An Overlooked Detail

The very special ed class, Friday. 

The last time I subbed for Ms. H, the class was going on a field trip. This day, same. This time they were going to some event hosted by the LAUSD for their special ed classes. Something about a dance performance? 

Why was I needed? Some of the kiddos weren't going, so someone had to stay behind to supervise them. 

I had two students. And then a third joined us as her whole class was going as well as the teacher. (Why book two subs for two different teachers? I was sufficient to cover all the kiddos not going.) 

It was a fairly chill day. Alice was wheelchair bound and only spoke in grunts and cries. Nate arrived and put his head down on his desk and slept. Apparently, this was his usual. This was good as Alice does not like Nate. Nate has a tendency to (when awake) hover over Alice and bother her. (When Nate awoke near the end of the day, he hovered over me, and I had to make it very clear I did not want to be touched, and he still touched me.) 

Angela was from the other class. She took a seat and asked for paper so she could draw. 

I suggested a movie. Alice's one-to-one suggested Encanto. 

So, things were mellow. But then I noticed a problem. 

Ms. H's prep period was the last period of the day. Usually her students would join the other teachers' classes for the last period. But the other teachers were gone, too. What to do? 

I called Allie (the secretary I check in with). While I had looked forward to getting to leave early for the day, I was fine with staying and supervising the kiddos. But, I wasn't going to do it for free... 

Once I explained the situation to Allie, she readily agreed to credit me with the extra period. 

And so, once we finished Encanto, Angela suggested Lilo & Stitch (the original version). 

We were barely fifteen minutes into the last period when the field trippers returned. 

It had been a long bus ride. The kiddos had been outside. They'd been in the sun. They were wiped out. 

Which was fine. It wasn't like we were going to be doing work or anything. Movie and computer time. 

Some days, my job isn't much more than this. It balances out the more difficult days. 

Day in the Life of a Sub

Last Friday was a day...

As I drove to school, the sun was shining. And the rain was falling.

The rain wasn't supposed to be falling. The weather report had said we were done with rain (for a bit). 

Once I parked, I double checked the weather app on my phone (to determine which umbrella I'd bring from my car) to discover that the sub desk had called me. I called her back, and she let me know that my job for the day had been cancelled. 

But, they were going to switch my gig to another teacher whose scheduled sub had cancelled the evening before. As it was at the same school (two doors down from the teacher I was expecting to cover), it wasn't a major issue.

The teacher I was now covering was leaving on a field trip for a flag football tournament. These are the moderate to severe special ed classes, and the districts in the area have begun a "unified" thing where some special ed kiddos and some general ed kiddos play on various teams and compete against different schools. 

This, of course, meant that the classes would be light some students. I also gained a couple students (Zena...) due to them remaining behind while their teacher didn't get a sub. 

Once the dust settled, the first class went pretty smoothly. Then, instead of getting a prep period, I was asked to cover a class over in the new STEAM building. 

I found someone to open the door for me (they don't give me keys when I'm covering an extra period), and he had trouble finding the room. (I do not know my way around the STEAM building as it's new this year. I've subbed in there a few times, but every time I have to consult a map to figure out where I need to go. In a couple years, after I've been in the building several more times, I'll be an old pro.) 

What class was I covering? It was called BioAnimaker. Apparently, they're eventually going to learn how to make lifelike robots or something. The students explained that at the moment the class was more playing with 3D printers. (The new building has spaces for things that the school hasn't quite instituted yet. It's coming, though.) 

This is how I learn about some of these things. I cover the class.

After that class, it was time for art.

Ms. A co-teaches an art class with a general ed art teacher (who I've subbed for a couple times this school year). It's a mixed class--some of Ms. A's special ed kiddos along with Ms. G's general ed kiddos. (It's more of the unified stuff. They integrate the special ed kiddos into the general population, and they expose the general ed kiddos to students who are different.) 

As luck would have it, the art class was also in the STEAM building. I didn't have far to go at all.

After art was lunchtime. I got to sit and eat. I was enjoying the moment of not traipsing all over campus when... EARTHQUAKE. 

An instructional assistant was in the room with me (supervising her one-to-one student), but she didn't feel it. I immediately consulted my earthquake app to learn it was a 4.7 on the Richter scale. (I heard it was downgraded to a 4.6 later.) The epicenter was roughly 45 miles away. 

The earthquake was about ten minutes before the end of lunch. I had three students in the next class. And then I had two when one of them got called into speech. (A speech therapist has half hour classes with some of the kiddos from time to time.) 

