{"id":8192,"date":"2013-03-16T01:10:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-16T01:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=8192"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:35:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T01:35:55","slug":"back-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=8192","title":{"rendered":"Back to Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve got a new job and thus far it is proving to be a real blessing.\u00a0 I became aware of the\u00a0open\u00a0teaching position\u00a0weeks ago, applied early in February, then interviewed,\u00a0and finally\u00a0received a phone call\u00a0with the offer as Dats and I were in the Miami airport on our way back from Haiti last month. I started two weeks ago and, as of today, get my first vacation:\u00a0a week and a half off for spring break.<\/span><\/span>It’s a temporary, part-time\u00a0teaching position<\/span> at a local “New Tech” high school – a place that avoids many of the traditional school elements (like bells and lockers) and emphasizes technology, collaboration, and project-based learning.\u00a0 I have just three classes: two 12th grade English classes and a Creative Writing class.\u00a0\u00a0The former\u00a0teacher left unexpectedly mid-year and the school filled the\u00a0gap with a substitute teacher while looking for a replacement to finish the semester.\u00a0 <\/span>So far, it’s been\u00a0a win\/win\/win\/win situation.<\/span>Win: The extra income is a definite answer to prayer.\u00a0 I quit my full-time teaching job over last summer so that I could focus on making contacts to raise the funds necessary to get us to Haiti.\u00a0 We never regretted that move or the opportunities it opened up, but Melissa’s salary has been spread pretty thin over the last few months.\u00a0 There have been times when it was imperative that the gas tank not empty before pay day.\u00a0 (Sidenote: the money we have pledged\u00a0to the\u00a0missionaries we support on a monthly basis has always been available for us to pass along, even\u00a0during the lean times.\u00a0 Praise the Lord.)\u00a0 I thank God for the lean times this past year because He has\u00a0used them to teach\u00a0me not to put my trust in money or to build my identity around a job.\u00a0 Still, a second income, even at half-time, will undoubtedly come in handy as we make preparations to move.<\/span>Win: This new job gets me moving in the morning and puts a positive squeeze on my time.\u00a0 7:30 to 11:20 AM is now spoken for.\u00a0 I must confess to struggling more than a bit with self-management some days over the past few months.\u00a0 When the schedule is wide open, it’s too easy to put off important tasks until tomorrow\u00a0… or the day after\u00a0… or next week.\u00a0 This new job adds structure to my work week and reminds me each day that time is short and today is the day for me to get my part<\/span>done if God is going to put us on the mission field soon.\u00a0 <\/span>Win:\u00a0 I am being exposed to new approaches to education.\u00a0\u00a0I enjoy learning new things and in sharpening my effectiveness as a teacher.\u00a0 This school is intentionally different and I’m liking their approach to education.\u00a0 Here, each student carries\u00a0a laptop.\u00a0 None of the teachers has his or her own room – all space is shared.\u00a0 The teachers have their desks in a large central room which also contains conference tables for ease of collaboration.\u00a0 (The space\u00a0still\u00a0retains some of the elements of a traditional teachers’ lounge: there are always donuts, cupcakes\u00a0or cookies on that table!)\u00a0 Daily agendas for each class are posted online and homework is submitted electronically.\u00a0 I love the fact that in my Creative Writing class, I can post a warm-up exercise, open a Google Doc and everyone can paste his or her writing there.\u00a0\u00a0Then I\u00a0plug my school-issued\u00a0laptop into the video projector and we\u00a0can instantly see and enjoy each other’s efforts.\u00a0 I am also getting firsthand experience in developing real-world projects for students – which is a great approach to education (within reason).<\/span>Win:\u00a0 New relationships (and thus, new ministry opportunities) abound.\u00a0 I see about fifty students each morning. As I am getting to know them, I am impressed with the strong personalities represented in my classes … and saddened by some of the struggles I am already aware of.\u00a0 With just over two months to graduation, a handful of my new students are failing.\u00a0 Several are single moms.\u00a0 One young lady is homeless at the moment – crashing on various friends’ sofas each night.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord is providing\u00a0opportunities for me to offer words of encouragement and guidance.\u00a0 <\/span>So I am thanking God for this new (and temporary) chapter in my life.\u00a0 It’s all good!<\/span>Well, ALMOST all good.\u00a0 I do have 30 essays on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” to grade over spring break!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve got a new job and thus far it is proving to be a real blessing.\u00a0 I became aware of the\u00a0open\u00a0teaching position\u00a0weeks ago, applied early in February, then interviewed,\u00a0and finally\u00a0received a phone call\u00a0with the offer as Dats and I were in the Miami airport on our way back from Haiti last month. I started two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8192"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8193,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8192\/revisions\/8193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}