I was already late due to a late call from the sub caller. Then I get into the room (with the whole class as I got there just after the tardy bell), and there are no lesson plans. Not a thing.
The assignment on the board was from the previous week. From the first day they had had a sub (they explained). This was the fourth day the teacher had been out, and everything on the board they had completed.
I called the office. Lesson plans had not been emailed. I did not get a call from the teacher.
32 students with nothing to do.
"Can we watch The Lion King?"
They knew where the video was. The VCR and projector were already set up. Sure, it was a class of juniors and seniors, but leaving a class with a free period...
While first period was "busy", I had time to take stock of the situation. Sure, the stuff on the board was finished. The next chapter... Not quite going to work. But after perusing their textbook, I found some random questions the classes could work on. Not ideal, but better than making classes watch cartoons all day.
Third period arrived. (Second period was the teacher's prep.) I had written the assignment on the board. I explained what they were to do...
"We're supposed to watch The Lion King."
Because, of course students talk and compare notes.
So, I explained that I had no lesson plans first period (which first period was well aware of). Then I kind of let them believe that I had gotten the lesson plans... Well, I didn't admit that I had cobbled them together myself. They never would have done any work then.
Although, they didn't really do the assignment. But without my outright lying to them, they kind of thought that perhaps I had heard from their teacher.
Because there was no way I was showing a movie all day (that was not already planned by their teacher).
"So, you just gave us more work."
Um, yeah. Period six figured me out. But by that time the day was just about over.
Friday, January 24, 2014
4 comments:
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Substitute teacher, substitute lesson plan. Makes sense to me. Of course, if I was one of the students, I'd be complaining about the unfairness of it all :P
ReplyDeleteGood for you. A lot of people would've just shown the movie.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note: the kids were that old and just wanted to watch "The Lion King"? Why was "The Lion King" in the classroom?
The teacher had a bunch of videos. The reason: there are days when just showing a random video makes sense. These are days when there's a crazy activity going on, and they students aren't going to concentrate anyway (clubs day, minimum day, day before holiday, etc).
DeleteAs for juniors and seniors wanting to watch The Lion King: They get a little nostalgic for stuff from their childhood at the end of high school. Many haven't seen these in five years (that's a long time for them).
LOL! Way to go, you! I think watching Lion King all day would have driven me to utter insanity, so I'm glad you held your ground. =)
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