Conversation Between Zargabaath and Taco-Calamitous

119 Visitor Messages

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  1. Y'know, that sounds like a really good idea, lol. I'll just run it by my CT and see what he says But yeah, life seems to be a lot of doing what you don't want to do to get to be able to do what you want to do, eh?
  2. While you may not do any physical harm to the students you can "teach" them all the wrong things and affect their future. Play the long game so that they become bums. Then, years down the road, you cross their paths and say they should have been nicer to their teachers and more eager to learn. Lol. As I said to my friend, who is looking for a new job, he may have to start somewhere and work his way up to his desired position. In your case, the experience of teaching will help in the long run to get you where you want to be in the end.
  3. Well, the "Geographical View" is one of the "5-Themes of Social Studies." It's defined as studying "how the environment effects people's lives," iirc. I'm not sure how frequently Geography specifically will be a focus, later in the year. We will be talking about some different regions, so perhaps maps will come into that. Mostly, we'll be teaching about the Medieval Ages, from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Age of Exploration. Regions we hope to hit will be Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, I think. But yeah; we'll get to as much as we can with these kids... Half of them seem to put a lot of effort into giving the lesson no chance at all and not paying attention, while the other half are pretty good, heh... Like, I'm not sure if I should take this as a benefit or a detriment, how difficult this group is compared to the group he had last year, apparently. I met my "supervisor" today, though, and he said there could be a possibility to move to a different level (like High School, which is what I wanted), but recommended to keep trying where we are. I think it's good for me to last as long as I can, here... probably, heh... It does give me a lot of anxiety, though, because I basically can do nothing to them, and they know it. The teacher can basically do nothing to them too, and they know that, as well.There's essentially no real consequences, outside detention, maybe Saturday School, or whatever.

    Yeah, I'm actually still using my GI Bill, currently. I didn't take any classes this Summer, and kinda wished I had instead of working at Lowe's, because I'm pretty sure I would've made a lot more money, that way, heh. Y'know, if there's some program you hear about that can help with your job, I think you can use the GI Bill to do that, too. My friend ended up using his like almost 10 years after he got out, and got his Bachelor's in his current field, so you still have time, eh?

    If I went anywhere else, I would probably stay in the Northwest, now. I think I had enough of the South too, heh.
  4. I would say just being in the military does not provide that much of a bonus. Employers are looking for applicants with relevant experience, the military service is an indicator that the applicant can handle stress, orders, and should instill good structure. My issue was a lot of companies were wanting experience working on their specific aircraft(s). To my detriment none of the positions I applied to involved C-130s. Fortunately this company reached out to me and I was able to get a job that was a pay raise from the Air Force.

    How much geography is taught in this 7th grade Social Studies class or is the teacher just having them learn the "5-themes of Social Studies"? I say this because my niece, who just started 4th grade, is terrible with geography. She does not know U.S. geography let alone the world. I guess it is to be expected since that is one area of education where the U.S. has consistently neglected for years now.

    Did you end up using your GI bill? I still have mine available which was a last resort of sorts, though I still have no idea what I would major if I did go back to college. A minor note, I did get my CCAF while in the Air Force and used the classes plus degree as education bullets. There were not that many SrA who had their CCAF in my workplace so that was distinguishable.

    I am back in VA. It was the most south I was wanting to go for a job initially, however as time went on I had to start expanding my search.
  5. I'm teaching 7th Grade Social Studies, or "World History," which is the end of Rome to the beginning of the Age of Exploration. So far, though, the teacher has them learning the "5-themes of Social Studies," which are the Historical, Geographical, Economic, Sociological, and Political Views. He's been having them recite the definitions every day this week, trying to get them to memorize them word for word, and I've been doing it too, kinda, heh. Also, yeah, I'm still in Oregon.

    So I take it you're in Virginia now, then? Was that where you were from? I can't remember anymore, heh, sorry. But it sounds like you're doing really well, so that's awesome Lotsa nice benefits, and lotsa training. When I got out, I applied to some places, too, but I wasn't really trying that hard to get a job, because I could stay with my parents and get the GI Bill. But I ended up working for a bit as a substitute janitor again, and as a writer for the school paper, in 2016, and then I didn't work at all in 2017. I worked part time at Lowe's this year. Those jobs were nowhere near as nice as yours, heh. Hopefully teaching will pay well next year, though.

    But yeah, I was also surprised at how hard it still was to get a job after being in the Air Force. I thought that would make people want to hire me. Eh.
  6. Hello.

    Are you teaching a specific subject or is it the school's needs? You are still in Oregon correct?

    I was finally been freed from that accursed place. I had around 50+ days of terminal leave that bumped up to May 31 instead of July 29. Cannon took too much of a toll on me resulting in me getting out of the Air Force. I would have had more terminal leave but I had to take 19 days of leave at the end of May to go to Lebanon, TN to get an Airframe and Powerplant License. A license that is needed in the private sector to be able to work on planes and get paid decently. There are positions as Aircraft Mechanic Assistant but I view those for people without any experience.

    I also got a Ground Radiotelephone Operator's License (FCC) as well during my time in the Air Force. I got it as a resume booster which helped me land a job. I am currently filling out all the pre-employment paperwork out, like W-4, consents, and agreements to the company's policies. The company has old fighter jets that their pilots - prior Top Gun graduates - use to train new Navy, AF, etc. pilots in air-to-air combat. Plus they do air-to-ship drills as well for new sailors working radar.

