Finally some recognition!

All year I've been waiting for a call to go to a school I enjoyed visiting when I gave watershed programs. The teachers there had asked me if I could sub, but at that time it was voerboden.

Wednesday, I finally got a call to go there and the fourth/fifth grade teachers recognized me! They were happy to see me. I was only there for a half day while they discussed the current math curriculum and the new state test and standards and the mess that's been created. Before the teacher had even come back, seen how the class was reacting to me or that I had done anything she asked, she was already pimping me out to another teacher.

Today, I was filling in for the technology teacher and I stopped by and handed out some cards. One teacher and I were discussing the current lack of teaching jobs and such. I mentioned that I'm not an outgoing charmer like some and so pushing into the field is more difficult.

She said, "you're like my kids, quiet, confident and competent..." yay! Then she went on to say, "I've seen far too often those people who dazzle the interviewers and then when it comes down to it they can't perform."

Amen, lady!

2010 > 2009 by a long shot

Last week I taught high school French in the district I try to avoid. It went fabulously! The students were impressed with my French speaking ability and the third year students asked all their questions to me en francais as if I were their normal teacher. I loved it and I hope I get called back there!

At the same school I ran into a woman I worked with at the zoo. I'm not sure why I didn't know she was a high school environmental science teacher! I liked her before and now I like her even more. She has my card so I can sub for her sometime, too.

The following day I went back to the school that made me cry. At least one of the office staff didn't remember me. Phew! And my class of second graders weren't too terrible. One threw up and some couldn't focus for the life of them but I just kept giving reminders, sitting with them and asking them questions. No surprise parents, runaways, or awful sub notes. Hooray!

On Thursday, I got an e mail from my boss at the park asking me to be a lead naturalist this summer! I am ecstatic! It means she values me and recognizes my teaching. Part of why I am leaving the environmental education world is because I like to do my job and do it well. I'm not pushy or like to show off. Finally! Someone has seen how good I am and is rewarding me for it!

Also, she knows of a full time permanent job coming up this fall and asked if I would like her to suggest me for the position!! I don't want to give away too many details because 1. I don't want you to apply for it ; )and 2. I'm not sure the agency knows that it is opening up yet.

On top of all this, I get to see my gym boyfriend three times a week. We met outside the gym once, but that was for him to help me with my resume. I won't get my hopes up, but I am enjoying the endorphins of a crush!

High school

The district I sub in most often is a half hour north of me. There's only one school I won't go back to because the kids are really good in every school I've been to except that one. Ok, that might be kind of a lie. There's the school I'm too embarrassed to go back to because I cried in front of everybody. I guess that makes two I won't go to.

I sub regularly for a high school physics, chemistry and algebra teacher. I have no idea why he requests me. I met him once while subbing for another teacher and he's requested me ever since even though I have never taken physics and can't remember chemistry. Algebra is fun and great but those two classes of his don't especially like me; they're mostly freshman.

Last week he asked if I would be available the 8th and 11th. I told him I would be and was surprised but pleased to be requested for the entire week. This morning I got up at 6 am, drove up there, signed in and met him in the classroom which is usual for us. What was unusual was the surprised look he gave me. There was a typo and he didn't actually need me all week after all.

I drove home in traffic since I was driving towards the city. That took twice as long as getting up there. When I got home I started to get calls for other jobs. One I would've loved: doing office work in HR! But it was starting in 15 minutes and I had already driven an hour and a half this morning.

Now I'm snuggled up in bed and not making any money.

I think I'll knit.

Subbing ...

is sucking my will to live.

Picture it, sixth period, language arts block. Nerdy strawberry blonde girl tells me that the boy behind her will be yelling some things out. I wasn't sure if she was warning me that he has Tourettes or what. First thing he did when he got there was yell something in that stupid half cough way. Finally she leaned in and said, "what he is saying is 'flaming bush.'" Oh I got pissed. And I should have banished him out of my sight and into the principal's office for sexual harassment but I didn't. Especially since that kid was an asshole for two periods. He and his friend followed the girl and her friend around the library tormenting them. So I followed the boys.

I'm the sub who leaves detailed notes about every misbehavior I had to deal with. Some of it, I feel, is tattling but I also think that there might be some behavior the teachers are watching and they would appreciate the documentation. And, I hope, that when that teacher finds out about the sexual harassment going on in her classroom, she'll do something much more drastic than I'd be able to do.

Earlier in that day I had a young man wearing a pink shirt. Two other boys decided it was ok to ask him if he was gay because of the shirt color. One decided that no, if he were gay he'd be wearing a rainbow shirt. Piss me off why don't you! And what could I do? Oh yeah, give them Steps. Remember the Make Your Day schools? This is one of them. Does not work.

