I have been subbing quite a bit this week. Yesterday I taught 8th grade English for three hours. They were fairly well-behaved, but I must say that 8th grade boys are the most immature species on this Earth. Liam is more mature than those boys and I am not exaggerating. I know there is research about teenagers’ cerebellums not being fully developed or something, but holy cow! Now I know what I have to look forward to in about seven years. I also intercepted a note. The girl who was passing it was devastated that I read it (to myself-not to the class-that would have really been bad since it was about a boy and how she loves him) and she was even more traumatized that she received a pink slip for passing the note. Then today I was in Montessori which I really loved. It was so much fun, but I know I couldn’t do it on my own. There are two teachers in that class for a reason. The kids were good for being as young as they are and being in school all day (that’s a long day for those little guys) but when they are all doing their own work…you need two adults (three would have been nice, actually) to help them all get started, check their work, answer their questions, address those who are tattling, etc. Tomorrow I am back to 8th grade for a few hours in the afternoon. I am sure I will have more stories to tell…
Archive for the ‘Subbing’ Category
I have taught in four different schools, in two different states and in two different grades and there are some things that you can be pretty certain of no matter where you teach or what grade you teach. I subbed again today in the same class I was in yesterday and I could see little bits of former students in these kids. Almost every year I taught there was someone who I lovingly referred to (only to myself and obviously never to the child) as pigpen. This is the poor, sweet dear child whose desk is a complete pit even though you JUST had them clean it out yesterday and whose shirt looks like they used it for a napkin during a very messy spaghetti dinner even though it is 10a.m. and you haven’t even gone to lunch yet. Their shirt is always untucked and their fly is usually down. There is usually a student who has their own agenda…these are the ones that drive me BATTY because I also have an agenda and since the teacher (that would be me) is in charge, they should be following my agenda, not their own. There is the student that no matter what you do just doesn’t seem to be able to get their work done. Sometimes they are really trying and just can’t get it together and then there are the ones who aren’t trying because they are either in la-la land or they are too busy messing around. There are usually a couple of girls whose mission it is to please the teacher at all costs…I would like a whole classroom of these please. 🙂 There is the child, usually a boy, who feels it is his job to entertain the rest of the class. (If you can get this kid to come around and be your ally life is a lot easier.) Then there is at least one boy who is super smart, but not too cocky about it and usually very sweet. I’ll take a couple of those, too, please. Obviously there are all kinds of children that make up a classroom, but I couldn’t help but notice today that the kids in that class reminded me WAY TOO MUCH of kids I have seen before…it’s like I never left.
I subbed for the first time yesterday in a second grade class. It was only for the afternoon and there were only twelve kids in the class and two of them were absent, so I can’t complain. I miss teaching and having my own class in a lot of ways, but yesterday reminded me of why I am not going to jump back into my own classroom anytime soon unless I really have to or unless an opportunity I can’t resist comes my way. Like I said, I miss teaching…it’s all the other crud that goes along with teaching that I don’t miss. I just can’t imagine spending my whole day with other peoples’ kids and then having enough energy to love on my own kids at the end of the day. At the end of each school day I would still have to get ready for the next school day, go to meetings, shuttle my kids wherever they need to go after school, grade papers, return parent phone calls/e-mails, cook dinner, clean up, get everyone ready for bed, pack lunches and on and on. There are only so many hours in the day! I am going back to the same classroom today for another two hour stint…wish me luck! 🙂