaching career. It's not without its own set of problems and obstacles, but I will say that it's the best so far.
VIPKID has been great for me and my family. If you're not familiar, VIPKID is an online-based teaching platform where teachers from the US and Canada can teach English to students in China. Its hours are either extremely early or late in the day, but that makes sense because of the time difference. I started teaching for VIPKID back in March and taught pretty regularly until August. There are very strict rules for teachers working for VIPKID, and they take punctuality and presence very seriously. And why shouldn't they? They are a very well-known and established company. They can afford to be that way, and they should. Due to sickness of my own and my children, I had missed about 6 scheduled classes. I learned a little too late about how to make sure classes missed due to illness aren't counted to the limit, so I wasn't able to apply for soft/medium cancellations because I had no documentation.
Anywho, the limit for missed/cancelled classes is 6, but one evening when I was trying to log on for my class, I couldn't get into the classroom to teach. I don't know if it was a computer issue, a connection issue, or an app issue (VIPKID has an app for the computer that makes teaching and connecting to students much easier). Regardless, I was unable to log in and after talking with a "fireman" (same as customer support), I decided to try restarting my computer and try logging in again. I finally got logged in 8 minutes late to my class, and the student had already reported my absence and the class was labeled as a Teacher No Show (TNS for short). Basically, it had counted as my 7th missed class and my contract was terminated.
I don't have any hard feelings at all. They're a business and they have to hold their teachers accountable. Now, I'm in the process of becoming a teacher again because the extra income is literally life-saving. You can make up to $22/hr with them with their incentives, which is nice. I only have gotten to $20/hr, but that's still pretty great! It turns around 10 hours a week into about $800 extra a month. Plus, I can do it when my kids are in bed! I can pretty much go on and on about it, but that's another post for another day.
About my children: They are insane, chaotic, messy, and clingy. That's all I can say about that.
We bought a Rainbow machine back in May and we absolutely love it! It is a 24 hr air purifier, and when put on the high setting, can vacuum, sweep, dust, shampoo carpets, inflate/deflate objects, mop, and double as a leaf blower. It's basically an all-in-one miracle machine. Of course, it requires attachments and effort from whoever is using it to clean; but in all, it's pretty amazing. As you can probably imagine, it was not cheap. We are doing a demo program in order for us to get it for free. We basically have to set up demos with 12 homeowning couples within 6 months for it to work and for us to not have to pay for it. Unfortunately, these demos take a long time, but we are 11/12 right now and only have one more to go! Thankfully, we have a couple who said they are willing to watch, I'm only waiting to hear what time and date is good for them! It's almost over, thank goodness.
Debt-free is something I've wanted for a very long time. We're not terribly close to achieving this, but it will happen sooner rather than later! I'm trying my hand at this blog, want to start a Youtube channel, want to write a young adult series (work in progress, peeps), and am hoping for the best with my VIPKID journey. I'll let you know how that goes.
Finally, homesteading. I have always wanted a farm. I love the idea of producing your own food and being self-sufficient, and I've always dreamed about actually doing it. When we bought our house last July, I honestly hadn't thought about that dream in quite some time. Honestly, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind again until about a month and a half ago. It hit me: We finally have a place that is ours that we plan on staying for a long time. I could actually do some of what I had always dreamed of.
I know, a little late to the game. We had lived here for a year before I actually realized that for the first time ever, we could change what we wanted on the property with no repercussions from someone else. Anyway, I'm going to add a page to the blog that'll follow my progress with setting up our little homestead. We only have .66 acres, but I'm planning on making every bit of it count!
That's it for now. Just a bit of an update to my crazy and ever-stressful life.
Check in again soon!
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