Extra Period Assignment

It's one of the perils of being a sub. I'm talking about the extra period assignment.

Full-time teachers get a prep period, a time that they use for planning or grading or whatever else they may need to get done. Subs, however, don't need to plan. So, whenever a teacher needs coverage for one period, we subs are sent to cover. (Or sometimes they don't have enough subs to cover all the teachers, so they'll send a different sub each period; but that's for a different post.)

It's a bit irksome (I like a break in the day), but where I am we get paid for the extra, so I have no reason to complain.

Today I was covering for the photography teacher. It was a pretty easy gig. The students worked on what they had to work on, and I just had to periodically check the darkrooms to make sure the students weren't doing anything they shouldn't (they weren't).

On the prep, I was asked to cover another class. Severely handicapped special ed. Wow, what a difference!

The special ed. room had five or six aides. I ended up helping a couple kids who were working on their spelling (words like bite, dive, I, and tie). And they were struggling with it (alphabetizing and completing a crossword puzzle). I tried to be as helpful as I could. Basically, I followed the aides' lead.

The other thing about classes like these is that they are exhausting. When I went back to the photo class, I could have fallen asleep. (I didn't, of course.) It took a little time to transition back into regular class mode.

Today's prep period was 4th, so I had three periods before and two after the special ed. class. It was an interesting way to break up the day.

Moonwalking Sub

"You're the best sub ever!"

That statement makes me nervous. I wonder what I did wrong. I don't mind the popularity. I do mind that somehow I let the students get away with something that I shouldn't have.

Today I had middle school choir. Their assignment was to work on their "group work". They have divided into small groups, and each group is to perform a song. Most of them picked fairly recent songs.

I spent the day watching them sing along to their songs and work out their choreography. I offered suggestions where I could. Mostly, I watched to make sure that they didn't get out of control (something that middle schoolers are expert at).

6th period was a bit different. One group chose a Beatles song. And the group nearest to me was doing this song from Mulan (yeah!!! I finally got something to embed):

As the group was working out their choreography, they decided that when "dark side of the moon" is sung, they should Moonwalk. They didn't know how, so they asked me if I did. (I didn't live through the '80's for nothing.)

So, I tried to demonstrate while wearing backless shoes (I do not recommend this). I think I explained it better than I did it. They tried. They'll need a little more practice.

After that, they called me the "best sub ever". Apparently, I didn't have much in the way of competition.

Working Vacation

Today was sort of a weird day. It was the first day of intersession at the continuation high school. They are on their three-week spring break. However, for this first week of vacation, classes are offered (kind of like a summer school) for those who want to earn a couple credits. I was brought in to help with the overflow students in the government class.

The class was set up for maximum earning of credits. And the government teacher warned the students that they were to be working and quiet. If they didn't want to be quiet, they didn't have to take the intersession class (intersession is voluntary).

My group was nice and peaceful. Then I noticed that one boy and one girl kept looking at each other and whispering. I started off by sitting near them, and then I warned them that they needed to be working and not talking or I would separate them.

By the time the four-hour class got its break, I realized that I was going to have to separate the girl and the boy. I moved the boy's stuff to another desk, and when they returned from their break, I explained that they had been talking too much.

The girl was not pleased. She argued with me. She explained that they were getting their work done. Why should I care if they were talking? They were multitasking.

Reminding the girl that the instruction had been to work quietly did not satisfy her. So, I reminded her that she did not need to be there, and I left it at that.

The boy turned around a couple times to whisper to the girl from across the room. And then the two of them got their revenge. Suddenly, they needed help with the assignment. Well, that's what I was there for.

I wonder. They were talking way too much to have been helping each other with the assignment. I heard some of the conversation. It wasn't work-related. But then again, they only asked for my help when they were separated. And they weren't nearly as far along in their work as the rest of the class was.

Even in the silent classes, there are students to look out for.

Surprise Drill

"Next period, we're going to have an earthquake evacuation drill."

Uh oh.

It was the morning announcements. The principal had a lot to say this morning, and he closed with that doozy.

Drills are usually planned. In advance. Days. Everybody knows about them ahead of time. This one was sprung on all of us. But we're adaptable.

So, that class came in. I mentioned the drill, but most of them were surprised (they had not been listening to the morning announcements). I quickly took roll, and then it was drill time.

I should mention that I had health classes today. Freshmen.

I explained to the class that we were having an earthquake, and they should duck and cover. Most of them did. A few boys, however, decided to play up the earthquake angle. One of them ran back and forth, acting like he was afraid of the ground shaking. Two others just did the scared face thing.

So, not only did I have to go after the kiddos who weren't ducking and covering, now I had to try to calm idiot boys who wanted to get as much play in as they could. I was not amused.

Luckily, the evacuation part of the drill was fine. Then we got back to class, and I had to get them back in classroom mode. They were having none of it. The same boys tried the play-around angle.

We did battle. I don't know if I won or lost, but we did get through the important stuff that was on the lesson plan.

I don't know why they thought they could get away with this stuff. It's not like I didn't know their names. Plus, I had a good seating chart to refresh my memory. I would not want to be them on Monday.

School Career Fair

Ah, spring. It's the time of year when the schools do all of their interesting activities.

One of the things I like most about subbing is the unusual days. The days when it's not just classes-as-usual (with the exception of assembly days). Sure, the students are a little harder to handle, but then again, I don't have to worry about making them do work or keeping them quiet.

Today was the Career Fair. A bunch of representatives from local colleges, trade schools, and other career choice paths (for example, the police, the military, and such) set up tables and give talks to show students what choices are out there for them after graduation.

My job was to take roll and then keep order while someone presented in the classroom. Since this guy was a really good speaker, I didn't actually have to keep order. The students were interested. And polite. So, I got to sit and listen as well.

And I get paid for this.

Nine Questions

Today I covered an ELD class. They were to finish watching a movie they started last week called Smoke Signals, and then after they had a writing assignment. Standard stuff.

Each period I showed rest of the movie, and then I went about explaining the writing assignment. My instructions went something like this:

"You need to pick three characters from the movie. Then you will answer these three questions for each character. You will be answering a total of nine questions."

Then I repeated the instruction in a slightly different way. I wanted to be clear. But apparently, I wasn't clear enough.

I spent the rest of each period walking the room. And when a student would finish, I'd look at his/her work. Then I would point out that he/she hadn't finished as he/she had only answered the three questions for one character.

By my second class I was ready to scream.

I swear, they don't listen. You might argue that they are English learners, so I should cut them some slack. But this was an advanced ELD class. I've had many of them in other classes. They understand English just fine. They turn off their attention when a sub is in the room. That has to be it.

What I wonder is, how should I have phrased the instructions? Or was I doomed from the start?

Classroom Decor

Ah, seniors.

It was one of those lovely days where I passed out work and they did it. I didn't get any whining or complaining. And although it took some effort on my part to get them to pay attention to what I had to say (the general instructions at the beginning of the period), once I had their attention, they listened.

It was a government class. The teacher had this on the wall...

...and I spent the day fascinated by it. (You can also find it here.)

It's hard to tell what it is in this image. All those lines are the lifetimes of all the presidents. The red part on their lines is when they were president. The other colors represent other positions: the military, senator, representative, governor, etc.

I kept going over to the poster to stare. I found it fascinating how the lines overlapped--who was alive when who was president. And then various bars would catch my eye and I'd have to walk over to see what they meant.

Yeah, I know, I'm weird. But stuff like this fascinates me.