Getting to Know the Students

I returned to the 2nd grade today and subbed for the teacher next door to my very first subbing assignment.  In fact, the day I subbed for an elementary computer teacher I was right across the hall from my first assignment.  Needless to say, I'm starting to get to know the students in this particular 2nd grade hall.

I'm always glad to get a call for 2nd grade and under.  As it turns out, the day goes by much faster when I'm involved with the students.  I often sit in silence and merely act as the noise police when I'm in middle school.  In elementary school I tend to be involved with the work the students are doing (mostly because the younger a kid is the more likely he or she is to rely on the adult in the room for everything).

Sadly, today's students were not the best.  I had trouble with their chatting and noise level all day.  I know I said that the teachers are over-reacting to noise in an earlier post, but this class was really challenging.  They would not shut up!  It was getting on my last nerve and I really had to control myself and just keep at it.  I was constantly asking them to quiet down and had to shout over them more than enough times.  I really hate raising my voice but it was necessary.  Not only were they chatty but they were also rude to each other.  One boy kept calling other students idiots and a girl kept sassing her neighbors.  I had to speak to them both about their behavior.  The boy shaped up a bit but the girl was just a little stinker.

I tried several ways to keep the noise down.  First I tried just reminding them when it got too loud.  When that didn't work I attempted a raised voice, but that didn't work either.  Then I tried explaining to them my disappointment with the class and that I didn't want to use my shouting voice.  Nope.  So then I tried my three stars on the board trick (each star worth 5 minutes of game time) and they still talked over me!  Clearly nothing was going to work.

To make matters more difficult the music teacher was out today and there was no substitute so they kids had nothing to do for 45 minutes.  I would have had prep time (free time!) but sadly I had to watch over them.  I tried playing Would You Rather but they were way too rowdy.  So I had them sit at their desks and play Around the World (in brief: students compete with each other to see who can answer a math question faster).  They really wanted to play Simon Says and I had my reservations but as soon as we started playing I realized that they were really quiet because they had to focus!  So that was a win.

I like the age group but they tired me out today.  I'm also developing a sore throat and it didn't help that I shouted today.

Reasonable 7th Graders

Who knew 7th graders could be so reasonable?  I was once again back at the middle school where I had my horrific experience with a 6th and 7th grade Spanish class.  I was exhausted this morning when I got my call but not nearly as nervous about middle school as I used to be.  As I stood in the hall welcoming my homeroom I recognized some of the little monsters from the Spanish class fiasco and my nerves increased.  I didn't want my reputation to follow me - I figured if they remembered my "mean" ways from before they would only act up more today.  Happily they were all too wrapped up in their own worlds to remember one bad 45 minute period with a substitute!

I was a science teacher today and the students simply read their textbooks and answered questions on a worksheet.  It was a physics lesson but I think an introductory one for them because they hadn't learned much terminology (you wouldn't believe how many times they asked me how to say "inertia").  The majority of the students completed their work quietly, working with the person next to them.  A few clearly had some ADHD issues and caused small amounts of disruption but nothing I couldn't deal with.  I don't mind a little disruption so long as they listen when I tell them to stop.

In my fourth period I had the devil child from Spanish class - the one kid who really, really pissed me off.  Apparently he was not in his prime today.  He didn't do much work but mostly just sulked quietly.  That's A-OK with me.

In my 8th period I had a mass exodus to the bathroom.  I think at least 50% of the class had to go at least once, with another 30% requiring a trip to the drinking fountain.  I know I'm not supposed to cave to bathroom requests but I just don't want to make an issue of such a tiny thing.  I find it ridiculous that so many kids can't hold it another 20 minutes but hey, at least they're not throwing paper wads at me.

