Adventures in Substituting!!

Well, I started subbing last week at the local High School. The first day was a piece of cake, more literally than figuratively, I subbed a Home-Ec class. I was a bit nervous, well, not really nervous, but anxious. I had no idea what to expect, and had never dealt with block scheduling before. It was also a Friday, and the seniors had "privileges", but I wasn't sure what they were really allowed to do as compared to what they were telling me. A few tried to get away with leaving early, but others told me the truth and I was able to keep the class in check. Monday was also a good day. I had a Chemistry class - an honors class, so they were all good students, did their work quickly and quietly and the day passed without incident. Tuesday when I got to the school I found out I was subbing for an Algebra 2 class and was excited as this is my field. I had first block planning period, so I sat in the teachers lounge with the class' assignment and worked out all the problems so I would be able to help them if they needed. The class was well behaved and needed little to no help. I was some what disappointed. The next class he had was a "marketing class". I had 4 students.....the rest were on a field trip with the normal teacher. It was time for lunch at that point (12:20), and as it turned out this teacher also had last block on even days as a planning period, so after checking with the office, I was able to go home early. I paid for it though!!! I was thinking, boy this job is really easy, I have never earned money with this little effort before. Things change. Wednesday when I reported for duty, I was told to take a Drama class, I though, ok, cool. Well, the teacher showed up, so they reassigned me....to an ESE class. ESE is the "exceptional students", not gifted, but the other end of the spectrum. It was kind of like walking into a war zone. The class room was actually in one of the portables, when I knocked on the door, a teacher answered the door. I was a bit confused at first, but then realized in these portables were 3 classrooms. The teacher that opened the door happened to be someone I knew from Mike's baseball days. She was the Mom of one of Mike's team mates and friend. This was a welcome relief. Once in the portable, she explained to me how things worked to a certain extent. The ESE kids were pretty much contained to this portable for the day except if they had an elective. The teacher I was subbing for was actually non existent. It turns out that something about his certification wasn't up to date and they hadn't found a replacement. This apparently had been going on since about 2 weeks into the school year. These kids had been through sub after sub, and sometimes with no teacher at all if they couldn't find someone to take the class. Subs are only allowed to do the same class for a few days running otherwise they have to put you into a different classification, pay you more, and give you benefits. So, let me explain how things normally work when you sub a class. Nine times out of 10 the teachers know they are going to be out and leave a lesson plan - busy work - for the kids to do. You basically sit there and babysit, read a book, relax, and give out hall passes! Since there had been no teacher since week 2 for these kids, there were no lesson plans, no busy work. The name of the classes I was subbing were "Social Skills Developement" and "Career Building". These kids are on anywhere between a 4th and 5th grade level. Some are physically handicapped, some seemed to be visibly mentally challenged, others seemed like they may be taking the easy way out. Either way, I was flipping through books (what few books they had, not even enough workbooks for every child), and making up lessons. Some of these kids you saw twice in a day, so you had to come up with new work for each block. At first I felt sorry for the kids and their handicaps, but quickly learned that they use it to their advantage. Soon I was treating them like any other teenager, and I think they actually respected me more for that. They all asked me if I could be their regular teacher. I told them no, that I was just a sub. I left that day with a new respect for teachers, especially ESE teachers. I went home mentally and emotionally tired. I woke up the next day with a gut feeling that I was going to see these kids again, and I was right - I was assigned to them again on Thursday. This time I had the advantage of knowing what to expect, and was able to control the class from the beginning instead of coming in and trying to "tame a wild beast". To Be Continued...........................