One of the things I don’t like about subbing is cancellations, especially those of the last minute variety. That happened this morning, but here is where the drama comes in:

Waking up several minutes before my alarm clock goes off, I look at the clock and see that it’s too late to try to go back to sleep so I decide to just get up. I do my morning business and go to get the paper. I open the door. No paper. But what’s that I see? Fresh snow! So I decide to go outside and do a quick shovel job. Fortunately it was only about an inch or so. I finish, grab the paper which was by now delivered, go inside, and pour myself some breakfast. As I’m putting the milk in the cereal the phone rings.

What? The other districts should have me down as unavailable.

I look at the caller ID and it’s the district I am signed up in today. Heart falling, I answer the call expecting “this job has been canceled.” But as I listen the computer voice is offering me a position for today!

What?

I scroll through the caller ID and I see that they called about five times this morning, once while I was outside shoveling snow! Perhaps I should have had the phone in my bedroom so I could have heard it, but instead it was in the office where I left it last night. Well, no harm done- I still have a job.

So I sit down, read the paper while eating. About 10 min later the phone rings again- same district! This time it was the dreaded “your job has been canceled” notice. Understandably upset at this point I hang up before hearing it all and go to the online substitute site to see for myself. Job still shows up.

What?

I shrug, finish getting ready for work, check again and the job is still safely intact. Just about ready to walk out the door the phone rings again! This time I listen to the cancel message further, suspecting the reason why, and sure enough the system is still trying to let me know the original job has been canceled, not the new one. One would think my accepting the new job would serve as my notice that the first one was canceled, or logging into the website… Well I must say the district is nothing if not thorough.

Oh, apparently that was not the end of it. After I left I guess they called again. Maybe not so much being thorough as a bug in their system? Sigh.

When one thinks of 8th grade, it is often associated with hormonally-challenged, impossible to control young adolescents, and indeed I have found this to be the case in several classrooms.  Add learning, or especially behavioral disabilities to the mix and… well, I’ll leave it to the imagination.  There is one school where I just refused to take any more positions last year for the older kids (7th and 8th in fact, this year just 8th so far at that school).  The school district I was in today I consider to be the best of the local districts I work in.  Besides the money spent on education from a funds-not-so-challenged village, the kids tend to be far better behaved than in other districts.  I would place the reasons at better family life.  In many areas there are low-income families which causes family struggles due to not enough money and parents who are always working and have no time for their kids and so pretty much leave the raising of the kids to the schools.  This town really doesn’t have any low-income families (it costs too much to live here!).  Of course there are other factors influencing family life and behavior, but this I think is number one.  In any event, these 8th graders were not so bad to deal with at all.  Well, the fact that I always had an assistant helped more than a little as well.  As with other special ed teacher situations in a middle school, I had many of the same students all day.  I taught two language arts classes (4-6 students in each!) and watched over two tutorial (study hall) periods.  Additionally I had two science “co-teaching” classes.  Like one time last week, one of these “co-teach” classes had two subs!  Fortunately the main teacher left the other sub clear plans.

Interestingly enough, the regular teachers for myself and the other teacher I mentioned were actually in the building, just in meetings all day.  Something that it somewhat common with special education actually.  The teachers have many meetings throughout the year, so it is only logical that some of those meetings would be in the school rather than an administration building.

One of the neat things to see was one of the science classes created electric quiz machines- the type where you use a wire to complete a circuit with a correct answer (multiple choice or true/false) and light up a bulb.  The quality and size of these quiz games greatly varied, and some were even quite creative.  One student took a shortcut and used an Operation game as a starting point, but most did theirs from scratch.  Some used one wire (true/false and multiple guess) and some used two (matching).  One boy used a motor instead of a light bulb that would shoot up a spinning helicopter-disc.  They were very interesting to try out.  Actually, the class didn’t get to try them out as other classes apparently did due to poor treatment of a substitute teacher yesterday.  Yes, I got to watch the aftermath of a bad substitute report.  Apparently they lost out on playing a review game yesterday as well as not getting to try each other’s quiz games.  Hey, just because it’s a good town doesn’t mean the kids are always good.  I guess maybe I just lucked out today, but what I said about this district generally holds true.