Another irritating, recurring question was "how do I do this?"  They would stare blankly at the worksheet and then shout out "Miss G" across the room.  I would come over and they would want to know how to answer the questions on the worksheet.  Let me back up.  At the beginning of class I pointed at the assignment on the board and read it out to them.  "Please read pages 22 to 30 in your science books and complete the first page of the study guide.  It says Lesson 1-1 on the top.  Then, once you've finished, please read pages 31 to 38 and complete Lesson 1-2 on the back of the page."  Obvious, yes?  And it was written on the board.  So, I would walk over to the student in question and they would ask "how do I do this" and I would restrain my most sarcastic voice and repeat my instructions.  LISTEN TO MY INSTRUCTIONS.  READ THE BOARD.  Boy do they have a ways to go before becoming self-respecting humans.

Excellent Part II

Another day with the fifth graders.  I was expecting a delightful day with well-behaved children but as they sat in homeroom I started to wonder.  They have about 30 minutes in the morning to do a very short writing assignment.  They invariably finish in 10 minutes and start talking.  The volume was very high this morning and four kids in particular were being very catty and rude to each other.  These kids were a problem all day.  One of them was absent yesterday so I attribute her reappearance to the increase in annoying-ness.  When I say they were a problem all day I really mean that I was constantly reminding them of the rules, not that they were terrible hellians that had to be sent away.

All of the other classes that filed through were really great.  More reading about the solar system, another worksheet to keep them busy, and a homework assignment almost everyone was able to complete in class.  I was able to play a quick game of Would You Rather with each class of kids and it was a surprising hit.  I didn't want them playing Heads Up Seven-Up because it takes too long and Four Corners is too loud.  For Would You Rather I simply had them group in the middle of the back wall and asked them questions like "Would you rather ride a rhinoceros or a giraffe?"  I would give each answer a corner (rhino to the right, giraffe to the left) and the kids moved to the corner that matched what they'd rather do.  I thought they might be bored but if you make the questions silly enough they love it!  I was happy to find a simple. easy, relatively quiet game to play.  NOTE: don't let the kids come up with questions and stay away from inflammatory stuff.

It was such a gorgeous day out that I think my after lunch group had a little "spring fever".  This is where my foursome was the most irritating.  I really wanted to give the kids some game time at the end of the day but I had to erase a star and I only gave them 5 minutes of Would You Rather.  But they got out the door on time and the teacher next door was extremely grateful that I was around for the past two days.

Now it's off to visit the 'rents!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Excellent

A teacher is out this entire half-week before Thanksgiving so last night I got a call from the sub coordinator asking about my availability for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  I made my Thanksgiving flight plans a long time ago when I had no job prospects for November so I'm flying home on Wednesday morning at a ridiculously early hour.  The coordinator was looking for someone to take this teacher's three days but I told her I could only do two of them.  She moved on to call other people.  I guess she didn't find anyone because I got a call this morning at 6am and she asked if I could do both today and tomorrow.  Of course I said yes.

I thought it would be really nice to be in the same classroom two days in a row and this particular teacher works at what is quickly becoming my favorite school.  I was in the neighboring 5th grade classroom last week Monday and today I recognized many of the kids.  The teachers team teach the 5th grade so I had four groups of kids come through for science class.  I also had a group of "homeroom" kids who were with me for the start and end of the day as well as reading and science classes.

Some of the kids did recognize me from last week.  Last Monday everyone was really great and I think it carried over to today.  I had practically no problems whatsoever.  Each class focused, completed their homework, and listened to me.  I barely had to speak to anyone about noise.  Only a few kids spoke out of turn.  It was an excellent day.  Excellent.

I think tomorrow will be just as good.  I can tell that the kids feel comfortable in my room.  It appears that the other teachers are very strict with them.  The teacher I subbed for last week was next door to me and she was constantly yelling at the kids about noise.  That's the one thing I really noticed today - the teachers really focus on noise and talking.  I don't mind a little chatter during class as long as the work gets done but these teachers want silence at all times.  It seems a little stifling to me.  It's hard to remember what 5th grade was like.  Was my class really noisy?  Were we asked to be silent at all times?

I'm sure I was an angelic student who never made noise :).

