Tiny Chairs

I had another one of those substitute assignments where I signed up for one thing, and ended up with something else. I signed up to teach in a 2nd grade classroom today, but instead I was placed in a first grade classroom. I'm sure you are thinking, no big whoop! From my perspective, I think the change from 1st grade to 2nd grade is one of the biggest changes during elementary school.

1st graders tend to be pretty helpless--you still have kids in the class who can't read or write. Most 2nd graders are at least a little more self-sufficient. With 1st graders it seems like every time you ask a child to do something, you have to repeat yourself at least 7 or 8 times, with 2nd graders you are only repeating yourself 3 or 4 times.

Other than that, it was actually a pretty good day. 1st graders tend to love any and all adults. Even if you bust a kid for some sort of trouble they don't seem to ever hold it personally against you. It was quite a change from the other week when several students told me that they didn't want me as a substitute again, today I was hearing that I was the best substitute ever (and it was sincere, not in the kiss up ways that you might hear from older kids).

Oh and the other fantastic thing today, the classroom I was in had a parent helper. And get this parent helper's job was to take attendance and lunch count. Talk about perfection---I got to avoid least favorite activity for the second time in one month. Parent helpers, that is the sign that you are in a good school. You don't need fancy test scores to evaluate schools, just determine how many parent helpers there are, and are they helping with things that make a difference----and yes, attendance and lunch count does make a difference!

So tiny chairs! I walk into this classroom and honestly there was only a single chair in the entire room that had a seat higher than my knee. There wasn't a single table that was higher than my table---I was permanently crouched the whole day. No wonder my back was killing me when I got home. But it did make me feel like a giant, because I towered over everything and everyone in this classroom.

Off to get some sleep, because I am back at it again tomorrow. I will be visiting a school that is new to me, and I'm a little bit fearful of it. The school is near the last school that I had trouble with a few weeks ago. I know I shouldn't judging schools based on their location, but I have been very skittish about new schools lately.