Last week was my grand re-entrance into the world of substitute teaching. I received jobs for four out of five days, which is better than I've gotten in a long time (3 were 1/2 days, but better than nothing!)...
And, if nothing else, substitute teaching usually leaves me with a good story or two. So here you go:
First, a quick story from preschool, where I subbed one day the week before:
Girl: "Look at my eyes!"
Me: "I don't see anything! What's wrong?"
Girl: "They're brown. Like Dora."
Oh, got it.
Monday I subbed in junior high (my first junior high experience...and hopefully only one of few). The call I received said I was supposed to be there 7:59-11:59. I got there and found out that school started at 8:30, but this teacher didn't have a homeroom, so it was really about 8:40. I then had 3 periods to teach and 4th period was his prep, so I got to leave around 11:15. Sounds pretty good, until I found out I had the same class for all three periods. And, let's just say, they were not the most motivated learners. I think it would have been a lot better of an experience if I'd gotten new kids each period.
Tuesday was my full day, where I subbed in 4th grade. The kids were pretty good, did their work for the most part, and cooperated with me. The worst part of the day was that the class had PE first thing in the morning and I had to sit in the classroom for about an hour with nothing to do. I had my book with me, but felt weird reading it with the teacher's aide sitting right next to me grading papers. Instead I sat there and pretended to look over the simple math lesson. I know, if that was the worst part of the day, I probably had a pretty good day... Oh, and I did get to read my book at lunch.
Wednesday was probably the most story-worthy day of my week (although Friday gave it a run for its money). When I accepted the job, the automated message told me there were special instructions online. Those instructions said, "It should be an easy day with lunch at 12:30 and the students are released at 2:05." Sweet. I didn't have to be there until 11:30, so it really did sound like a nice, short day. I arrived at the school a few minutes early, filled out the necessary paperwork, and was given directions to the classroom. "Cut through the library, go down the stairs, you'll see a door on your left, go through that, across the playground, and you'll see the classroom in the portables." Ok, slightly confusing, but simple enough. (Can I get a map like they gave me on Monday?) I walk into the library and see about 15 doors to choose from, so I asked a teacher in there for directions. She slightly clarified the directions and I was off again. I walked down the stairs and saw a number of doors to choose from, but decided the one at the end of the hall made the most sense. As it shut behind me, I realized that I had made it back to the front of the school, outside the gate, and the door behind me was locked. Awesome. I'm just about to suck up the courage to go back into the office feeling like a moron when I noticed that the gate to my right was open. I went through there and made it to the classroom with no more mishaps. When I arrive, the teacher informs me that the principal called him this morning and told him that, even though school was out at 2:05, I needed to stay until 3:00. Lame, but I understood for payroll purposes. I make it through the day just fine, let the kids out at 2:05, graded a few papers, and then sat there doing nothing. I was really wishing I hadn't forgotten my book! Thank goodness for games on my phone. At 2:45 the phone in the classroom rang, the secretary wanting to know if I was still there since she didn't have my key. I told her I had been instructed to stay until 3:00, but she told me to come on up if I was finished. I decided I could finish my game later, so I made my way back to the office. As I walked across the playground, I realized that the gate I came through was now locked and I had no idea how to get back to the office. I found a lady working on the playground and asked her for directions, explaining I had come in through the now-locked gate (and feeling slightly like an idiot). She pointed to the main building, instructing me to go through the door on the left. I walked over there and tried both doors on the left side of the building, but both were locked. Awesome. I decided that maybe there was a door around the corner. There was, but locked again. Panic slowly starts to set in as I begin to feel like I'm trapped. Thankfully, a teacher opened the door and rescued me. I thanked her and she commented that they should really give us subs a key. Apparently this has happened before. I found out later that those locked doors were classrooms and it's normal for people to cut through them to get to the office. In fact, you almost have to. It's probably the weirdest layout of a school that I've ever seen. That gate had been open at lunch time because the students have to walk outside the gate and across the front of the school in order to get inside the cafeteria. Very weird. (I'm guessing that that might be why they keep all the doors locked, though...)
I got a call Friday morning just about the time I sat down to breakfast. And, you guessed it, my phone was upstairs. I bolted out of my chair, up the stairs, and dove across my bed to answer it on what I'm sure was the last ring. I got a call for Kindergarten, 11:00-2:40. I ate my yogurt for breakfast, got myself dressed, packed a lunch, and was on my way. I got to the school and the woman in the office was not expecting me. Never makes you feel very good when they don't know you're supposed to be there. I arrive at the classroom right at 11:00 and was quickly thrown into starting class. Apparently it was a pm Kindergarten class, whereas I thought I was going to be there in the afternoon of an all-day class. Not really a big deal, except that it meant there was not a lunch break. These poor kids have to eat lunch before 11am. Apparently I was supposed to, too. The morning teacher told the kids about the centers they would be in and left the class in my hands. I was supposed to have one of the centers where I was testing kids. Yeah, I didn't think that this sounded like a great idea for a sub either. We were supposed to rotate about every 9 minutes, which worked most of the time. The first rotation was a bit rough. Despite what I thought was a clear explanation of who was going where, kids ended up in the wrong places and one center had no kids at all. I wasn't going to stress about it and figure it out on the next switch, but the morning teacher came back in. I'm pretty sure she thought I was a moron. Hey, not my fault that these kids a) don't follow directions and b) went where they wanted to. I was trying to get through the testing and couldn't spend the whole time worrying about who was where. Anyway, things got straightened out and I didn't really care if some of the kids went to one center more than once. The most important thing was that every kid was assessed. Thanks morning teacher, I'm not a complete idiot. Ok, she was actually nice to me, but it felt a bit like she thought I was not capable because she stuck around for most of the afternoon.
That was my eventful week of subbing! I had a busy, but great, day Saturday, an even busier Sunday. Today was spent partially working and partially doing prep work for Slovenia. Packing our "team stuff" at the church tomorrow night and then I'll think about packing for myself...
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