Whew! 6th Graders

Back to the middle school grind today - a class of 6th graders.  The absent teacher is a math teacher who also has a homeroom group so I was at school the whole day.  The last time I subbed at this particular middle school it was a disaster for a group of 7th graders so I was a bit nervous going into the day.  Especially when some of the 6th graders coming through my classes had already had me as a substitute for Spanish (see ESL and a Nasty Class).

The teacher left great instructions for me and had work for the kids to do in each period.  She also had two free periods and a lunch so I had some time to read a book and write my sub report.  To start the day a group of kids came into the classroom for homeroom - I had no idea what to do for those five minutes.  I guess they just listen to the announcements?  It was unclear and the teacher hadn't left instructions for homeroom.  So the five minutes passed and the kids moved on.

My first three periods were all math and I had a worksheet to hand out.  Once they completed the sheet I reviewed the answers with the class.  For each period I stuck with my traditional intro (respect, honesty, kindness) but today I added a "RED LIST".  If any students acted up I wrote their names on my RED LIST and that list got passed along to the teacher.  She left instructions for me to let her know who misbehaved and that's when I decided to call it the RED LIST to make it scary.  I think my list really worked because the threat made most kids sit down and shut up.

After lunch the classes got a little more unruly.  I was seeing a class for the second time (this particular group has two math periods and a social studies period with this teacher on Thursdays) and I think they were starting to take advantage of me.  It was at the end of 6th period that I had to add a name to my RED LIST.  This kid was being ridiculous - stomping his feet on the ground to get the dirt out of his shoes, flicking other students, giving a student "birthday punches", and chasing a girl around the room.  This made other kids begin to act up.  Once I got him sitting the end of the class went much more smoothly.  By the end of the day the kids had already completed all the work I had for them and they were getting restless so I allowed them 10 minutes of "heads up 7-up".  Remember that game?  I had to be reminded of the rules - it's been too long!

I think my success today was creating incentives for good behavior and threatening the RED LIST.  Other teachers that poked their heads in said I was doing a great job so I must have done a few things right.

Once again, do not worry.  I'm going on a little trip this weekend and will not be subbing tomorrow.  You'll get another post on Monday (I hope)!

No Work

Today marks the first day that I did not receive an early morning phone call.  No work today.  A normal working fella or lady would be excited by the prospect of a day off.  To me, this signals another loss of cash flow in addition to all of the holidays that have passed and are upcoming (who knew November had so many holidays?!).  So my day was marked with a tinge of frustration.

On the positive side, I recently interviewed for and was offered a position as a part-time environmental educator.  This is great for my cash flow problem and also keeps me involved in the environmental education field.  I may write some posts about my after school experiences but I will still focus on my substitute teaching.

Tomorrow is a new day - let's hope I get some work!

Drawing for the Masses

Today I substituted for a middle school art teacher.  She had six periods in a row of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and sadly no time for lunch.  There are two art teachers for the middle school and they teach the 7th grade classes together.  This other teacher has a student teacher with her so there were three of us in the classroom for the two periods of 7th grade students.

I met and chatted with the student teacher, "S", for the first 20 minutes or so.  She seemed really nice and talked to me a bit about my day.  She also said that the teacher she is working for is an interesting one and I soon found out what she meant.  This teacher, we'll call her Mrs. A, would have crushed any interest I had in art if I'd been in her class.  The first thing she did was shout at the students as they came in for being too loud.  She shouted her instructions to them and continued to berate them for talking, threatening to keep them after school.  Her voice had this ridiculous ring to it that drove me crazy.  Mrs. A constantly tore apart their work and would tell students they were doing stuff wrong.  It's art!  You really can't do anything wrong in art class, and not every student is going to be great at shading and drawing.  The kids clearly hated her.  I didn't hear her give them a word of praise the entire day.  I circled the room and told the kids they were doing a good job, making sure to tell the kids with really nice drawings how well they were doing.  "S" was definitely right, and she said she really hates being Mrs. A's student teacher and can't wait to be finished.

