Friday, April 15, 2011

High School Part II

Today I returned to my long term high school biology and physics teacher position.  The teacher is having a second surgery so I'll be in for one more week.  I'm crossing my fingers that this might be my last subbing gig before transitioning to my summer job.

This is the deal: the teacher had surgery today, April vacation is next week, and I'll be in for her the entire week of the 25th.  She left me lesson plans and activities and since this is the ecology chapter she has left me lots of room to improvise (yay!).  It should be super fun to teach one of my favorite subjects and I can be more enthusiastic about how cool it is than I was for genetics.

I think most of the students were happy to have me back.  I'm pretty sure I overheard one girl complaining right outside the door, "I didn't know she was coming back!  Ugh, I can't believe we have to have her again... (blah blah blah)"  I don't think I ever had a problem with this particular girl so it's a little weird that she apparently hates me.  Oh well.  Her problem!  The girl in physics that I had a big problem with, G, was definitely not excited to see me.  She asked in class whether I would be their sub for the whole week after break and I said yes.  Her face was stony, flat, unimpressed.  Again - oh well!  The feeling is mutual, G, trust me.

The biology students had to graph the population number of deer in a particular preserve over time and I was shocked at the students' lack of graphing skills.  I kid you not, they simply wrote the years on one axis and the corresponding population sizes on the other axis and plotted the points (this is after asking me which axis is which).  This results in a straight line.  I've been subbing in almost every grade level and these kids have absolutely no excuse.  They have learned to graph, I've seen it, I've probably taught it at some point.  How do you get to your sophomore year of high school and not understand simple graphing???  So I had to explain how to create intervals on the axes, why these intervals increase evenly (in 2s, 5s, 10s, etc) and why they can't simply write down the years from the data set.  There are some truly dumb people in this world.  There.  I said it.  Sad but true.

On a different note, it seems that the tanning spree has begun.  Several girls in school were nice and brownish orange today.  Almost no students wore a jacket to school even though it was a lovely 36 degrees this morning.  A kid walking into school in front of me had a t-shirt on and was carrying a red bull in one hand and a Powerade in the other.  Oh my.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Oh, Friday.

Oh, Friday, what a crazy day you are.  You induce extreme ADHD symptoms in even the most calm of students.  I say this even though I really didn't have a bad day.  But it is a true fact and it is annoying for all who teach.

I had sixth graders today, in a science classroom.  It was the nicest classroom I've ever been in!  I think the ceiling was about two stories tall with big windows on each end.  It must be a very specific part of the building that I've never been in - I didn't even notice that architecture from the outside.  Anyway, I had pretty good kids and I did have an aide for two periods.  They were rowdy but their assignment was to keep working on building little cars out of cardboard and tape.  Assignments like that are difficult for subs because the kids can get away with a lot of stuff.  Groups wanted to test their cars in the hall, asked for materials a lot, and generally goofed around while I wasn't watching.  No one got hurt and most finished their cars so my day was successful in that sense.

I also had to fill in for a seventh grade teacher for the last period of the day.  These are the kids I had long-term a few weeks ago and they remembered me.  It was not a good group of them, though, and they were super loud and rambunctious.  It took all I had to remain calm and keep them doing something other than attacking each other.  The teacher hadn't left much work at all so I allowed them to play games if-and-only-if they finished the worksheet.  I was afraid a teacher was going to come in and yell at me, that's how loud these students were.  But thankfully the bell rang and they all went home.  Happy weekend!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Compliments

Young kids give the best compliments!  But I'll get into that later.  Today I had fifth grade and the kids were great.

It was a prime example of a hallway where the teachers expect too much (in my humble opinion).  It was nice of them to check in but they were really worried about the behavior of the kids and if they were doing well for me.  They were fine.  The teacher had left a note pointing out three of the students and listing what their normal problem behaviors are and how to deal with them.  That was really awesome and I knew what I was dealing with right away.  The three listed "problem students" didn't even misbehave today.  They were a bit loud at times but no pushing, no swear words, and no lack of work ethic.

I'm not sure if all of the other teachers were having a bad day or what but they had a harassed look about them and seemed really annoyed with the fifth graders at all times.  They yelled at them in the hallway and I think would have been appalled at the noise level in my classroom.  I thought everything was fine, although I understand that being distracting in the hallway is annoying for other classrooms.

Overall I didn't have to reprimand anyone and the only reminder was to "quiet down".  Not out of the ordinary.

Now on to the compliments!  I have gotten some great compliments from the younger students in the past, and for some reason they are always about my hair.  I really don't think my hair is anything special.  It used to be nice and blond but has retreated to a boring brownish color in the last 10 years.  The kids always say how beautiful my hair is and I revel in the compliment!  The other compliment I got today was about my boots, which I agree are quite nice.  I'm glad these kids have no filter and just say nice things because I think as adults we don't speak up when we have positive things to say.  I've been trying to do that lately, for example: complimenting someone with a beautiful yard as I walk by or telling a woman on the bus that I like her dress.  It might be slightly creepy but hopefully it makes people feel a little better!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Thank Goodness for Third Grade: Part II

I had the same group of third graders today (from Monday) and it made my day interesting in a few ways.  First, the kids remembered me because I had just been in the classroom (their teacher had been with them in the intervening day).  I guess she was really sick and needed another day off.  So they were surprised to see me but apparently happy that I was their sub again.  I tried to keep those happy feelings going by reminding them of the day on Monday and how good their behavior had been (although it really wasn't great on Monday, but I felt like saying something like that might help).  I do think that having a fairly positive day on Monday made today's position easier.

