Thursday, March 21, 2019

Reprieve


Thursday, two weeks ago. I was covering for a special ed teacher who co-taught all day. It's a pretty easy gig when the other teacher is present (as opposed to also having a sub).

I was to co-teach with three different teachers. Plus, I was to cover an extra period somewhere else. The schedule was:
  • Period 1: co-teach English 8 with Ms. W.
  • Period 2: co-teach English 8 with Ms. R.
  • Period 3: co-teach math.
  • Period 4: co-teach English 8 with Ms. R.
  • Period 5: conference (but I was to cover a science class).
  • Period 6: co-teach English 8 with Ms. W. 
In other words, I was not in the same room two periods in a row. So, I got to do lots of walking that day. 

During first period, I got a call from the office. Instead of co-teaching third period, I was to cover a different English class. As luck would have it, that room was right next door to the class I'd be in periods two and four. Okay, then. 

Second period. The eighth graders were writing an essay. It was pretty quiet in the room. 

So, the noise from next door was more pronounced. 

We could hear voices. We could hear banging. It sounded like kiddos were running into the walls. Or just hitting them. (Neither scenario is ideal.) 

All I could think was, I have to cover this class next period. Eeek. 

It was so bad that Ms. R went next door to yell at them. It didn't make a dent. 

Period three wasn't nearly as bad. They were a bit obnoxious, but there were only a dozen or so of them, so that made the period that much easier. 

And I'm done, right? Well, not so fast. 

I book assignments ahead when I can. One look at my calendar, and I saw that I was scheduled to cover this same class all day in a couple weeks. For three days. Eeek. 

I'd worry about that when it came time. I took a breath and got through the rest of my day. 

When I period sub, if the note I want to leave is going to be longer than "the class was fine", I like to email it. So, when I emailed the teacher, I let her know that I was scheduled to cover her class later. Having the communication open is better than not, right? 

She emailed me back. She was not going to be out for three days, only one. 

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Three days with that group... But one day I can manage. And I put it out of my mind. 

It was Thursday of last week when I called to book some dates for this week. The only class I had scheduled was for Friday for this teacher. 

There was a math class for Thursday... Well, for Thursday and Friday. But I already have a gig for Friday. Well, it's better to stick with the same class for two days if the teacher is out two days, so they could just reassign that English class... 

And now there are none. Instead of tonight sweating out having to deal with that class tomorrow, I am scheduled to return to a high school math class. 

I've been granted a reprieve. Woo-hoo! 

Assuming that all goes according to plan. Lately, that's not so certain. (See tomorrow's post.)

24 comments:

  1. Best of luck that all goes well today. With spring here in TN it affects the kids, since you don't have the changing seasons like us, does it affect the kids.

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    1. Oh, we have changing seasons. It's been cold. When it gets warm...

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  2. oops.....bloggingto ateac and I left ou the ? mark...

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    1. Reply to your question on my blog....and a hint to the house that landed in my lap....I am not in a hurry to sell moms or mine. I was, I felt that was the way of me moving on but I realize it is not. Selling my house of 26 yrs will not be near as hard as letting go of mom's where I grew up. Plus...my older brother is in charge of getting things moving, that could actually take several years, he never gets in a hurry for anything. Mom was not a procrastnor but all three of her kids are! Ray being one of the worst! So....but also throwing another hint out about the house, its not ready yet!

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  3. Whats the advantages of co-teaching? Bigger class sizes?

    betty

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    1. Around here, co teaching happens in inclusion classes, where Special Ed students are added to a class and a Special Ed teacher is added to give those students additional support. But I suppose there could be other reasons for this type of teaching arrangement.

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  4. I can't seem to see tomorrow's post. My future vision must not be working :P

    Good luck not getting stuck with the nightmare class for more than one day.

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  5. Hope it all turns out well. It's not a good thing dreading the next day at work.

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  6. Young people seem to be an adventure

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  7. I would want to come in with a whip and duct tape. I might be hauled off to court but I would feel happy scaring the hell out of those brats....and I might use the duct tape.

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    1. They'd never believe the whip. But duct tape...

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  8. Hi Liz - you certainly lead an eclectic life in school ... I'd probably do a Birgit! But who knows perhaps I'd be a good teacher ... good luck today - cheers Hilary

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  9. Nothing like having get stuck like that. I can imaging how relieve you must be. You need a break. Hope it went off well :-)

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    1. I'm in a high school class today, so success!

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  10. Is that particular a poor disciplinarian? Whatever the reason for their rowdiness, I'd be thrilled for a reprieve. Take care!

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    1. Since all the 7th grade classes seem to be that way, I'll blame the year and not the teachers. (Some very excellent teachers are struggling with them, teachers that I've had no issues with their classes in the past.)

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    2. When I was in high school, a billion moments ago, I thought of my class as being a bunch of slackers while the classes behind us and ahead of us were Type A students. Funny how that still goes.

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  11. It seems good that you've solid email communication with the teachers whose classes you cover. To find out sooner rather than later what your schedule actual looks like seems best!

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    1. In that case, it was just a mistake. Because the list is managed by humans, mistakes happen. I'm glad they caught it before I showed up, but considering the sub shortage at the moment, I would have had a gig that day regardless.

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  12. My head hurts just thinking about having to have that class for a lesson, let alone a day, or multiple days. No wonder you were cheerful at the reprieve.

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