Avoiding the Final

For the last two days of the semester, I was covering a special ed co-teacher. She was going out of town for the holidays. Way out of town. Africa. So, not even on the same continent. 

For the first two finals of the day, I sat in the back of the room and watched them work. But for the third final, Mr. S had something for me to do. 

One accommodation that special ed students get for tests is to take the test in a different room. It helps some of them concentrate better. When there is a co-teacher, that teacher will take the students to that other room and remain. (And if there's a co-teacher, about 1/3rd of the class is designated special ed.)

Mr. S knew one of his students would want to test in the separate room. And, he decided that it would be better for all concerned if Lou was removed during the final as well. 

As I am well-acquainted with Lou, I saw the wisdom in that decision.

We went to the learning center. It's the room the special ed students can go to to get extra help on assignments. But, it was finals day, so anticipating a large number of students, the teachers in charge of the learning center that period sent us to the overflow room. (This was just a different classroom where the teacher didn't have class that period.) 

Once in the overflow room, I parked myself next to Lou. And... Well, he logged in. (The test was online.) He looked at the test. But he didn't touch it. Sigh.

I prodded. It was time to start. He didn't have that much time to work. He should get started.

(The other student with me worked well on her own on the other side of the room. I kept an eye on her, but she was fine.) 

Lou needed to "step out". (Technically it was a restroom break.) Hoping he'd come back ready to work, I allowed it.

But then he was gone for a long time. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting. 

Finally, he returned. He had a story about a member of the security staff "hassling" him. She told him to get back to class. I don't know why he didn't tell her that he was in the overflow learning center room. Instead, he tried to lose her, hid from her, and once he lost the tail, he returned.

At that point, there was maybe fifteen minutes left of class. I hoped rather than expected it would be enough time for Lou to finish. 

It turned out it was. But that's only because Lou quickly marked random answers on the test rather than actually doing it.

Five minutes later, Lou wanted to return to class. But that was a hard no. I asked Mr. S before we left, and he thought it would be better if Lou wasn't in class to disturb the other students.

Considering how Lou behaved during testing time, that was a wise choice.

(Lou was beyond caring. He said that he had an F in the class and that the final wasn't going to make a difference.)

It's Still Sub Behavior

Ninth grade English. I had a co-teacher.

At this point in the year, and at this point in my career, certain teachers and classes are well-known to me. This was one of them. Mrs. D, the co-teacher, is someone I have worked with many times in the past. 

And I remembered that Mr. S was Lou's English teacher. 

Lou walked right by me, not even realizing I was there. He had his hood up, his sunglasses on, and his earbuds in his ears. He wasn't seeing anyone. But he perked up when he realized I was his sub.

So, class went pretty well. For a while.

They were writing an essay. But the ninth grade teachers are really teaching them how to write an essay. They're breaking down this thing paragraph by paragraph, and they're having them structure their sentences in a specific manner. 

Oh, the instructions are involved. They have Google Slides for each bit. They have to support their assertions with quotes from the stories they're reading. And then they have to attribute those quotes a certain way. (This is all familiar to those of us who are used to writing research papers. But I don't think I ever got this level of instruction when I learned. It would have been so helpful.)

The students don't like this at all. They have a hard time staying focused.

At some point during class, Mrs. D had to step out. 

And that's when Lou was ready to let loose. 

I asked him to sit in his seat (not on the desk). He didn't see my point. He wasn't doing anything wrong.

But then Mrs. D returned. And suddenly Lou knew exactly how to sit at his desk. 

Because yeah, even though Lou might like me, I'm still a sub. And Lou will take advantage of having a sub in the room.

Perhaps I just need to be meaner to them. But somehow I think they'd still be on sub behavior even then.

So Close

My counter of blog posts tells me that this is my 3,500th post. A milestone of sorts...

The prior Thursday when I covered the ceramics class, Lou complained that I needed to cover his math class. He was not fond of his math teacher who he felt really needed to take a day off. 

I did not have anything scheduled for Monday. Sunday evening, I got an alert from the sub scheduling system. New gig. I pulled up the app and looked. And guess who was taking Monday off?

I laughed. And I took the gig. 

The math class was co-taught. The special ed co-teacher was present. Actually, she was Lou's case carrier. 

(Every special ed student has a case carrier. This teacher is the one who keeps track of the student and generally they're the one that knows them the best.) 

The ceramics class and the math class are within sight of each other. I just happened to step out when Lou stepped out of the ceramics class. He saw me. He waved. He asked where I was that day. And when he saw that I was covering the math class, he was quite happy. 

