Monday, June 3, 2013

A Bad Wake Up Call

I woke at 5 AM. This is normal. Most mornings, I'll wake sometime between 4:45 and 5:45. Since the sub caller doesn't call until nearly 6 AM, my challenge is to go back to sleep.

Some mornings I actually succeed.

This morning, the ringing of my phone jerked me awake. When I heard the name the sub caller gave me, however, I wished I was back asleep.

I dread certain classes for various reasons. Classes that I can't control. Teachers who don't leave me anything. Loud students who won't settle down.

This class usually has all three.

I did groan when the sub caller said the name. I did also take the assignment.

Turned out not to be as bad as anticipated. Did I have lesson plans? No. But we managed to find the projector, and having movies on seemed to keep the kiddos from going crazy.

(What do I mean by crazy? Students chasing each other brandishing music stands.)

Ah well. It's work, right?

8 comments:

  1. I'm so glad I have a regular job. I'd hate to be on call again. I guess I should stop complaining that I don't get enough money for my salary. Just having 40 hours at a set schedule and benefits is nice.

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  2. As someone who thrives on a set routine, I know I could never be a substitute teacher. Whenever they called me to work, I'd say no and never make any money, then they'd fire me.

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  3. One of the reasons I retired a little earlier than perhaps I should have was having to be on call 24/7 when it was my turn, which was once a month. Middle of the night phone calls were the worst. The kicker was getting a call on Thanksgiving, and while everyone else was enjoying the dinner I cooked, I was upstairs on the computer trying to fix a network problem. If the job had entailed more rewarding work, I probably wouldn't have minded as much.

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  4. Brandishing music stands. Wow. Being a sub takes guts.

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  5. Being a sub does take guts. I can't believe how teachers drop the ball and leave nothing. When my ETS finished a couple of years ago, they kept putting me in a class with a few challenging groups. One was really challenging. The teacher had been denied tenure and so had basically given up.

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    Replies
    1. Those are the worst. Not only are there no lesson plans, the kids have gone wild.

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  6. Brandishing music stands--too funny! You have a way with words.

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