teacher stuff

So, I got an email today that I am not in the top three for the writing teacher position. Well, that saves me the trouble of having to put together a curriculum plan.

I'm kinda bummed, because I wanted a full-time job, but kinda not, because as much as it sounds excited, it also sounds hectic and tiring. I think I'd prefer to have my own room and one or two group of kids, not bouncing around from room to room with 12 groups of kids.

I had my first "real" sub job today. The first three sub jobs were either bilingual or Special Ed, so I was pulling kids out of their classrooms for special help. Yesterday, I subbed in 8th grade, but it was only a partial day, and even then it was unusual (I shelved books in the library during the morning, watched kids do work for 2 hours, and then they had an assembly). However, today I had a full day in a single classroom, for the first time. One group of 25 4th graders. It wasn't horrible, but it is a little bewildering. If the teacher planned to be out, they usually have instructions and worksheets and stuff like that. But if the teacher gets sick and calls in that morning, its kind of a free-for-all. This teacher had called another teacher, who came over to give me some info, but after that, I was on my own. No one went to the office or the hospital, and we got through everything we were supposed to, so I guess that's sucessful.

It's funny, because kids think they are super sly. Like when you go over to redirect them to get back to work, and they put their pencil on paper for a second, then go back to what they were doing as soon as you start to walk away. They think we fall for that stuff. Unfortunately, they usually win because you can't stand next to them all day, and if you aren't their teacher, you don't have a lot of ways to enforce your rules. Although with one of the eighth graders who could not focus and kept talking rather than working, I found that staring at him while walking around freaked him out, because everytime he'd look up to check where I was, I'd be watching him. Another time, I had just redirected him, and started to walk away behind him. But then I immediately turned back and went back behind him. He started to dick around again, and his friend sitting facing him says out of the corner of his mouth "She's right behind you." Like I can't see what is happening.

With the eighth graders, I also learned that if I am really going to teach middle school, I need to either get platform shoes, or an even louder voice. Trying to move through a pack of eighth graders with any authority is almost impossible when 70% of them are taller than you.