Then the field trippers returned. (They got first place in the tournament.) Some remained in class while others went off to different classes. And Ms. A returned, although she was in and out finishing up things from her day off campus.

After all that, I needed the weekend. Although, some days are like this. I go all over the place and do various things. It helps that a lot of this was stuff I was accustomed to, so I just rolled with it. That's the gig.

Switched Again

Thursday. I was scheduled to cover Ms. D, middle school English. When I arrived, I was handed the keys for Ms. A, also middle school English.

Again?

I may have mentioned before that this school year I've been hit with a lot of these. That is, I've arrived at the site expecting one kind of class only to end up covering a different one.

I'm not complaining. It's way better than showing up to discover that I have no assignment at all. And sometimes the change has been for the better. Although, on this day, it was more of a lateral move.

For a change, I learned why the switch.

When I got to class, Ms. A was hurriedly putting together lesson plans. Then another teacher walked in, and they got to talking. I was able to glean the whole situation.

There was a field trip. The eighth graders were going to the closest community college (the one that most of the students at the local high school end up at, the one that is offering two years free to graduates). Ms. D was supposed to chaperone, but she had woken up sick. They asked Ms. A if she wanted to take the spot, and she jumped at the chance. (The other teacher was telling Ms. A that she thought she'd say no, and Ms. A explained that she loved going on field trips.)

One mystery solved.

However, Ms. D was sick, so she was out that day anyway. So, um, why did they call in a different sub to cover her class? I mean, I was already scheduled to be there for her.

Sometimes school logic eludes me.

Friday Chaos

It was Friday at the middle school. On Thursday, I had run into the teacher and mentioned that I was his sub for Friday. He told me he was chaperoning a field trip (to Raging Waters--end of year reward for the well-behaved), and he'd see me in the morning. So, when I arrived to his room to find no lesson plans, I wasn't worried.

The warning bell rang. I was still alone. So, I opened the door to let the kiddos (7th graders) in. I stood at the door, looking for the teacher... 

"Oooh, get it away..."

"Get what away?" 

"It's a spider." 

"That's not a spider..." 

It wasn't a spider. It was a cockroach. And it was on the floor next to a girl. To her credit, she wasn't freaking out. The rest of the class, however... 

Since it was an "advanced" class, the kiddos problem solved, and as a team managed to do something about the insect. Loudly. This is why I didn't hear the phone ringing, although someone helpfully told me that it was. 

The teacher was on the phone. He was on his way, but he wasn't going to get to class before the bell, so he wanted to let me know what first period was doing. 

Somehow I managed to get the class' attention, and I told them to get their computers. (Naturally, they had a Google Classroom assignment.) A couple more students then walked in. It was then I realized that the bell hadn't rung yet. Oops. 

I was curious, so I asked how many of the students were going on the field trip. (They were leaving after first period.) 60-70% of the class. No wonder they were wound up. But still, they logged into their Google accounts and got to work. Eventually. 

It took some time, but the chatter gradually subsided. Slowly, the room crept towards silence. And at about the moment they achieved it, the teacher walked in. 

Way to make me look good, kiddos. 

(I did admit to Mr. F that the silence was a recent thing. The students told him all about the excitement.)

Almost Alone

Passing period before 3rd period at the continuation high school. The teacher was out chaperoning a field trip to Crystal Cove for their citizen scientist program. (There's a video about it here.) And I was awaiting all six kiddos on the roster.

And waiting.

The bell rang... and I was still alone.

via GIPHY

I marked everyone absent. I couldn't quite believe I had a "free" period.

And then a student walked in. One student.

Well, one is better than none. At least I no longer felt like I was cheating.

Ghost Town

It was Tuesday at the continuation high school, and the place was nearly empty. Lines for food during snack and lunch were nearly nonexistent. And I had three students in class per period.

Much of the school had gone on a field trip.

I heard the numbers, so I did a quick calculation. Roughly 31% of the school went. (It's a small school, so that's not a very large number.)

In fact, that's why I was there. The teacher I covered was one of the chaperones.

So, it was a pretty easy day. Most of those that didn't go didn't want to get up that early. The buses left at 6 AM. Although, a couple just weren't interested.

Where did they go? To the taping of a TV show. (One of the joys of living in L.A. County.)

Hey, it was a nice way for them to get out of the usual. And it made it a really easy day for me.