I talked to "S" for a while about the curriculum of the two teachers.  The only thing the kids have done so far is draw.  They are given photocopies of things like animals and plants and are told to copy the pictures using drawing and shading techniques.  I feel so bad for these students.  The teachers don't trust them with anything that could be messy, like paints or carving tools.  If all I had done for three months of school was draw I'd be bored out of my mind.

Mrs. A told me the 8th graders would be really bad.  I took her words with a grain of salt and started the class off with my expectations (respect, honesty, and kindness).  The students were great - I let them chat with their neighbors and almost every kid worked hard and added to his or her drawings.  My second group of 8th graders was a class of English Language Learners.  These kids were louder and chattier than the first class but worked on their drawings.  The only class I had trouble with was a group of 6th graders who just would not be quiet.  I don't mind a little chatting but the kids shouldn't talk down to their neighbors or talk about inappropriate things.  So I had to move some of the students to different parts of the room.  Once I gave them the option to have free time at the end of the day, if they were quiet, they shaped up and calmed down.  I put three stars on the board worth 3 minutes of free time each and only had to take away half a star.

Overall it was a very interesting day.  Mrs. A really should retire - she is clearly not enjoying her job and definitely not inspiring her students.  I hope "S" gets a chance to student teach in a better classroom next semester.  I'm saddened by the art curriculum and hope some of the students realize how awesome art is.

7:10 a.m.

I was falling asleep, barely aware of my surroundings, when I got the call this morning at 7:10am.  I woke up on my own at 6:45am and realized I hadn't been called yet so I turned off my alarm and rolled over.  Ultimately I'm glad I did get a position but I was super groggy when my phone started to ring.

Today I was a fifth grade teacher.  At this particular school fifth grade is like middle school: each class of kids rotates to all four of the fifth grade teachers in one day.  I was teaching math.  I decided to start the day right by introducing myself and talking about my expectations.  I told the kids that I expected them to be respectful and polite to me and to each other and that they could expect the same from me. I also drew three stars on the board.  I told them each star was worth five minutes of free time at the end of the day and that they would lose stars for bad behavior.  I found this tip somewhere on the internet (sorry, I can't find the link to the page anymore) and I've been forgetting to use it!

I think my strategy worked brilliantly.  My "home" class was wonderful and every class that came to me for math was quiet and worked diligently.  I introduced my expectations for each group but only used the stars for my "home" class.  The teacher left lots of work to keep them busy and most of the transitions between class went well.  I even had a chance to be bored!  They all worked so quietly that I didn't need to do any monitoring at all and just sat at the teacher's desk and read over some material.

The teacher next door, the fifth grade science teacher, had told me in the morning that I had to be really strict with the fifth graders and I'm so glad that turned out to be untrue.  Two of the kids even told me that I'm pretty (don't worry, they were girls).

I would recommend beginning the day with a discussion about expectations.  The stars worked really well, although I didn't have 15 extra minutes to give them at the end of the day.  I might make stars worth two minutes in the future.

"Special" Day

I subbed for an elementary school computer teacher today.  I think "computers" is considered a special class because students come through for only 45 minutes each day.  They cycle through art, music, computers, and gym.  The coordinator seemed concerned that I'd be subbing for a "computers" instructor because the material is off the beaten track.  Umm, I'm pretty sure I can handle elementary school level computer instruction!  The highest age group that I saw today had to create a three paragraph word document including one picture, one clip art, and one word art.  Pretty sure I've got that under control.

It was interesting to have the younger kids for only 45 minutes.  This teacher's schedule gives her zero down time between classes so I was frantically writing instructions on the board as students were filing in.  On the positive side, her day starts 15 minutes after the first bell and 30 minutes before the last bell.  So I was in and out in a jiff!

