Another year of subbing begins

Today was a new experience for me. I have never subbed so close to the beginning of a school year. It is the 3rd day of school here in our district. Some of the parents as they dropped their child off even stated to me, "A substitute already?"

Hey don't blame me, I wasn't the one taking the day off. I subbed for a 1st grade class---they still haven't really learned how to behave in school. They were timid and quiet around me for about the first hour and then after that they turned into a class of chatterboxes. I can't really blame them----It really takes a few days to get adjusted to a classroom again after not being in one for three months. The school I was at had its first practice fire drill today, and everyone from my class got out of the class unscathed, so that is definitely a good thing.

The teacher I worked for today, Ms. G, had a full set of lesson plans available for me, but unfortunately she didn't really do a good job of having materials prepared for me. Complete the 4 pages of spelling. Note to all you real teachers out there, be very specific about what you mean......4 pages of spelling might make sense to you, but it certainly doesn't mean anything to me.

One of the hardest things that I had to deal with is a young boy who I will call Leo. Leo had a whole list of problems going on, no reading ability, a good chance he is dyslexic, and speech problems also. Lucky for him, he is a determined young kid, but Leo just couldn't do any of the work that the teacher had for the class. So I am left with the dilemma, do I help Leo finish something or do I just ignore him and concentrate on the rest of the class. I worked a lot with Leo, but it meant that I lost a lot of control over the rest of the class.

The kids in this class were very huggy---I think it is probably the huggiest group of kids that I have ever worked with. One of the kids did say that I looked like a teddy bear, so maybe that had something to do with it. I'm not really a huggy person myself so I don't always receive hugs as warmly as I should.

What else to say, I forgot how physically draining teaching can be. I got home and my legs and feet were just aching. I'm certainly glad that it is a 3-day weekend. I'm not sure what my next class will be, keep tuned till next week.