Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Thirteen Classes


Last week was kind of crazy. On Friday I tallied up my week. I had covered for thirteen different teachers.

Normally, I cover a teacher a day. Each teacher generally has one preparation period. (Not all do. Some teachers have a class every period. And some teachers have extra no student periods.)

It used to be that I'd be asked to cover a different teacher on that prep period occasionally. Lately, it's more likely than not.

(The fact that we're currently experiencing a sub shortage is surprising. Last year at this time they laid off 55 teachers district wide. I was supposed to be worried that we'd have a surplus of subs as laid off teachers go to the top of the sub list. But most of them got called back to full time the first weeks of school.)

Of the thirteen, eight were classes I covered for one period. Wood shop. AP computer coding. Special ed science. Middle school ELD. And science (biology), history (world), math (IM2), and English (10th grade).

The remaining five teachers were the ones I had been called in to cover for the days Monday through Friday. (Chemistry, health, high school math, and eighth grade English two days in a row for two different teachers.)

Some of the highlights: 
  • A student playacting brushing his hair on top of his hoodie. With a whiteboard eraser. 
  • Having to walk the entire length and width of the campus to cover an extra period (I was late).
  • Getting pulled to cover a different class than I was scheduled for.
  • Realizing that other class is one I'm scheduled to cover in a couple weeks. And the students are awful...
  • Repeating a class I'd covered for three days a couple weeks ago. And it raining on me again. (It rained the last time I covered for that teacher.)
  • A "game" on evolution.
  • Eighth graders essay writing. (Oh, peaceful day.)
  • And a couple video assignments that I'll tell you about tomorrow and Friday.
On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I travelled all day. (I was covering special ed teachers who co-teach. It meant that there was another adult in the room. It also meant that I got to change classes like the kiddos all day.)

On Tuesday I had two periods in a row in the same room, but with snack break between them. On Wednesday I had two periods in a row in the same room, but with lunch between them. The closest I got to two periods in a row in the same place on Thursday was having two classes next door to each other (and separated by the snack break). 

So, yeah, it was a week. I'm hoping this week will be much calmer.

25 comments:

  1. Busy times! I hope things calm down, too. I felt fatigue just thinking about all this. Take care!

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    1. Alas... The school I was at today is down three subs for tomorrow already. And I'm already booked elsewhere.

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  2. Wow - you must have one 'ell of a spreadsheet to remember where to go! You have a very impressive CV, I cant imagine trying to teach all those different subjects - do you have a favourite subject and age group?
    Fingers crossed you week is better this week!
    Wren x

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    1. But it's high school level stuff, so easy enough for anyone who graduated college ;)

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  3. Your days are certainly not boring, are they?

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    1. I long for boring days. They're way more peaceful.

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  4. Wow, busy week. I'm guessing there are a few separate stories tucked away in there.

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  5. Who are you--a super being with transport abilities???
    Wow. You must have exhausted!

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    1. It wasn't too terrible, really. I was more amazed in retrospect.

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  6. Good grief you were everywhere! This can make it frustrating just from your highlights which sounds more like lowlights:)

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    1. Not frustrating, really. Just lots of scenery changes.

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  7. Your week was PACKED OUT with various classes and subjects and kiddos. -sounds a wee bit fatiguing. :S

    I kind of like the visual of the kid dragging a white board eraser across his covered head.

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    1. The reality was just what you are imagining. And I'm trying to recover this week from last. I need a day off :)

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  8. Do you have a calendar on your phone that helps keep you where you are supposed to be? That seems like such a frantic schedule but at least you got some exercise in!

    betty

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  9. Following a brisk and hectic schedule is good in the sense that it keeps one occupied. But beyond a limit, it can be absolutely stressful and tiring. Hope it's all back to normal.

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    1. We haven't reached my overwhelmed point yet. I could do a bit more...

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  10. Wow. Busy. I think one of the best things about working with kids is that every day is (or can be) different. Of course, that's also one of the worst things about working with kids. Hopefully this week there are more essays to be written, focused students, and consistency in which classrooms you are teaching in.

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    1. More essays, but less focus this week. The joys of the continuation high school...

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  11. Whew. That all sounds exhausting. I need a nap after reading that.

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    1. It wasn't that bad. Although, I've needed a nap all week...

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  12. Sounds like it was a week of teacher tag. Just as well you don't have to many like that.

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