Well, I really have to get to bed as I will be working at a middle school tomorrow and they start over an hour earlier than their elementary counterparts.  8th grade special ed- so I am sure to have something to write tomorrow.  As for today, I was in a multiage room, 4th and 5th grades specifically.  This is the second time I have subbed for this class and there is one thing a bit unusual.  There are not one, not two, but three students in that class who are really big for their age.  They are fifth-graders, but they look like they would physically fit right in in seventh grade.  So were they held back a year?  Well, that was what I was wondering, but nope!  The teacher just happened to have a list with their birthdays (well one wasn’t on the list- she must have transferred in after the start of the year) and the two boys at least are the right age for fifth grade.  Now of course I have encountered the occasional large or small student for their age, but three in one room is just pushing the odds.  I would have to check if they live near power lines or some such situation affecting their growth.  They drink the same water as I do so I know that isn’t the reason…

On another note, the classroom is in a new section of the school and so is one of the few rooms that are air conditioned (no big deal this time of year of course) though the district has finally approved air conditioning for all the schools now starting next year.  The classroom was also quite large and had a widescreen LCD TV.  Nice.  Of course the LCD TV is wasted on them as they have the DVD player/VCR connected only through ordinary video- someone give them some component cables, please!

The last abnormal thing for this class I was in was they have a special foreign-language program there- they were learning Japanese!  This made for an easy morning for me since before Japanese they had music and gym.  I even learned how to write my name in Japanese (Katakana I believe it was called).  Pretty neat.

This will be a shorter post this time around I think.  Today I worked in a second grade classroom.  This is stretching my comfort zone a bit, but toward the end of the year they are becoming more like third-graders as they grow.  Unlike yesterday I was the sole adult in this room, which is the norm for regular classrooms.  The other second-grade teacher, a rare male primary teacher, was very helpful in making sure I knew what was going on and checking up on me when he could.  As this was hardly my first time in a classroom I didn’t need too much help, but he did make sure I knew about an assembly at the end of the day that for some reason didn’t make it into the plans and gave me some tips about the class as well.  Even though this was also a no-specials day (if you don’t count the assembly) it was rather enjoyable.  I had only a break a lunchtime, but was able to do an acceptable job with the plans.  I didn’t finish the reading plans, but typically a teacher writes more than can often be taught to make sure there is no time the students aren’t engaged.  The fact that the plans were well-written and detailed was a bonus.  Not to pick on any gender, particularly mine, but I find that most often women leave more detailed plans than men.  This is not always the case of course but it is typical.  The only real downer for the day was that I had to stay longer than normal because again there were no breaks other than lunch, so I didn’t have time throughout the day to leave all the notes I wanted so I had to spend time after school instead.  Fortunately this school was in my home town so I still got home at a reasonable time.

One of the easiest types of jobs a substitute can take is a job that has a student teacher. Typically, the student teacher does all the teaching while the sub just helps as needed. I have even encountered positions in the past where the teacher leaves a special instruction on the website that says “bring a book.” 😀 I actually subbed for this teacher a couple of weeks earlier and so I knew what to expect. It was a classroom with mentally impaired children, ranging from a boy in a wheelchair who could really only cry out (he spends much of the day listening to music) to a couple of students who are mainstreamed into some specials but still have pretty severe language problems (reading and writing, and in some cases, talking). Also on hand were two assistants, so between us there were two students per adult. As expected I spent much of the day helping rather than teaching, but that is actually expected in this type of class even when there is no student teacher. In that case the assistants take over because they know where each student is at, which really varies dramatically, and what to expect from each student. Without the people in the room who know this a sub can never know if the work the student is doing is really acceptable or if (s)he is just blowing off the work. For some reason I tend to get this sort of job often, whether mentally impaired or just learning disabled, in this district. It may just be that these teachers have more meetings due to the nature of their job, or it may be that the preferred subs have the opportunity at the regular jobs first, or that the regular classroom teachers tend to create a preferred list while the special education teachers don’t.

