Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Too Many Subs


When I got offered this gig--6 days in for one of those self-contained special ed classes--I had to think long and hard about it. But I figured I can handle it. And there would be instructional assistants (IAs) to help.

I made the right choice.

Monday had been Memorial Day, so no school. I started on Tuesday. Wednesday went along swimmingly. But one of the IAs was going to be out on Thursday, so there were a couple things I would have to know how to do. Ms. J would have a sub (she was the 1-to-1 aide for a boy who needs almost constant supervision), but she also made sure the students were provided with the math assignment they needed, and she was in charge of mail delivery.

The sub, Mrs. B, is well-known to me. And she knows the class pretty well, as she's floated in on various occasions. So all was well. Until 5th period.

5th period is when Ms. J, and by extension her sub, Mrs. B, takes her lunch. The IA who covers during her lunch hadn't arrived...

A call to the office confirmed that Mr. C had called out for the day. (I'm pretty sure he said something about being out on Wednesday, but for some reason, we didn't know about it and/or didn't have coverage.) Eventually, his sub arrived.

So, Mrs. B went on her lunch, covered by a sub, and the class was supervised by a sub.

Well, at least the kiddos stayed on task. There's something to be said for consistency. So, they did what they do, and eventually the all day IA returned (she spends 5th period in another class) and Mrs. B returned from lunch.

Friday all the regular IAs returned.

29 comments:

  1. Glad things went okay despite the bump.

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    1. Fairly okay. We don't want thing to go too well, or I would have nothing to post about.

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  2. I can't imagine the complications of scheduling. Best wishes, my dear.

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  3. Wow, too bad so many subs had to float in and out at the same time. The change in routine is so hard on kids like that. I'm glad you cobbled together coverage eventually. It sucks to have to clean up messes like that while doing a whole other non-stop job.

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    1. Well, at least I didn't have to figure out the sub situation. The others did that.

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  4. Would be a bit confusing trying to keep all the aides and subs organized and where they are supposed to be :)

    betty

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  5. It's good that there is a good support system. For the subs and for the kids.

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  6. Now I wonder if our sub in our school dist like the four day week that is here.
    Coffee is on

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    1. Four day weeks? Really? I hear that students do better with that. You'll have to tell us how that's working out.

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  7. Well done for keeping all that in your head. Reckon I would have wanted to hide under the desk.

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    1. It's easy to remember when you're living it. It did all work out.

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  8. I can't imagine all the planning that goes into this!

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  9. It is good that someone can straighten all things out!

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  10. I thought I responded here yesterday.....I am amazed at how many there are and I am confused:) well, that's normal...

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    1. You may have. Blogger has been known to eat comments from time to time. And randomly turn on the Captcha.

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  11. Sounds complicated! Glad the kids were well behaved through all of that! :)

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    1. It was, on paper. In practice, it worked out pretty well.

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