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If you are in my Technology Concepts class and you are reading this now, congratulations – you found my blog! Now good luck on today’s test.

Used some Christmas cash from my parents to buy my first digital camera in years – A Canon PowerShot SX120 IS.

10x optical zoom, full manual mode, 10 megapixels, AND it still fits in my pocket since that wonderful zoom lens retracts almost completely into the body.

Does this mean I’ll be taking more pictures (and ones that aren’t from a blurry little cameraphone) this year?

Oh, I hope so.
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Things I will miss:

• The students. Sure, there will be students at the new building, But I feel this way every time I lose a building. This doesn’t get easier through repetition.
• The staff. With some exceptions, the staff (and not just the teachers!) in all of my buildings were joys to work with.
• Getting my hands dirty. There’s nothing like a good ceramics project. Or painting project. Or any media that requires a sink.
• The local community. The town surrounding my base school is on my top 10 list of places to live.
• The mobility. As an itinerant teacher I got to visit 60+ classrooms a year. For all its drawbacks, that was a great opportunity to observe vastly different learning styles and take the best from each. I am certain it has made me a better teacher.

Things I won’t miss:

• Waking up in the morning and wondering, in my state of “not quite awake”-ness if I’m at the 7 AM building today, and therefore late, or the 8 AM building, and therefore will get there on time. (Then usually I would look at my clock and realize it was 2 AM and I should really go back to sleep.)
• Being required to make other teachers complete certain tasks without the authority to make them complete those tasks. I will not go into details here.
• Only seeing my students four or five times a year.
• Having my office / storage area consist of half the conference room, separated by a temporary wall that blocked no sound whatsoever. (I wore headphones for multiple reasons.)

What I did not do:

• Spend lots of time blogging.
• Go to technology conferences.
• Spend lots of time with my PLN.

What I did do:

• Unplugged and spent quality time with the wife.
• Plugged back in to play video games … with the wife.
• Got a job offer for an art/tech position where I will have my own computer lab and see my students much more often than once or twice a quarter. It’s in a new K-8 school opening this year in the county.
• Had an interview the next day.
• Offered the job on the same day.
• Asked what the administration’s take was on blogging.
• Convinced administration that I could teach blogging to students in a responsible way.
• Accepted the job.
• Missed my exit on the way home from the interview.  Twice.

Those that know me will understand this was a decision that I was ready to make, but it still won’t be easy.  There are a lot of staff and students in my previous buildings (dang, it’s still feels odd typing that) that I’m really going to miss.  Most of them I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to.

I think I’m going to let this sink in for a day or two.

Don’t mind me, I’m just trying out a few websites.

So, I might not have the same job next year. (Link opens PDF.)

Whether or not it happens, I have been thinking a bit about my little corner of the internet and its effects on my chances of getting hired.  I know some bloggers use assumed names so they just don’t ave to worry about that.  Too late for me, since last I checked googling the quite common name of “Aaron Smith” got me this result.

It is my hope, my dream, that schools with the right idea about both the arts and technology will see my ramblings here and think I am someone worth keeping in their employ.

I am also hopeful (though slightly less so) that the opposite is true – that schools with the wrong attitude towards the arts and technology will look upon my works and despair (sorry, couldn’t resist the literary reference) write me off as someone they wouldn’t want.  But then, somehow I doubt those kinds of schools would bother looking at my website in the first place.

But mostly, I’m hoping that I don’t have to look for a job in the first place.  It is a big scary world out there and I’ve yet to recieve my renewed teaching certificate (completed the last requirement in December) in the mail.  I know I was thinking of changing careers, but for some reason now does not seem the time for risk taking.

They are scraps from old manilla folders. They measure 2.5" x 1". I have enough to supply a whole grade level with several or a single class with a lot more. (I could always cut more if needed.)

I have a few ideas, but would like to hear yours first.

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