    Benefits are pretty standard. I got health, dental, and vision insurance. I get, on top of my basic hourly rate, $4.41 an hour for Virginia's Health and Welfare Cost to purchase my health-care, dental, and vision plans. Health plans are a Health Savings Account with a High-Deductible Health Plan. At first I was not too thrilled about that, but I read up on HSAs and they are described as a super-Roth. Some people use their HSA as a retirement plan because money gone into the HSA is not taxed at all. I will get to travel to Florida and South Carolina in the states. Overseas locations for exercises are Guam, the Philippines, and somewhere in Japan. Pay rate is really good and the location being near the water giving me access to seafood is dope. After five years of not being able to cook recipes requiring seafood because of living in New Mexico I cannot wait to be able to start cooking again. My tentative start date is October 1.

    I do also plan on getting a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) License as well which is obvious for Cisco networks plus other networking licenses that my friend is currently getting. My plan is to load up certs and licenses to be qualified to get an even better job. I did have an offer from a company in Greensboro, NC that I was going to take. I was to start there Sept 10 but this other job contacted me and eventually gave an offer that was better. Specifically the pay rate, as benefits were largely the same minus the $4.41 on top of base pay rate and I would have needed to purchase my own tools which would have cost me a few thousand. So I went with the better offer, with travel and better location.

    It was getting pretty rough applying to jobs and not hearing back from them. My friend, who is prior Army and works for SNC, said it took him 6 months before he got hired. I did not want to wait that long, fortunately it took only 4 months. I applied to around 50 or so different companies. In some instances I applied to the same company again because the same job posting was still up after 30 days. Then I got two offers in a matter of two weeks and got a pretty sweet gig coming my way.
  7. So are you still at Cannon AFB or whatever, or have you moved on since? Actually, are you still in? Heh. I would be on terminal leave right now, if I'd made it all the way. Or maybe I'd have an extension or a second term, but I'm guessing probably not. I never did like it. As it stands, I'm at the beginning of my student teaching year. Teaching middle schoolers. I thought I would be teaching high schoolers, but I got placed in a middle school, so... Eh, it's whatevs, though.
  8. Hey, congrats on getting your CCAF! You're ahead of a lot of airmen now, or so I hear. Heh. Now you just have to take Course 15, right? ...I'm glad I got out before I had to do that shit. I thought I was drinking a Red IPA-that's what I bought a six pack of-but apparently, someone put a Helles Lager in the case I grabbed... I was wondering why it tasted so lame. My first major is in Political Science, so I will probably be teaching History or Social Studies. And yeah... drama llama.

    Heh... well, I was pretty much depressed for the last two years I was in, and didn't really care if I died, so there ya go. That should tell you my opinion of the world. I'm not fond of our two candidates in the slightest, and I don't know who I hate more. Actually, I don't know that I hate Donald Trump; I just think he's a cartoon character. Like, he doesn't seem real to me. He seems like something out of a comedy show or something. I watched one of the Republican debates, and I was laughing at how audacious he was. I don't think he's going to win... I think we're gonna have Hillary. Oh joy. And yeah, there is certainly a lot of violence lately... People suck. People think they are right, and they are highly offended to be told they are wrong, or even that someone sees the world differently than them. And it's not just religious people who are guilty of this.
  9. Right now I am drinking some Lagavulin 16 yr before taking some Unisom to help me sleep as I work nights. I got in touch with the education office and I have my CCAF - a small victory. I am glad that I reached a goal, but as I previously mentioned I will be taking a break from school as I am back on the line. Do you have any preference in what you want to teach? A person can never truly escape the drama llama.

    As for the rest of my life I am in a really pessimistic outlook. It stems from world events, the current election, & what is going on in the country. Have you ever seen or read The Watchmen? I feel myself becoming more the Comedian - that it is all a joke. How pitiful humanity is and yet the capability that we have as a race is astounding. Other than that, Final Fantasy XIV is sucking my life away again. I need to play my other games like Tales of Zestiria and Xenoblade Chronicles X both of which I am in the middle of, but I have so much to do in FFXIV.
  10. Also, kinda funny that you messaged me the day I decided to pay a visit here, heh. You have good timing!
  11. Hey man. It was LONG, heh. My cat was more or less okay with it the first two days, but on the third day, she was freakin' out for a bit. She had had enough, and I think I had, as well, heh.

    I've started Summer term since then, and I've also been working part time as summer help for the school custodial crews. They actually had me making a spreadsheet in excel for them, that they would use to rate their custodians. My boss had told me to get people's opinions on this, and apparently one of them complained because she thought I was evaluating them. She didn't say anything to me about it. I was a bit irritated to be pulled into their drama like that; I've always been able to stay out of the thick of it before that.

    If I take 5 classes every term for the next 4 terms or so, I could be student teaching in the Fall of 2017, so that's cool. I just gotta not be lazy. Also, I website: thomastine.com. I thought about posting about it here, but then I didn't.

    What's goin' on with you, man? Still same ol' same ol'? Heh, I talked for a bit on fb with one of the guys from my old office. What he was saying made me feel SUCH relief that I wasn't there anymore, haha. Always with the drama.
  12. How was the drive and how have you been since?
  13. Rumor-spreading and gossip are not becoming of airmen, AIRMAN!!!!!

    Now counter-intelligence - that is something worthwhile.
  14. Hey. Hey. Hey. Guess what. Guess what I heard.

    I heard you were a fool. How do you respond to this observation?
  15. Cool dude. Get that schooling in while you've got the opportunity, eh? I'm doing that too. Although it's kinda a headache; I had to friggen' issues with my school this week. One was that I discovered that they'd sent me the wrong book, and the other was when they didn't want to accept my TA form. I've got the first problem resolved, and I THINK the second problem is resolved, but man... Makes me want to take ANOTHER long break from school, heh.
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