Actually, I should really explain what I mean by “preferred.” In this district there are two types of preferred subs. The first is on a list made by each teacher of who to call first if a substitute is needed (conversely, I believe they also have a do-not-call list for teachers they never want to see back in their classrooms again). The other type of preferred sub is the 120-day (can work 120 days per school year in the district), or certified substitute. These subs are actual certified teachers either looking for a full-time position but subbing in the meantime or are retired. The system looks for the individual preferred teacher first, and if none are available calls on the 120-day subs, and finally resorts to the 90-day subs. I am a 90-day sub. This means I am not certified as a teacher, but have simple substitute certification for which anyone with any bachelor’s degree can apply. I do not fault them for this system at all. In fact, they are completely up front as to the way it works. Yet, I do get calls and see the jobs posted online. The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was when they applied for a waiver so they could use 120-day subs for more than 120 days. Essentially, some subs are liked so much by the various schools and teachers that they are pretty much called every day. Of course, the one year I know of when they didn’t have the waiver I don’t know if they had trouble getting subs- perhaps they did. Therefore I will withhold judgment on this.

In any event, this is just one district. Other districts have different rules of course.

Yes, tonight I went to church service.  It was actually a sort of unusual service in that all of the children’s ministry was asked to attend the main service.  Ordinarily the 4th and 5th grades would be in service anyway as the last weekend of the month they go to service with their parents (in preparation for junior high when they always attend regular service), but this time it was kindergarten all the way on up in a family service.  It made sense though- the series my pastor is currently in is about family.  What this meant though was there was no drama and no kid’s ministry for me to be involved with this weekend.  In fact, there is no drama for the next month.  Though drama is fun, I appreciate the break.

Tonight they also did an “impromptu choir,” meaning they called on people to come up front and sing the worship songs in the choir risers, children included.  Well, because the children were part of the service, they chose a few children’s worship songs in addition to some regular songs.  During the kid’s songs, they had one boy who came up, a 4th grader, stand in front of us (yes, I came up to sing!) and show the motions that the kids do when singing the songs.  It was so cool- this boy has no trouble in front of large crowds- he actually has been doing drama with me for the last couple years.  Incidentally, his dad was one of the worship leaders which probably gave his confidence a boost as well.  His dad must have been quite proud of him (the good type of pride for another, not the selfish pride the Bible speaks against).  Unfortunately he ran off the stage before I could give him a high five for doing it (and doing a great job at it too!) so I guess I will have to catch him next week in class.

One of the most common roles I fill in for is special education.  Sometimes it’s quite challenging, sometimes quite easy.  Well, it is only truly easy when there are teaching assistants who pretty much take over while I take the role of assistant.  This is commonly the case in mentally impaired classrooms (autism, Down syndrome, etc.).  Yesterday was mostly on the easy side.  I was subbing for a junior high teacher who actually only had one class of her own- the rest were “team teaching,” which generally means the sub plays the part of assistant while the other teacher teaches.   But what does one do when both teachers are out and both left plans saying the other teacher will take over?  That appeared to be the case when I walked into second period and compared notes with the other sub.  Fortunately, this turned out to be a non-crisis as the teacher he was subbing for left plans on the board in addition to saying that my teacher would take over.  I can only guess his teacher found out about my teacher’s absence only after writing the plans.  Whew.  The rest of the day was quite uneventful, just following the same group of students around through social studies, math, science and language arts.  I also had to help look over a group of homework lunchers (detention really).  It’s just as it sounds- students who didn’t turn in homework in one or more classes worked on it during lunch.  I was told when they first started this program there were over 60 kids in the room at one time!  Now that has to be against fire codes.  I was quite happy there were only about 15.  In any event this was definitely a position I would do again.

