Lunch meat

This week marked a first for subbing...I subbed all 5 days!!! I'd like to share two interesting stories/lessons learned.

1. At 7 in the morning on Tuesday I got called, which wasn't too bad until I heard that it was for a kindergarten class. When I got there the regular teacher was finalizing plans. She told me to "just get through the day." Not so comforting. Oh my goodness, this class was crazy. Individually they were good kids, but once one situation arose and taken care of a whole new saga was unfolding. I made a particularly "energetic" young man cry when he thought he'd be in the time out room during a birthday party. By the afternoon I had managed to gain what I considered to be good control of the class (i.e. they weren't running around the room screaming and no one was constantly telling on someone). However, I didn't see what was around the corner. At the end of the day I was to walk the students to the office so they could catch their rides. No big deal right? Well I got the kids lined up quietly, but the choice about whether I should be in the front or back presented itself. For those who don't think much of the job of educators might think this choice proves how simple the life of a teacher is. Still, I had a decision to make and I stayed in the back of the line to make sure there were no disappearing children along the way. Unfortunately I didn't anticipate the screaming rampage the students took off on as soon as they hit the gym and continued all the way to the office right in front of you guessed it, the principal. There were horrified looks of everyone who witnessed this disaster and I all could do was hang my head. It's common knowledge that this particular group of kids are constantly on the verge of out of control, but I really thought I had tamed the beast. I guess I didn't entirely, but I did learn one important lesson...ALWAYS be in the front of the line and just to be safe, learn how to walk backwards. And for all you teacher skeptics out there never underestimate the advice I just provided.

2. As I was subbing in a 4th grade class I got a call from the office. They asked if one of the students had brought lunch meat and if so would she bring it to the office. I thought it had something to do with eating a special lunch because of a dietary need. So I passed the message along only to get an odd look. I repeated myself at which point a para in the classroom asked if I meant lunch money...wow that made a lot more sense! I promised the class I wasn't always so off my game; too bad I continued to pronounce a few their names incorrectly. At least I'm not the sleeping sub (apparently there is a sub who feel asleep during class once).