Second, because I was just in this classroom on Monday I remembered the problem kids and what they were like.  I could build on whatever strategy I had started to develop a few days ago.  I also had a leg up on names and I remembered quite a few.  This is always helpful because telling a kid to be quiet and telling "David" to be quiet are two very different things.  I think part of the reason students can take advantage of substitutes is because we subs can't learn names that quickly.  If I can't directly address a misbehaving student they aren't likely to fix their behavior, but if I can name the kid then they start listening.

I don't keep track of the school schedule and was pleasantly surprised to find out that today was an early release day (we got out of school an hour early).  It impacts the elementary school by taking away recess and some classroom time.  I love recess because it gives the kids a chance to get out their "wigglies".  The good thing about today is that recess was replaced by a movie, National Treasure, that they got to finish after gym.  So they got to play some games in gym and then watch a movie - the perfect day!  We barely had a chance to finish half the math work assigned.

I did feel bad that I didn't get through much of the work but I don't think it was necessarily my fault.  The class didn't settle down very quickly after gym or lunch and we watched 30 minutes of the movie.  I think she may have left a lot of work just in case, but I still wish I had gotten the kids through more of the math.  There's always tomorrow!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Thank Goodness for Third Grade

I was on the verge of calling in sick, if you can believe it.  I got very little sleep and woke up nauseous.  Sadly I had already taken the call from the coordinator without realizing my nausea, so instead of calling back I decided to suck it up and get to work.

Thankfully I had a relatively easy third grade class.  I was amazed at the level of quiet in the room as compared to last week's first grade.  Especially in the morning, when they all seemed to understand that they had to take care of their work.  Most of the kids worked diligently and finished as quickly as possible.  Up until lunch time they did well with the worksheets and math problems.

Unfortunately it was raining so we had indoor recess.  This meant that a small amount of havoc occurred after lunch but I felt like the kids needed a break so I let them go a little crazy.  It was hard to pull them back to reality.  They were pretty distracted after lunch and we didn't get through everything the teacher had laid out for the day.  That said, I think they did plenty of work today (I swear there were 10 different worksheets).

I realized while playing multiplication bingo that I had prizes with me so I decided to hand them out to the winners.  It's so hard to give kids prizes because everyone wants one and when it's a game of "luck" they all freak out and complain about how unfair the game was.  It's a stupid plastic animal, come on!  But I know we all used to be like that and I complain when I don't win raffles even now.  So I guess it's understandable.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Blah

I'm feeling blah.  Yesterday and today were both difficult placements and now I have a lurking headache.  It isn't quite there, but I can feel something right behind my eyeballs.

Yesterday was a gem because I was in 1st grade with no aide.  Twenty three six and seven year-olds and me.  Here is the profile of the classroom: 25% tattletales, 25% crybabies, 35% ADHD/behavioral problems, 15% normal.  All day long I had kids running up to me complaining that "she hit me with her elbow" or "he took my pencil and won't give it back" or "she's talking about me".  What the heck am I supposed to do about this crap?  I also had the crybabies sniffling in the corner, or refusing to leave the library, or asking to go to the nurse every 5 minutes.  And then I had my problem kids who could not focus, would not sit, had to bother the kids sitting next to them all day long.  I cannot be in 14 places at once but that's what was asked of me.  The day was sooooooo loooooooong.  Where did my little kid skills disappear to?

Then today I got 8th grade, a classroom I've been in already and a hall that I've been in a lot lately.  Sadly this 8th grade hallway is not my favorite.  There are some that are good - the right side seventh grade hall at middle school A for example.  But this particular hall has some real winners, including H who smiles at you the whole class period while totally ignoring your requests, making farting noises, and sharing sexual jokes with his neighbor.  Ick.

This particular middle school is my least favorite because they tend to sign me up to cover for other classes throughout the day.  All teachers get prep periods that are free and I usually spend them snacking and reading a book.  Middle school teachers get two free periods out of seven total (not including lunch).  But today, since it was going so well for me, I was signed up to cover for a Spanish class for my two free periods.  No wonder I have a headache!  It sounds stupid that I should need time off from teaching a measly five periods of class, but when the kids are driving you up the wall you need some time to decompress before the next class.  I didn't get that today.

By the time the last period arrived I was ready to give up.  This was a double block so I had already had these kids before lunch.  Not my favorite class, it included H, and the girls would NOT STOP TALKING.  And they laughed at me when I told them to change seats!  Laughed right in my face!  I just wanted to smack them and tell them to grow up.  Alas, that is not an acceptable response.  I had to channel my inner calmness.

Thank goodness for the weekend.  I can't take much more of this!