Fully Covered

I am sure by now you've heard of the substitute teacher shortage as well as the other challenges in the schools at the moment. But things might be looking up. 

Thursday. I got called to cover Mr. R's math class. Again. 

Mr. R has been out since January. Covid. But, Mr. R has co-teachers, and they've been teaching his class. (I'm using the plural as one teaches with him periods 2 and 4, and the other teaches with him periods 3, 5, and 6.) 

Because of this, and because of the sub shortage, they have not been covering his absence. In fact, there were two different days when I was pulled to cover a different teacher on campus when I was called in to cover Mr. R. (Day one was that middle school science class. Day 2 was the show choir.)

So, when I got that name again, I figured I'd be covering something completely different. 

I got to school, and I was given the keys for Mr. R's class. I was told the school was fully covered. In fact, the secretary had released the teachers she had lined up to period sub for the day. (Period sub is when a teacher covers another teacher's class on their prep period.) 

Seriously? That's amazing in these times. 

Of course, it meant I didn't have a whole lot to do as the co-teachers had the classes handled. But I brought stuff to do. 

I was fully settled in at about the half point of the day when the phone rang... 

(Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of the story.)