So...I have an interview in Colorado to work as a field instructor at an outdoor school. Full time and permanent...the two reasons I got out of environmental ed was because those are so hard to find. I don't know, I might not want to move. And they might not want me. But I hate subbing and I'm wanting to be a classroom teacher less and less.

Horrors of subbing II

On Wednesday I have an interview for a sixth grade replacement leave position. I was pretty excited! But then I subbed a sixth grade on Friday...

I at least got a warning when I checked into the office. "I'm subbing for Mr. V today." A large bearded man started laughing. Thanks. As a fifth grade teacher and neigthbor, he did offer to take any trouble makers during the day. And students did begin to tremble when I threatened them with it. Unfortunately, I couldn't send half the class to him.

Why don't they shut up? I was super close to busting out the "swears." And it wasn't just the talking, it was the pushing, whining, cutting, SHOVING, pulling another student out of his chair.... awful.

Threatened to hold them three minutes after class for wasting my time..which was way more than three minutes. At the end of class I told them that since they were worried about missing their bus, they could work off the time early by closing their yaps. Not one of them stfu. So I held them after. Miss Talks A lot decided to call home to get a ride. Whipped out her cell phone, which I could have taken from her, and when she began to talk the whole class went silent. So I let the rest of the class go and held her in. Offered to talk to her parent...

Dumb girl handed the phone to me. So I told the dad that she hadn't followed directions, shut her yap, and was dancing around the classroom so I was following through with consequences. Dad said, "Ok. We'll take care of it when she gets home." HA! Dumb girl gives me the phone...seriously, what was she thinking?

Wed's interview is in a different district....

Horrors of subbing

I was excited to sub third grade today. They're cute, but smart and I had recently subbed K at this school so I was sure it would be a fantastic day.

I arrived at school early today to get a good look at the sub notes and prepare for the day. The secretary handed me a HUGE stuffed folder and sent me on my way. One of the first things I read in the folder was about a student...let's call him Forrest. Forrest apparently has some social and academic issues.

In the classroom I found a two page note with instructions on it. Oh, wait, no. This was a generic note that really had no details in it but referred me to her lesson plan book. The lesson plan book was full of chicken scratches that I'm sure made sense to her. Somehow I had to muddle through all this muck. She also failed to tell me when or where to pick up my kids in the morning. What a way to start the day.

Kids came in excited to have a sub and immediately forgot how to behave. And it continued through the entire day. Talking while I was talking. Wandering around. Tattle tales. Just exasperating behavior.

One student asked me if he could fill out his student of the week poster. I asked him to wait until his teacher got there the next morning since I knew nothing about it. He agreed.

Specialist came early at 10:30. I was glad to give my students away for an hour. I had turned on Mean Teacher face and wouldn't walk in the hallway unless they would stfu. We could usually get about five feet before they would start talking again. Computer lab was far away. We had to move from one building to the next. As we entered the next building I hear students say, "Forrest ran off."

Awesome. So I shoo the kids off to lab and run out the door after this kid. He's nowhere to be seen. The custodian who is outside didn't see him. I'm trying to figure out how I can alert the office without stopping my search when he comes running from around the corner. He had gone in another door and claimed he had been with me the entire time.

I stopped and asked him if he understood how scary that was, especially for me--a substitute teacher who doesn't know the kids and then one of them runs away on her. He said he did but he wasn't happy about me talking to him.

I sent him off to lab and I went straight to the office. Once I found it. Immediately when I walked in I began crying. I told them he had run off but that he was safe in lab now. That the other students were really making the day difficult, too. The principal went to get Forrest and when he returned he pulled m into his office where I cried some more. He promised me Forrest would be sent home and that if I needed any help to let him know.

The kids came back, unfortunately. All but one who was probably at home eating lunch and watching tv. We did some work before lunch and I let the line leaders lead the way. They took off. Loud and running down the halls. The librarian stopped them. I finally caught up and gave them the what for. We walk into the cafeteria...no wait I walked. They ran! The lunch ladies talked to them.

As I'm standing there telling them they know how to behave in the cafeteria, they are there every day a mother came up to me and asked if I was the sub.

"Yes," I replied.

"I'm Hank's mother and he's over there crying because you told him he couldn't do the student of the week!"

"What? No. What?"

Another thing NOT IN THE SUB NOTES! His parents came to see him do a special presentation. Came from thirty minutes away. I pulled Hank aside and told him I had no idea his parents were coming and that I didn't know that was what the poster was for. I apologized profusely to the mother and told her it's been a tough day. Hank and I were squared away.

I cried alone in the classroom during lunch.

The principal stopped me in the hall and asked if everything was going better. Not so much. He offered to come in and talk to them about their behavior but never showed. The dad got to witness the kids walking all over me all afternoon.