There’s not really much for me to say today. I was with 3rd grade, which is about the bottom of my comfort zone. I have done lower grades, even preschool, but 3rd-7th is what I prefer. The day actually started out not looking so good with a lot of chit-chat while the kids did their morning work. Fortunately they improved throughout the day. Right after morning work was silent reading time and I have to admit they did very well. When we got to math I had the pleasure of teaching a lesson I had a chance to teach twice before, believe it or not, in the previous weeks so in a way it was like teaching the second or third class in a middle school after getting the “practice” time with the first class. Not much to say about reading and writing. Another teacher came in to do a couple of writing assessments, which wasn’t planned, so I only taught part of the original lesson. Reading was one of the “just give them this independent work” times where no lesson was involved.

Specials, read “break time for subs” are sort of a hit or miss thing with elementary school- some days you may have two, other days none. Today there was one at the end of the day, giving a little time for me to write some notes so I wouldn’t have to stay a half-hour after the kids leave as I occasionally have to do. Rather than the kids going out as to music or gym, a social worker came in with a lesson. This unfortunately meant that I still couldn’t leave the room, but at least it gave me that note-writing time. All-in-all the day wasn’t too bad.

Interesting coincidence- the team name of the school I was at was the wildcats. The middle school, actually junior high as that district still uses that term though they run the schools like middle schools (there is a difference), where I will be tomorrow has the same team name. Nothing big, just interesting.

Well, I suppose since this is my blog I can write about more than just subbing.  There is the retro-gamer in me, and I might say a few things here and there about it, but I think I should really just start another blog about it once this gets going.  There is also the church-goer in me.  I sing, do drama, and teach 4th/5th grades there, so it is sort of on-topic anyway, not that on-topic is a requirement for me… 😉

Tonight is the first night for Easter choir rehearsal.  Now, my church is a very large church meaning I will be one of 100+ in the choir, or one of about 30 men.  I will find out tonight whether or not I can actually do it- it all depends on whether or not we would have to sing at the end of the service- they do that from time to time.  If we do, then it would conflict with the kid’s ministry.  I can always be a little late to the class (I am one of several leaders actually as there are around 40 kids in the class each service) especially since they start with a game time, but it would be irresponsible of me to not show up for the teaching and small group times.  This is especially true on Easter, one of the two days of the year when typically more people show up than the norm.  To you who do: Jesus wants to see you in his house more! 🙂

Beyond choir, I also do drama for the younger kids, but we have next month off from that so there is no interference with it.  Well, gotta go.  It’s nearing rehearsal time.

One problem that comes with subbing is scheduling errors and cancellations with little to no notice. There was one day last year when I signed up to sub for a social worker only to find out when I arrived that the social worker is a position that doesn’t get a sub. Okay, you might say to yourself, “how obvious,” but in that same district earlier I had subbed for a speech/language pathologist. Obviously a sub can’t really fill in for that position either, but as it turned out there was a student teacher so they needed a sub just to have a certified person in the room so I just figured this would be the case again. Well, at least they paid me for half a day’s (non)work.

Anyway, today there was another error, only it wasn’t an error. I was called in for a full day, but when I got there the plans were only for a half day. I checked with the office and it was indeed a full day they scheduled. Fortunately they had another teacher that would need me in the afternoon so they could keep me the full day. But wait, it wasn’t over. The team partner of the one I subbed for then told me shortly after that she wouldn’t be there in the afternoon and was wondering about her sub. I had to go to the office anyway about a small problem with the arrangement to work for the afternoon teacher, so I said I would ask about her sub while I was there. Well, it turned out there was no sub arranged for her. To make a long story short (yes, I know…) apparently the original teacher had requested a full day sub to cover for the two of them and her partner either wasn’t told or forgot, so they changed the arrangement again and so I wound up actually subbing for three teachers throughout the day like a floater. As you can see, the classrooms themselves aren’t the only source of drama.