Booked

I am writing this blog post on Friday, and I just picked up a gig for April 1st. That I'll likely have to drop. Because that's just how this semester has been going.

Ever since this district joined the 21st Century and adopted the computerized booking system, getting gigs is a matter of jumping on them when they pop up on the app on my phone. But I've been letting a lot of those go by lately. 

At the beginning of this semester, at the beginning of January, I had three weeks in that geography/psychology/world history class for a teacher recovering from surgery. 

As that gig ended, I started picking up a bunch of gigs for February. I had about half the month booked when I got the email asking me if I would pick up that special ed long term, the math and world history one. Which (if you've been following along with me, you know) I did. 

There was something sad about watching all the gigs I had picked up, one by one, getting deleted in one big purge. The jobs had to go to other subs as I was going to be busy. I mean, I don't begrudge others having them. It was just how much time and effort it took to fill my month now gone even though my month was going to be busy with the long-term. 

So, again, as that special ed gig was ending, I again went about picking up a bunch of gigs for March. But I've been holding off on taking anything in April. 

Back in something like September, I got an email from a teacher I had done a long term assignment for in the past. She'd be out in the spring as she was pregnant with her second child. Would I be willing to cover? 

Her maternity leave started in February, but because subs can only cover 30 days, she had another sub start when she left, and I'll continue once the first sub finishes her 30 days. Around the beginning of April. 

Which meant that I had March to fill. And, I had just about filled it. Well, I had made a good start, anyway.

But on my last Friday in the special ed long term, I got an email from a secretary (at a different school, so she didn't know I was finishing a long term) about covering a week for a teacher who was suddenly going to be out. 

Sure, I said. And then I sadly dropped all the gigs from that week as I would be busy. 

That's the math class I wrote about last week. 

But, it turns out that Mr. R's foot problem is worse than first thought. When it seemed like the issue might last longer, I went to the secretary and told her that I just had day-to-day assignments for March, so I could drop them and remain in Mr. R's class if necessary. 

On Monday I got word that it would be necessary. 

And so, again, there went two weeks of gigs I had grabbed as they popped up. Sigh. 

It's almost like I shouldn't bother. 

I'm not sure exactly what day I start the long term English class I've been anticipating. The sub desk hasn't officially added me for it. (I know she will. When it's closer.) So, I'm not sure what day it'll start. (The current sub took a sick day, so it got pushed a day out further.)

And, we're not sure if Mr. R will return on April 1st (which is when he's currently scheduled to return). 

But I picked up a gig for April 1st. Which I might end up not doing. Because. 

I mean, at least I've been working steadily. And the days I hoarded ended up going to subs who might not have gotten them otherwise. 

So, I've got two more weeks in that math class. (Well, one more week by the time you read this.) And then the English class that'll take me to nearly the end of May. Better booked than not, I suppose. 

Disappeared

Wednesday, third period. I got a call from one of the counselors. Apparently, we were supposed to be meeting with them so the kiddos could finish registering for classes for next year. Alas, no one had informed me. 

I briefly went over the chaos of this class in my first post about this assignment. The counselors probably emailed their previous teacher, who left at the semester, and didn't require a response. 

The students were working on group projects (that they had just started). I could pivot. It wasn't like I was planning on having them finish that day. 

I had them pack up, and we headed on out. As this shift was unexpected, it took them a few minutes to get things put away. I told the kiddos who were waiting to go ahead and head on over while I waited for the two students who were putting their papers into their folders. They finished, and we followed them. 

I had seven students in the class. When we got to the counselors' room, I found five students. 

Wha...? 

The distance wasn't far. There's no way they could have gotten lost. Nope. They ditched. 

Deep sigh. 

The counselors called a couple of the students in. One boy, who is moving before next school year, complained that he didn't need a schedule for next year. The others went pretty quickly. A lot of it is confirmation of stuff they filled out in the paperwork. 

The two students who ditched lost their chance to verify that they're getting the classes they want next year. They were hurting themselves, really. (And I told them where we were going and why.) 

Sophomores. *shakes head* It's an interesting age. (10th grade. 15-16 years old.) Some of them have matured and are reasonable kiddos. And some of them are still playing the games they played as freshmen. 

When the counselors called for the missing kiddos? I let them know they somehow hadn't made it. 

Collapsing

It's the first full week of school, and the schedule changes have started...

I know better than to create seating charts in ink or to make a pretty class roster sheet as there will be students moving in and out for a bit. But this is ridiculous. 

On Wednesday, the teacher next door, Ms. W, told me that one of the seventh grade math teachers took a different position. Instead of hiring another teacher, the administration began dismantling those classes, distributing the students to other teachers. I didn't get specifics, only that one teacher took over one of the periods, which meant the students she had that period had to go elsewhere...

It's a logistical nightmare. And not my job.

What is my job, though, is to process the students whose schedules got impacted by all of this. 

First period. I noticed that one student wasn't on my attendance any longer. I figured he hadn't been notified of his schedule change yet. Then I got an email saying that any students that were no longer enrolled in our classes should be sent to the office. So, I gently told the boy he would have to go. 

Not five minutes later a student aide came in to give me the boy's new schedule. Deep sigh.

(The boy was switched into my fifth period class.)

And so, all day I had new students. And students pulled out of class as they were sent elsewhere. 

Fifth period. We were a bit into it when I got a call. Another teacher asked me to send her one of my now former students as she was to be in English then instead of science. How the teacher knew where the student was is a mystery to me, as I would have sent the boy in first period to his proper class if I had known how to figure it out. 

So, I gently explained to the girl that her schedule was also different. 

And remember, these seventh graders are brand new to this school. So, add this confusion on top of it all...

At least I got my seating charts done before all this started. (With post-it notes for each student, so it's easy to move them around.) If I can just keep on top of the changes daily, I should be able to keep things organized. But what a nightmare.

Repeating the Class

For the first full week of school (school started on a Thursday of the previous week), I accepted a week-long assignment in ceramics. I covered this class before a couple years ago for three-ish (?) weeks (when the teacher fell off his bike and broke his collar bone), so I had a basic idea of how the class was run. 

Because the year is just beginning, the students were given introductory assignments having to do with the syllabus and the elements of art and the principles of design. 

The assignments didn't take the whole class period. So, I was on guard to make sure the students didn't get into anything they shouldn't. 

It was early into the last class of the day when I noticed that a student wasn't even attempting the assignment. 

Lucia didn't speak any English, so her table mates translated. Lucia showed me that she had done the assignment... in a different period. 

After some back and forth, I figured out that she was in both third and eighth periods. 

Deep sigh. 

Every year, there are mistakes in the schedules. Students are missing classes during a period. Students have two classes during one period. Students are missing required courses. Students get the same class twice...

The entire week new students were starting and other students got dropped. A student who was new to the class wasn't in my attendance software three times (that is, three different students). 

Some students were moved from one period to another. Some just joined the class. 

You really don't want to know what the paper rosters looked like at the end of the week.

I would have thought that Lucia would have caught the error and done something to fix it by eighth period, but the language issue was probably a contributing factor to that slipping through the cracks. (The school is on a block schedule, so third period was on Monday and eighth period was on Tuesday.)

The next day that issue was fixed. Lucia was dropped from third period (to take something else then, I assume). She remained in eighth. At least when she got to eighth period on Thursday, she hadn't already done the assignment. 

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.)