I'd also like to tell you about M. She had these damn scarves that she wouldn't put away so I took them. They weren't even scarves. They were pieces of fabric she cut at school. Next thing I know she has them in her hands again. She tells me they're Arabic hajab. I told her fine. She can have the scarves back IF she wears them but they are not to be played with. She agrees. Did I tell you how European this girl's name was? She's NOT Arabic but on the off chance she did have some Arabic culture I'd get in trouble for being racist. Anyway, she doesn't know how to put it on and it's cut crooked. LOAD OF BS. This student also did NOTHING the entire day. not one thing.

My head hurts so bad. I'm drinking some framboise...even made a framboise float. Think I'll watch some Deadwood and prepare for middle school math tomorrow. sigh.

kids

At the high school I've been subbing at I turn in attendance using their student numbers instead of names. Not sure why. When I was in school we had Jason A Smith and Jason B Smith and we never had any problems.

I took attendance and a good fifteen minutes I heard some commotion over whether someone was marked absent.

"Did you mark me absent?!"

"I don't know, who are you?"

"Did you call my name?"

"Again, I don't know. Who are you?"

"Jose. You have to say it HO-Ssay!"

Laughing, I reply, "Ok HO-SSay, are you here?"

"Yeah I'm here!"

"Ok, What's your number?" I"m pretty sure I clarified after that with 'student number.'

Innocently he asks, "Why? Are you going to call me?"

"Your student number!" a giggling class replies.

"Oh!" He gave me his student number....followed by his phone number.

Make Your Day program

In my previous life as a visiting teacher (not much changes, does it?) I had seen classrooms use Make Your Day discipline system. I didn't like it.

Basically, the program says you chose how your day goes and that no one has the right to interrupt another's learning or safety. There are various steps that the students move through. At Step 1, the teacher walks up to the disruptive student, tells them they have chosen step 1 for X behavior. The student goes and sits in a chair and FACES THE WALL! After less than 5 minutes, the teacher walks up to the student, without touching or looking at them, asks the student if they know how they chose step 1. Then the student is asked if they are ready to return to their desk.

If the student is unable to sit and face the wall for five minutes, they move to step 2 where they STAND FACING THE WALL! I don't know what the next step or two is but the final one is a call home and parent pick up.

At the end of class, the teacher has to take five minutes out of instruction time to go through the class list and have all the students state how many points they earned out of 45. If they say less than 45, they must state why. For example, "43 for being off task." Students are pretty honest here. They have to have some average for the week. I don't know what the consequence is if they don't.

Today was my first day implementing the program. I was in middle school language arts and social studies classes. Most of my students were great, but those that weren't really weren't. And let me tell you, the Make Your Day program did not work. I had two students 7th period who really needed to get the Hell out of my classroom. How many times do you send a kid to sit facing a wall? I spent so much time sending those kids to step 1 and telling them to ignore each other that I neglected other students who needed my help and were asking for attention appropriately.

Currently, not a fan of this system.

Second sub job

On Thursday, I became an official subistute (according to my name badge) in my second district. Friday, I had my first job in that district...in a high school science class.

I had a couple anxiety dreams about fights breaking out. As I looked at the schedule in the office I panicked when I saw that I had biology and the dreaded chemistry. I received a D in chemistry in high school. I was relieved when the teacher had left two movies for me to show.

The kids were great! It's so much easier to shoot a look at a high schooler and have them know exactly what behavior they need to adjust than to walk over and discuss behavior with a second grader. I can get them to stop talking by telling them they can flirt at lunch. How embarrassing to be accused of flirting! I can get a different flirter to stop picking on a girl by asking him to be a gentleman and pick up the paper he flicked onto the ground. It's fantastic!

At the end of the day, I did find some paper airplanes in the front of the room. Whatever. They did the assignment. What harm are a couple of paper airplanes?

Monday is middle school!

First sub job

and I feel like I was subpar. I thought second grade would be a nice way to ease myself into the whole thing. They didn't listen. They didn't follow directions. I would use their teacher's attention getter of clapping, which I hate, btw, and they would be quiet to clap and then start talking again. I tried standing there and waiting. I tried other attention getters. When they wouldn't listen to each other answer questions, I tried group answers. Half of them would answer. Who knows what the other half were doing.

I snatched something out of a kid's hands by the end of the day. They were learning about coins and while I was talking he was shaking his coin bag all around making so much noise. This was after countless attempts of getting attention. I looked at him, he continued to shake it and I grabbed it. Oh not a shining moment.

What else happened today? Girls pushing each other. Cutting. Wandering around the room. Tapping me on the butt to get my attention while I was talking to another student. I'm pretty sure a good percentage of the students were in the bathroom half the day.

And it was early dismissal. thank god.

So...I've learned how important it is to set expectations before getting to the lesson plans. The lesson plans I had weren't even that helpful anyway. But, that's what I'll work on: setting lesson plans.

Next up, middle school.

Where's my sugar daddy?