The moment the first 5th graders walked in the room they started telling me that today is always game day.  Uh huh.  Right.  So I had them sit first and listen to the assignment and then find a computer.  For the most part they were fine, a few questions and some prompting for the kids who looked through clip art for 10 minutes.  Apparently the moment you tell them to focus on the work you get labeled as a mean substitute.  What is that?  I think they probably had it really easy today!  I let them chat and help their neighbors.  I let them sit wherever they wanted.  How could it possibly be a better period for them?  I am certainly not mean, that is for sure.  I just want to say to them, "I'm a really nice person when people follow instructions and just take care of business".  But of course I maintain composure and try to follow through with warnings, etc.  The regular teacher always gives the class 1000 points to start the period and adds or takes away throughout so it was easy to threaten points and get better behavior.

The other grades were fine.  Some of the assignments the teacher left were either too hard or too easy for some kids so I always had one kid asking for help and another kid asking to play games on the Disney channel website.

Don't get worried - tomorrow is Veteran's Day (no school) and Friday I'll be working the day at my old job.  I hope to be back Monday but as a sub I guess I'll never know.

Kindergarten Part II

At 6:10am I was starting to wonder when I'd get my call.  By 6:20am I figured it might not happen.  By 6:30am I decided I should just get back to sleep because I wasn't getting a call today.  Thankfully at 6:40am I finally got a call to report as a kindergarten aide (for a different class than last time).  Whew!

Today's kindergarten experience was much different than last week's.  I think I'm going to attribute the difference to the teacher and the kids since it certainly can't just be the teacher.  Today's class was much rowdier, much more disobedient, and less cute.

When I first walked in the teacher was shocked that I was subbing for the aide because the aide is usually never out and almost always calls the teacher to let her know.  She immediately told me about the problem child in their class: a boy who not only hits himself but also others and is an extreme distraction to the class every day.  In my mind all I could think was, "Whoa".  Continuing my streak of luck the boy didn't come to school today so I was spared that source of anxiety.  However, the students in this kindergarten class were always talking over the teacher and moving/shaking/rolling/jumping in their seats.  The teacher had a lot less control over her class and seemed to just let stuff slide a lot.  Perhaps that's just what you need to do with twitchy kindergartners, I don't know.

The day was fine.  They did some math and literacy activities, had morning meeting, and had some free time in class to play.  I took them to lunch and it was madness.  They didn't need as much help as the other class but had a really hard time staying in their seats.  Three of the kids constantly bickered all day long and one of the boys ended up having a tantrum at the end of the day.  I took them up to art class and the teacher had a much better handle on how to control the kids than their regular teacher.  She used a lot of the strategies the other kindergarten teacher (from last week) used and I think the kids respected her more.

I was freaked out that because of my performance with the 7th grade class yesterday I wasn't getting a call but I'm probably over-reacting.  I'm sure I did fine and I definitely didn't cross any lines.

ESL and a Nasty Class

I was so asleep this morning that when my phone started ringing I had no idea what was going on.  I could hear an annoying noise.  I could hear the vibrations on the nightstand.  Then I jerked awake, thinking "oh crap".  Finally, I answered.  Today I was assigned to middle school and when this happens you merely find out which school and have to wait and find out who you're subbing for once you get there.

So, I put on a somewhat classy outfit and made sure I wore my tall shoes.  I was running late.  Again.  (I really should wake up 15 minutes earlier but I don't want to acknowledge that getting ready for work takes me more than an hour.  Eating breakfast and making my lunch kills my time, I swear.)  I zoomed over to the school and arrived with 10 minutes to spare before class.  I ended up subbing for an ESL teacher for 4 periods and a Spanish teacher for 2 periods.  Luckily, two ESL teachers work together and have many overlapping students so the wonderful teacher who was present helped me get ready for the class (and conveniently knew who might be a problem).

My ESL classes were wonderful.  Very quiet.  Very respectful.  Did all of their work and if they were slacking off at least they were being silent and pretending to read (when I walked by one kid he was on a completely unrelated page in the book).  A few problems during one period but they were easily solved.  Great.

