Art!

I got to be an art teacher today!  The coordinator didn't even hint at the possibility so when I arrived at the middle school and was told I'd be the art teacher I was pretty psyched.  The secretary said, "I guess you're the art teacher today - good luck with that" in a tone that suggested I should not be excited about the opportunity.  Turns out, she was kind of right.

I had three periods of art kids: one 6th grade group, one 7th grade group, and one 8th grade group.  They got progressively worse as the day wore on.  The 6th graders were relatively quiet and didn't mess around too much.  The 7th graders were a little bit more rowdy, not as respectful, and didn't really work on the sketch they were supposed to be doing.  The 8th graders were pretty bad.  No respect, no work ethic, just walked around and talked to their friends.  I picked my battles and won a few of them.  As long as nothing really bad was happening I let stuff slide.  There is no other good way to deal with kids like that.  Especially since they fully believe in taking advantage of a substitute teacher.

However!
The great thing about my day was my schedule: three art classes and one period spent in a tutoring classroom.  That's it!  I had four periods free!  Well, three and lunch.  I colored a picture and read a new book I got from the library.  It was great.  I even got to leave early because I didn't have a class last period.  A schedule like that makes me want to be an art teacher.