Painting

First thing this morning, there was a knock on the classroom door. They were going to be painting the front of the classroom, and they wanted to know if the students could use the back entrance. I didn't see a problem with that.

This classroom had this huge panel of windows in the front from the ceiling to half way down the wall. They let a lot of light in. They also gave us a front row seat to the painters' work.

First period had no problems with them. Well, they had a few, like having to go around to the back door for a change and listening to the painters prep the area for the paint. But they got over this quickly. (These were 10th graders, so that's why the small change to their routine didn't worry me.) Then second period came in (and these were 11th graders).

A couple girls freaked out. They said that it seemed like one of the painters was watching them too closely. One girl said it looked like the painter was looking through her. To me it looked like he was examining the area and making sure everything got sanded properly.

So, I offered to close the blinds. I have never seen students move that fast. As soon as I volunteered the solution, two of them had jumped up and closed them. The girls thanked me. That solved the problem.

Well, I'm glad to be of service.

Failure

First period I was sent to cover a middle school special ed. class. Reading. Their word of the day was "failure". I was to give an example so that they could get a grasp on what the word meant. I had trouble coming up with something right off the top of my head. Too bad that that was the harbinger for things to come.

The rest of the day I covered an 8th grade U.S. history class. But the subject turned out to be irrelevant. I had a very bad day.

The teacher had been out all week. I was the third sub. That's never a good sign. And the room looked like it had been through numerous battles. I saw about ten books missing their front covers. These were hard cover books. They were new (well, about a year old). The books looked like they had been thrown at wolves to keep them from attacking.

I spent the day trying to keep the classes from running wild. And mostly I failed.

I had one kid throw sharp objects at the ceiling. He was trying to get them to stick up there. He succeeded. I had students who would not remain seated. They tried to play with their toys. One girl's pen got stolen at least five times; she was one of the roamers, so I didn't have much sympathy for her. And that doesn't even take into account the constant pencil sharpeners or the ones who suddenly needed to find paper/pencil more than half way through the period (why they didn't think of this at the beginning, I don't know).

I sent several kids packing. I should have sent many more. And they were loud. I couldn't hear questions asked of me even when I was standing right next to the student. It's amazing that anyone got anything done (some actually did).

It was the passing period before 6th period. I was wiped out. And one girl came up to me to ask me a question. She had heard that I was strict. She wanted to know if it was true.

They were calling me strict? Awwww. How sweet.

Too bad it didn't feel like I was being strict enough.

Denied

I so dream for these days. I hope. I scheme. I look for them every day. And then it happens.

6th period prep!!!

I am a sub. I don't need to prepare. So, when I cover for a teacher who has 6th period prep, I get to go home early (while getting paid for the full day).

I saw that two teachers were not covered today, but the secretary had covered their 6th periods with other subs. I was going to get an early day. Yeah!

I got through my day (8th grade science). I packed my stuff. I left my note. Then after the bell (6th period had started) I headed for the office. The secretary was getting out my time sheet, and I was just about home free when...

The secretary got a call over her radio. The cheer squad was missing its sub. Apparently there had been a mix up. The person who was supposed to cover that didn't show or wasn't told and was now busy. The secretary looked up at me...

Grrr!

On the bright side--at least I got an extra period's pay.

Mr. Blue Shirt

"...Although, he's wearing a green shirt today..."

The students were all excited, but not in a good way. They spotted another sub on campus--the sub they'd had the last time the teacher I was covering was out. And it became this big, long discussion.

I have met some of the other subs. I wanted this sub's name in case I had run into him before.

"He wouldn't tell us his name. He told us to call him 'teacher'."

Then they went on to list all of his quirks. Teenagers can be vicious. I tried to rein them in a bit. If they talk like that about him, what are they saying about me? I even mentioned this. However, I was assured that I was "nice" and not made fun of.

Yeah, right.

Dead Battery

This happened on Friday.

After school I did my grocery shopping. I left school, drove to the store, went inside, and did my shopping. I only needed a couple things, so I was quickly on my way. I got into my car, turned the ignition, and everything went wacko.

The electrical stuff in the car turned on like it was supposed to, but when I tried to start the engine, I lost all power. Then I heard a clicking noise. Then my alarm went off.

It took way too long to get the alarm to stop sounding. I attracted the notice of the others in the parking lot. Then I tried to get the car to start again, and again I had to deal with the stupid alarm. Alarm, but nothing else.

My battery was dead.

Well, I have AAA and a cell phone, so I called for help. And I waited.

Turns out that I should have replaced my battery two years ago. Oops. Luckily, AAA now has battery service, so the driver replaced my battery then and there. That saved me from having to drive around on a Friday evening looking for an open place to install a new battery.

Now I have to reset my car stereo. Losing power wiped all of my settings.

Fake Amanda

Today I covered a 7th grade world history class.

I needed a silent room. I was not getting it. So, I warned them: "I will take down the names of those who continue to talk." This only works when I cover some teachers. This was one of them.

They fought me on it for a moment. I stared down the few whose names were going to be on my list. Then one of the girls (the talkers were all girls in this group) told me to write down her name. "I'm Amanda," she said.

She offered up her name way too easily. I was suspicious. I checked the seating chart. Sure enough, Amanda sat in that seat. But she did not look like an Amanda. She did not feel like an Amanda. I was sure I was being lied to.

Twenty minutes later (I had gotten my silence, so I didn't need to make my list) two other students were exchanging words. "Amanda, I have it here." The first student was talking to a different girl, not the one who claimed to be Amanda. I knew it!

After a quick perusal of the seating chart, I figured out who the fake Amanda was. Joanna. I was pretty sure. The two girls had probably switched seats.

Then someone called to the fake Amanda, calling her Joanna. I was right.

I don't know why they do this. I don't know what they get out of it. Today? They get honorable mention in my note to their teacher.

Duplicates

Today I was in an 8th grade U.S. history class. The assignment was to read through a section in their textbook aloud, and to make my life easier, the teacher had name cards (each student's name is on an index card so I could randomly pick the next reader).

"Brittany."

"Which one?"

I didn't think anything of it. I provided the last name. So, when the second Brittney came up, I automatically used her last name. But when I found a third Brittny, I started to wonder. There were four Brittanies (different spellings but the same pronunciation)...in one class!!!

I know, I've noted this sort of thing before. And duplicate names happen. Often. But four? That's unusual.

Though, Jasmine is a pretty popular name, too.