Then I moved on to Spanish.  Apparently the actual teacher has been out and the kids have had a long term substitute.  However, this long term sub hasn't been in for the past week.  So I think I was probably the sixth different sub these kids have seen in the past six days.  Which explains the attitude.  A compounding problem was the fact that there were absolutely no materials at all.  I scoured the classroom during my prep period and found nothing to pass out to the kids.  There was a video but I could not get the projector to work.  I looked in every cabinet and every desk drawer.  There was a folder for subs but it only contained papers for 8th graders.  There were unlabeled crosswords and worksheets but I was unsure about using them so I took them out but figured I'd see what I could do without them.

The first period was a group of 7th graders and they were awful.  They talked over me, made inappropriate noises, switched seats, yelled at their friends, and hit each other, not to mention the fact that they spoke disrespectfully to me.  It was so noisy even the kids that might have paid attention were distracted.  After 10 minutes of trying to get their attention and explain the rules of the game I thought I would have them play I cracked.  I put on the most stern/angry face I could and told them that because of their attitude they had to be silent for the next 10 minutes and for every minute of talking that I heard I would double the time.  I was NOT JOKING AROUND.  At this a kid said "it sounds like we're in preschool" and he got the better of me because I replied "you're acting like you are in preschool so that's how I'm treating you".  I should not have said that.  Oh well.  They actually did what they were told and were quiet as church mice.  After 5 minutes that felt like an eternity I told them that we would still play a game if they were able to maintain silence for a few more minutes.  They did and we played the game and I think they understood that I was very willing to sit them down in silence again if anything went wrong.

The 6th graders that arrived for the second period were much better.  I decided that I should probably hand out something so I passed out a crossword that ended up being really hard for them.  After a while I stopped them and had them play a game involving some spanish words and then they played 4 Corners.  Much nicer, much more respectful.

Of course, I really should have explained my expectations.  I should have written them on the board before the first Spanish class.  I also should have handed out a worksheet to control their initial attention.  I won't forget again!  It is so hard to not take their comments personally.

Ultimately it is just one 45 minute period in a day that was pretty good.  At the end of the day I told the secretary in the main office how difficult the 7th grade class was and suggested the principal stop in to help with control.  I had talked to the ESL teacher earlier about the difficulty I had with the class and she told me she never feels bad asking the principal to help with a bad class.

I just hope I don't get sent back to Spanish tomorrow.

Indoor Recess

I wish I had a scanner so I could show everyone the lovely pictures that I received today during indoor recess.  The 2nd graders I had were quite delightful and I had five kids draw pictures for me to take home.  Adorable.

But first things first.  I got called for a 2nd grade class today and made my way over to yet another elementary school.  Not only did the teacher leave me really excellent notes but she also has a teacher's aid.  So I was golden for yet another class.  I feel totally lucky to have struck gold four times in a row.  The aid was so useful - she kept kids focused, checked to make sure they turned in their homework, and organized all of the worksheets they turned in today.  I'm sure this is what she usually does, but I think with a substitute in the room it is even more important that an adult who knows the rules is around.

The day went very smoothly.  The kids went to language class right away in the morning and that gave me time to read through all of the notes the teacher left and organize all of the worksheets.  Morning meeting went well, the kids did a really good job staying quiet.  They seemed to really respect me today.  There was a lot of noise and scramble between activities and I had to wait for kids to sit and be quiet a few times but I think that must be standard.  There was an overly helpful girl who was a bit annoying and a boy who clearly has some sort of mental disability and needed extra attention.

Unlike kindergarten, I got to eat lunch with the teachers and they were really nice and chatted with me.  I am amazed that all of them are under 30 and many not married.  I remember my teachers being way older when I was in school.

