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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Memoirs of a Substitute Teacher


Soooo....basically subbing has taken over my life, among other things. Besides fooling around on my phone, I think this is the 2nd time I've opened my laptop in about 3 months. It's both a good thing and a bad thing. I went from having absolutely too much free time after graduating to having no time at all. In the end, I'm happy. I'm doing something that I find truly rewarding, and in my most cases of happiness in my life, it was unplanned. I'm pretty happy that I fell into teaching. It was really overwhelming at first and a bit scary, but I'm truly finding a love for it. Waking up at 6 am every morning to wait for a call, not so much ;-)

Subbing is a tricky profession. You have to be able to go into a classroom and pick up where the teacher left off, with little or no prior knowledge of what exactly the class is learning or already knows. All while trying to keep order and have the children like you, but not completely walk all over you because you are just a substitute. The first thing a child thinks when their teacher is out is play time! That isn't the case for K-5. We're still expected to go over any material that the teacher was expected to complete that day, screaming children and all.

I've worked with kids before in the past, but never in as structured a situation as daytime school. I've been a camp counselor, a pottery teacher, a babysitter and a tutor. Informality at its best. "Adjusting" is just one word you could use to describe my first week of subbing ;-) I really wasn't sure if this was something I should be doing. I almost longed for a computer and a desk to crawl under.

I give classroom teachers so much credit for what they do day in and day out, 180 days a year. Those two summer months off are a job necessity for the profession. Otherwise, there would be a surplus of ex-teachers in the loony bin. Being a sub, I go in and I go out. Sometimes there's weeks or months in between having the same class again. It's the perfect job for someone who gets bored easily. Seeing so many new faces is something I enjoy. It keeps things interesting. Since I'm only in one school so far, I'm getting to know all the kids pretty well and I have the opportunity to work with every grade.

My favorite part is the interaction with the kids. Their young, untarnished, innocent (some not so much) personalities are priceless. Some of the things they come up with and say is hysterical, and often inappropriate. Remaining professional and having to scold is not my favorite part, but I do it...usually with a straight face ;-)

I'm really happy that I was led to this path and I'm curious to find out what will happen down the road.

1 Comments:

Hi Liz,

I just "tagged" you on my blog. If you are not too busy check it out.

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