A day off

One of the schools I'm subbing in uses an automated phone system to call its subs. This morning it called me to offer a spot in the middle school in music. I was disappointed to find that "press 4 for 'no freaking way'" was not one of my options. Needless to say, I declined that position.

About half an hour later, the system called me again to ask if I wanted to sub in second grade. I giggled and declined. Then it called me AGAIN -- this time to ask if I wanted to come in for AM kindergarten. Said Bryan when I told him this story later, "I had to chuckle a bit at thinking of you in AM kindergarten. Do they read The Great Gatsby in AM kindergarten? Or is that for PM?"

Things are going well so far. Yesterday I was at that district's high school for a Spanish teacher. This particular teacher is in a different classroom every period. It wasn't too hard to find my way around, but it did add another stressful element to the day. Her students were mostly good -- friendly, diligent, and cooperative -- but her eighth period was a pain. Ninth graders. Need I say more? I wonder if "defenestration" can be an official reason for firing a teacher. Perhaps I shouldn't find out.

For two days last week, I was back at the school where I student taught -- once for my co-op teacher and then for a social studies teacher. I got to see most of my former students between the two days, and I really enjoyed the new students I met. It was so sweet... a couple of my kids from student teaching stopped by the history classroom to check on me and see how my day was going. That made me feel good.

So as I said, things have been pretty good so far. I am glad I'm not going to be a substitute teacher for a really long time though. It sounds silly, but it gets really lonely. It's hard not knowing the students or the staff. Of course, I still get to interact with students, but it isn't much beyond calling their names to take attendance or asking if they have any questions after I've handed out busy work. I miss having my own students and knowing them well enough to ask, "How was your test last period?" or, "Did you have fun at the football game Friday night?" I just miss that kind of relationship and interaction.

It gets boring, too. Even if I'm just basically babysitting while the students complete workbook activities, I still have to be alert. I can't do any work that requires real concentration because then I might miss something in the classroom. So far I've just read, but even that gets tiring after about five periods. I really wish I could bring a coloring book and crayons, but I think I'd probably be looked down on for doing that! Haha.

Tonight is my first GED class through the local community college. My supervisor told me the first night is going to consist mainly of pre-testing and information collecting, unfortunately. I'm excited to meet my students though. I have no idea how many of them I'll have. I have a feeling attendance is really going to fluctuate. The students don't have to pay for this class, so that's one factor that might prevent them from coming regularly. Plus, they're all moms with families and jobs, so it might be hard for them to come twice a week. I also know that most of them walk to school, and when it's in the single digits outside, I know I'm not willing to go outside if I don't have to...

So we'll see what happens. I think tonight will be pretty low-key. I hope my students like me. I met some of them at the informational meeting a few weeks ago, and they all seemed to be my age or a little younger. I'm looking forward to this.