Generally I've found (and I'm sure this is just so common sense, but I really had to see it in action to understand it) that the kids really respond if you ask them to be helpers and give them encouragement when they do any little thing.  They also just want to be heard so if you let them tell your their story about whatever then they'll be happy.  Story hour is the worst for the kids - they raise their hands for practically every page and they always start out with "One time..." or "My brother/sister/aunt/cousin..." and are long and drawn out if you don't stop them when it no longer relates.  Books took forever to read today!

And now I will enjoy the weekend.  I'm sad that the school system had this past Tuesday off and next Thursday off 'cause I'm losing money!

MORE Really Little Kids

I got to go BACK to kindergarten today.  I think I left out a lot of thoughts from yesterday's post so I wrote a list during my break.  But first, an overview of the day.

The kids went to art class and I was expecting it to be a grand time.  As it turns out, art class isn't that exciting when you're a kindergartner.  They painted shapes, which was pretty boring.  And messy.  Plus they couldn't go out to recess today and I think they must have known that because I felt a lot more energy in the room than I did yesterday.  Lunch was a lot more hectic and the kids would not settle down during free play time.  They continued to learn about apples and took turns at various stations completing mostly arts and crafts type activities.  They did mostly the same stuff as yesterday with a few new additions.  I noticed the teacher speaking with them in a regular voice and telling them "I really like [whatever they are doing that is positive]" or "you're making me sad" when they aren't following directions.  This "like/don't like" and "making me happy/making me sad" kind of talk sounds ridiculous to me but really seemed to work with the kids.  All they really want is to make you happy.

We also had a new student in class today and she took up a lot of my time.  She was really unhappy being in a new school and cried a lot throughout the day.  I wanted to help her but the other kids were so crazy I had limited time.  Thankfully the principal sat with her at lunch and got her to eat a little.

Some observations I left out yesterday: they get breakfast!  I don't know if I'm forgetting kindergarten, but when they get to the classroom they can get a drink (juice or milk) and a breakfast food (cereal, bagel with cream cheese, muffin).  They've got it so easy (but it probably is a reflection of the community's affluence, or lack thereof).  Another thing I wanted to mention is the hall song - I love it!  They sing about keeping their arms at their sides, standing tall, and looking ahead.  It's a great song and really focuses them on the task at hand.

I also totally forgot about lice.  Apparently these are not the same bugs we had in our classrooms when we were little.  These are super lice that cannot be killed by the shampoo your mom used to get at the grocery store.  I am now terrified that I'm going to end up with lice and have them for weeks and never rid myself of them.  AH!

I'm also struggling with what to wear.  For kindergarten I feel like I need to be approachable.  I want to wear stuff that is less professional and more kid-friendly.  So for all three of my placements I wore casual things like a shirtdress or khaki skirt with striped leggings.  But I think for middle school I want to tower over the kids and look really professional - dress pants and nice sweaters with the tallest shoes I can find.  Now I think I'm probably over-thinking the situation.  At the school there was another substitute in for an elementary class and she looked like she belonged in an office.  It's probably more about your attitude than your dress so perhaps I should just go with whatever I feel like.

What I really need is a secondary job so that I can pay my bills.  This substitute gig is pretty fun (so far) but it does not pay well at all.  Fingers crossed.

Really Little Kids

What I thought would be one of the hardest days to get through turned out to be quite fun!  My call (at 6:05am) was for a kindergarten aid.  Currently, my biggest fears are kindergartners and 8th graders (the youngest and the oldest).  I fear the little ones because they're just balls of energy waiting to be released, triggered into screaming or running or crying by any little thing (for example: one kid today almost started crying because there was no longer frost on the ground during recess).  Thank goodness I was just a sub for the aid and the teacher was in the classroom all day.

No surprise here: being an aid is really nice.  I didn't have to teach anything.  Mostly I just guided kids in the right direction, made sure they were listening, kept them on task during activities, and generally enjoyed myself.  I even got to take them to gym class - what a riot!  I can't remember a thing from kindergarten and apparently gym class is all about running, skipping, and throwing bean bags.  Super fun!  I also had to monitor them at lunch.  This means opening milk cartons, opening string cheese, opening Tupperware, opening apple sauce containers, and opening any other kind of food holder you can think of.  They even get to color at lunch time when they're done eating.  What a life!

