Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Run Around


Some mornings are more chaotic than others.

One of the first things I do upon getting into a classroom (after turning on the lights) is to log into the computer and the online attendance. This particular Monday morning, the computer wasn't cooperating.

Upon closer examination of my temporary attendance password, I discovered I had been given a temporary password for a different teacher. That wasn't going to do me any good. But, by the time I discovered the error, class had already started.

(This particular morning was a mess. Lesson plans reached me very last minute, as in as the kiddos were arriving, and other issues derailed my usual calm setup.)

Normally at this point I'd've called the office, but this day I had a co teacher. And when I showed her the problem, she said I could go and fix it. (That's one of the perks of a co teacher. One of us can run out if need be.)

I was covering 11th & 12th grade English. I had the login for a special ed. math teacher. I went to his room, found the sub, and asked if he had "my" login since I had his. But, of course, it wasn't going to be that easy...

He had the login for an 11th grade history teacher. I knew which room he was in, so I headed directly there. But that sub also didn't have "my" login. He had the login for a 10th grade history teacher. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure which room she was in, and at this point I wondered how much exercise I was likely to get. I returned to "my" class.

"My" class was still reading silently. The co teacher was still attempting to print out the day's lesson plans. (That's another story.) She knew where the history teacher's room was, but this time I made a phone call.

Guess who actually did have "my" login?

One more trip. And then all of us subs for the day were sorted.

(The secretary who checks us subs in and who gives us our packets with teacher schedules and logins was running late. A different secretary covered for her. As this isn't her usual gig, she made a simple mistake. It happens. We all had a good laugh about it when I checked out for the day.)

30 comments:

  1. Wow. So am I understanding correctly that the sub you didn't know the room for had your password? lol. Still, that's pretty good that you knew the school well enough to seek out two of the subs. It must be a small school. I remember my first days as a student in high school coming back after summer and always being afraid of getting lost. We only had one floor of classrooms and some outside trailers but it always felt like a maze. I eventually learned where all of MY teachers were for the year, but I'm not sure I ever would have been able to tell where all of the other teachers were.

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    1. No, not a small school. Roughly 3000 students. But I've been subbing for years, and I've subbed for all of those teachers before. It's eerie, really. Give me a teacher name, and I probably know where their room is.

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  2. Too funny! Glad it worked out in the end. You certainly got your exercise in for the day!

    betty

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  3. Like playing musical chairs with passwords.

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  4. That sounds like a really interesting start to the day. You handled it really well, I think I'd be feeling really frazzled by it.

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    1. I was frazzled. And laughing. It was quite the silly situation.

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  5. Replies
    1. This was the first time this had ever happened. I guess it was bound to eventually.

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  6. It sounds like that story where someone needs a specific item so they have to keep trading things from one person to the next until they get it. Except updated for substitute teachers.

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  7. A plot for a reality show? Maybe. At least, I'm always at the same desk at work, with the same password. I don't need to be more confused than I already am. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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    1. Subbing would make an interesting reality show.

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  8. Ahh, the sub secretary! What a day...

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    1. Some jobs need to be filled even if the regular person is out...

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  9. Luckily it got sorted out. Glad y'all went easy on the "sub" secretary. It would have been like attacking one of your own. LOL
    Barbara from Life & Faith in Caneyhead

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  10. Hey Liz.....sounds like my days of work. Hated when I would go in and there had been an update which for some reason would not allow me to get on the computer. So glad I am retired now!! haha....Your time will come. The band....yes, there are 5 members and four of them have been playing together since elementary school. We all went to school in a city called Old Hickory and they are the Old Hickory Boys. We are all in our mid fifties, so it is something not heard of much. Most times they play the marina and a mass of DuPont-ers (our school) turn out, not just one class, from all classes. Its great.

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  11. Wow....this sounds so confusing but glad you finally found your password.

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    Replies
    1. It's kind of hard to explain. It was funny at the time.

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  12. Oh wow glad yall got it all figured out lol!

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  13. History was one of my fav subject and still enjoy this day.
    Coffee is on

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  14. Hi Liz - can see what happened ... but as you say a frazzling run around ... but good exercise - not sure the stress helped! Cheers Hilary

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  15. Oh messy. I'm glad computers were rarely used when I was in school.

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  16. What a mess. So glad you had a co teacher.

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    Replies
    1. It was nice to be able to run out of class. A new experience.

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  17. Marking the online roll was the worst part of the day for me when I was working as a relief teacher. There was usually a glitch and the school secretaries hated doing a paper roll for me. It's good you have a buddy teacher so you can leave the classroom.

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