Then it was time for Lou's period. I got a different co-teacher. As the co-teachers swapped, one said to the other, "Did someone tell Lou he's no longer in this class?" 

Turns out that one of the reasons Lou really hated his math class was because it was too hard for him. He really needed to be in the special day class math that's fully special ed. 

(The goal is to mainstream the special ed students as much as possible, hence the co-taught classes. But there are also "slower" classes for special ed students who can't quite keep up with the general ed classes. The pacing is slower. There are more helps so the students can learn the material.)

So, Lou showed up, said hi, and then he was taken to his new class. He was a bit disappointed. 

Ah well. I'm sure I'll see him in a different class eventually. His English teacher should need to take a day off sooner or later.

Five More Minutes

For my extra period assignment last Thursday, I ended up going back to the ceramics class. 

(We are far enough into the school year now that the sub shortage is being felt. Every day there are at least two teachers who aren't covered by their very own sub, so these classes are covered by other teachers who have conference periods. And by subs on the conference period of the teacher we're covering.)

Mr. P had an IEP meeting, so he hadn't quite left during the passing period. Lou walked in, saw that he was leaving, and protested. "We have a sub?!?"

Me: "Lou. It's me."

And suddenly it was okay. Lou came over and gave me a huge hug. Mr. P was amused by all of this.

I only once briefly mentioned Lou before, so allow me to explain. I met Lou that week in the ceramics class. Then Lou was in the success seminar. I did not realize his pronouns were he/him, so I misgendered him when I mentioned him previously (giving him the blog moniker of Louise). 

Some students actually like me. When they give me a chance, they realize I'm there to help them, and I only give battle when they fight me. 

Mr. P went to his meeting. Class started. As it was ceramics, the students had things to work on. Lou had a chance to question me.

I hadn't seen him since I left the success seminar class, but I had seen some of his classmates. He asked where I had been. I told him I'd been around.

People are surprised to learn that I work every day. They may not see me for days or weeks, and they don't get that I'm just elsewhere in the district. 

Mr. P's meeting didn't go the whole period. He was back in a little over a half hour. So I packed up to go...

"No. Ms. A. You can't leave yet. You have to stay."

Technically, I was contracted for the full period, so I could stay. But teachers don't really need a sub hanging out. 

"Mr. P, can't she stay for five more minutes..."

Mr. P said I could. I agreed.

And Lou timed me. Did he talk to me for five minutes? No. He was working on the day's project (they were practicing making coils). But when I thought he wasn't paying attention and made a move to go, he told me time wasn't up yet. 

I stayed until he said I could go.

Will I see Lou again? So far, I don't have any other of his classes booked, but I'm only booked up through November. I do get around.

Coming Attractions

Tuesday was my last day in the chemistry class. I was asked to cover an extra period. (This is typical, so I didn't think too much of it.)

But, as luck would have it, I was asked to cover Mrs. B's Success Seminar. And I was most curious to see what the class is like.

Starting the following Monday (this week's Monday as you're reading this), Mrs. B is taking four weeks off, and guess who agreed to cover? 

And... I kind of regret my choice.

The success seminar class was created to help students be successful academically, emotionally, and socially. So, basically students who are in danger of ending up at the continuation high school were selected for this new class. 

It's a good idea. But it means that I'll have way more blog fodder for the next month. 

As I found out covering fourth period. 

While we were waiting for security to open the door for us, Louise bellowed loudly. "Mrs. B said she'd be out next week. I guess we're starting early."

And then when we got into class, Louise loudly complained about the school, the day, and just life in general. I tried to calm her down.

"Louise," I began.

"How do you know my name?!"

I skipped over my usual response, seating chart, as that didn't convey that while I was reminded of her name via the seating chart, I did remember her telling me her name elsewhere. "Ceramics," I said.

And then there was Austin. Yes, Austin from Wednesday's post. He made sure to make an impression, sitting in not his assigned seat and loudly refusing to go to his assigned seat. And then he had three different reasons he had to leave class. 

The rest of the students weren't much better, many of them refusing to do the assignment. What was the assignment? They were setting goals for the next two weeks.

It's going to be a long month.

Although, I sincerely hope that period four was just the difficult period. And that things will go better when I'm not scrambling to figure out the lesson plans on the fly while covering an extra period. 

Mrs. B returned before the end of the period. She was not happy at the behavior of the class. 

Wish me luck.