The teacher was super nice and grateful to have me.  Most of the time when her aid is out she doesn't get a substitute so she loved having a helping hand.  It is really interesting switching schools so often and learning every time where the bathrooms are, where the cafeteria is, what the specific hallway rules are, etc.  Hopefully I'll get to most of the schools in the first few weeks and get a sense of each one's rules and regs.  At least I didn't get lost on my way to the school today and had plenty of time to chat with the teacher.

What did I learn today?  The little ones aren't scary.  Reminders like "keep your hands still" and "face forward" go a long way when keeping kids in line.  Young kids will love you right away and even draw you a picture (showing the two of you holding hands under the sun) on your first day.  Adorable!

First Day

How to begin?  I'm not really the "blogging type".  The last time I wrote about my life on the internet I was a study abroad student writing about my daily adventures in Australia (remember xanga?).  This is different because I'm embarking on a trip into the wilds of elementary and middles schools as a substitute teacher.  How to sink a sub?  I hope I don't find out!

I've spent a lot of time researching tricks of the trade for substitute teaching and the blogs, forums, and articles were all fascinating to read.  I thought to myself, "Perhaps what I have to say can help other subs".  Maybe I'm wrong, but reading about other people's experiences really helped me wrap my head around substitute teaching so I've decided to put my proverbial pen to paper.

A little background on me: I graduated in May with my M.S. in Conservation Biology.  I applied to a million jobs and managed to win myself a position as an environmental educator on the coast of Massachusetts.  This position was wonderful - caring staff, beautiful place, wonderful experiences - but sadly, the position is seasonal.  So as of October 30th I needed a place to go.

I decided to try substitute teaching and I applied for a position in the neighboring city.  It's a flexible job that I won't feel bad quitting if I manage to a) get a full time position somewhere or b) return to my old position in April of 2011.  It doesn't pay well but the hours are short.  Maybe I'll tutor, or work at GAP, or hostess somewhere but hopefully I'll do something on the side.

That gets us to today.  After reading blog posts, forum exchanges, and articles galore I was (sort of) ready to begin my new profession.  Got my call at 6am - 2nd grade classroom.  I had my very tiny bag of tricks ready to go: a collection of small plastic animals as prizes, some ribbons to award for super helpers, a book to read at lunch, a notebook to write my sub notes in, and my lunch.  (I know I'm supposed to have a first aid kit, workbooks, games, and a business card or letterhead but GEEZ I just finished up my other job on Saturday!  I'll get to it.)  I probably over-thought my outfit and tried to do too many things this morning and ended up cramped for time, which was not helpful once I got ridiculously lost on my way there.  Swearing like a sailor I pulled into the first stop I could find and ran into the school.

Thankfully I thought I was coming in right as the bell rang but actually I had 10 minutes to prepare.  The various websites and posts all suggested writing a schedule on the board, writing discipline rules on the board, and writing incentives on the board.  I, of course, did none of these.  As it turns out the teacher already had a behavior board where I could change the kid's color from green to yellow to blue to red to purple depending on the incident.  Convenient!  The schedule was already on the board and I didn't need incentives because the teacher already had a helper at the ready.  Could it be any easier?

The teacher had excellent instructions and a co-teacher came in and walked me through the whole day.  My life was easy.  The kids were fairly well behaved, finished all of the assigned work, helped me get through their daily rituals (didn't lie to me about game times or anything!), and had a great day.  The only issue I had was noise control.  No complaints here!

Thanks to a well-prepared teacher I had a great first day.  I think I understand now the power of learning their names as quickly as possible and the attitude change I get if I call them "students" and not "boys and girls" (another thing I learned from a blog post).  They want to be treated like they are older so when they act appropriately I can do that!

Now on to the next challenge...