Mar/100
Day 56 – 6th Grade Language Arts
Another day in Language Arts. On this one, the kids had to read something and answer questions. Of course it was something I’d never even heard of so I couldn’t help with that. Of course it had to be reading, something I can’t really help with anyway. But the kids behaved, that’s all I can ask for on days like this.
Feb/100
Day 55 – 4th Grade
This was your standard day in 4th grade. The kids did their work and I didn’t even have to threaten anybody with their class’s form of punishment. The kids were surprised to have a boy as a teacher. The teacher left things that the kids thought was what they’d been doing if she was there, but I think was stuff the kids would never have seen if the teacher was there.
There isn’t really much to say.
Feb/100
Day 54 – 7th Grade Science
This was the first time in a while that I wasn’t able to grab a job either the night before or pretty quickly in the morning. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s the first time they’d had to call me in order for me to have a job in a while too. That was weird.
To top off the weirdness, the guidance counselor was watching the class until I got there. I’m glad she did a good job with keeping them in line because coming in in the middle of a class means I have about no chance of getting them under control.
Every class today was the same. Give them a study guide, have them fill it out using the book. She usually had them get the answers off a power point presentation. I had to spend a good part of the class explaining to them that there was no way she’d expect them to get all of the answers correctly.
The only problem was with a class she specifically told me to have follow the seating chart. Normally I don’t worry about that too much unless they get to be a problem. But for this class, either she didn’t keep it updated when kids were moved or the kids lied about where there seats where. But once they realized that their choices were to sit where I told them to or to go up to the office and complain about the mean sub who was following the teacher’s instructions they accepted it. Not happily, but I can’t really expect that.
Feb/100
Day 53 – 7th Grade Language Arts
Ah, a return to middle school for me. As much as I like getting out earlier for elementary schools, this is an environment I feel more comfortable in.
Of course it was language arts though. It’s not that I don’t like the class, but subbing for it is kind of boring since the teachers usually just leave standardized test practice and reading and stuff. Great for the kids because they don’t have to deal with some strange person trying to teach them. Great for the teacher because there’s no way I can mess that up. Boring for me since there’s not really anything for me to do.
I know, it makes for a great story doesn’t it? I’m sorry I can’t do any better.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect. There was the kid who got written up for refusing to do his work. His method? Asking me stupid questions the entire time. Did I hear about the earthquake in Haiti? Can I tell him the answers? Can he go sharpen his pencil? Can he use the bathroom? Can he sharpen his pencil? Squeezing his way between people in spaces barely big enough for his pencil (which he finally went to sharpen). Eventually it just got to be too much. The best part? He didn’t think I’d do it.
Feb/100
Day 52 – 3rd Grade
This was a return to my 3rd day of subbing. They weren’t quite as well behaved this time. But it was in a “we’re excited that you’re here and want to talk the entire time while we get our work done” kind of way. I can live with that, especially since I probably wasn’t as professional as I should have been with them either. They also knew I was coming. I’m sure that didn’t help either.
The worst part of this day was that the sub they’d had the day before didn’t have time to finish the pre-test they had to take so I had to fit that in too. So really I guess that’s two bad things since I hadn’t made sure this teacher had my phone number and she had to get someone else for the day before me due to needing someone at the last minute.
Feb/100
Day 51 – 5th Grade
This was at one of my favorite schools. I really don’t think the kids at this school know how to misbehave. In fact, the worst thing that happened was that a kid in a different class saw me in the hall and wanted to leave her class to go talk to me. I’d say that’s a good day.
Feb/100
Day 50 – Kindergarten
It seems oddly fitting that on a milestone day for me things would be crazy. Today’s crazy stuff actually started in December when I picked up the job. It was set for 2 days, with the second being a teacher work day. I don’t work on those days, so I should have known something weird was going on.
I figured it was just someone being trigger happy when putting in the days, not really a big deal. I got into the room and the teacher showed up though. She was as confused as I was, and left to get some things done and to see what was going on. While she was gone the assistant came in and thought that maybe the teacher was there to get a few things done and would be leaving.
Meanwhile at the room next door the teacher was double jealous. Not only was this other class getting a boy as a sub, she wasn’t going to get one for some reason. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had a student in there who needed a shadow and the school figured that would be good enough. Except that the shadow person that day was also a sub. Weird.
Thankfully for me the school decided that since I was there I could just go over to this other teacher’s class and sub there instead. Once the day started it was normal kindergarten.
Well, as normal as kindergarten gets when the teddy bears spent the night and didn’t stay in the kid’s cubbies like they were supposed to. Those bears were the worst behaved things I saw all day. Which is just fine with me.
Feb/100
Day 49 – 6th Grade SS/Science
This day was set up a bit weirdly. At 6th grade at one of the local middle schools there are 2 teachers per team. So you have to see the kids twice during the day.
Normally I wouldn’t think this was a big deal. In fact, normally I would think this was a pretty smart way to get the kids used to middle school after 6 years of having the same teacher all day. Except that some of the elementary schools around here switch classed in 5th grade for everything1.
I’m glad I picked up on this, because it could have been a big problem. One of the reasons I like middle school is because if I have a big problem with a kid I can send them out of the room and I won’t see them in class again that day. But here, I might. Thankfully I didn’t have any problems beyond people not wanting to do the work.
- At least 1 switches for 2 things just like this middle school and there are some I don’t know about. [↩]
Feb/100
Day 48 – 3rd Grade
You know those days where the kids all behave and the teachers leave you good lesson plans that don’t make you feel like you’re stretching everything out just to use up time? I love those days, this was one of them.
The only problem all day was that there was a new student in the class. I’ve had new kids before, but the other time the new kids just transferred classes from within the school. This new kid was from another state.
Which wouldn’t have been a problem at all except the lesson plans left by the teacher mostly consisted of “Work on X. They should have everything for this already.” And that isn’t the teacher’s fault at all. Someone from the office came into all the classes and counted to see where this kid would go. I can’t expect a teacher to know about a new student when the office people don’t know what class the kid will be in.
Jan/100
Day 47 – 8th Grade Math
This was the first time I returned to a class when it wasn’t on consecutive days1. That made it a lot easier for both me and the kids in the class.
It was your basic math substitute day. Give the kids problems out of the book, take it up at the day, that sort of thing. I decided the part of my general being nicer goal should include letting the kids work together since there were no instructions and that they had to work alone. And except for having to remind one of the classes were quieter, things went pretty well.
It’s gotten to the point that school were all the kids know exactly what I’m going to expect them to do. Even the “bad kids” don’t try to pull anything on me beyond chewing gum.
Maybe it’s because I was so quick to send people out of the room before. Mmaybe it’s because I’ve just started to be nicer. Maybe it’s something else that I can think of right now. But what I do know is that I don’t think I’ll need to walk around with the referral forms anymore.
- But not the first time I’d picked up a job where I could return to a class, that one just hadn’t happened yet [↩]