I must remind myself that...

I do like being a teacher, despite the numerous hoops we have to go through on a daily basis! The hoop for today was trying to figure out how to renew/register/move my intital certificate to standard. All of this lingo has me thoroughly confused. It's not enough that we (as teachers)went to school to get a degree and work our tails off doing the best job we can while balancing going back to get our master's degree, but we still have to prove to the state of Illinois that we are qualified by clocking 60 hours of professional development time outside of our regular classroom time! It is truly nerve-wracking and confusing, but I think I muddled my way through the online worksheets. I clocked and recorded 64 hours(which took forever to do so online, while, mind you, I've already filled these all out on paper, too!), filled out my letter of assurance (stating that I told the truth on everything), and now I have to wait to be approved and send a letter from my administrator to the Regional Office of the Superintendent to verify I've been teaching for 4 years! At the end of all of this, I'm sure there are many fees to be paid and maybe, just maybe I'l have my standard teaching certificate and won't have to go through all of this until another 4 years have passed! I applaud any of you non-teachers for reading this entire entry...it probably sounds way confusing! But, remember, I really do love my job...:)