Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The Joy of Subs

The topic of substitute teachers is surely one to get any group of teachers buzzing. My school has a core group of amazing subs who are highly sought after and who you would trust implicitly with your little darlings. Then there are the "interesting" sub folks who filter through the building when the desirable and known folks have already been assigned jobs.



Yesterday afternoon, a mellow......well........ EXTREMELY mellow sub appeared at my door. We chatted a bit, and she assured me that she would be fine, that she is preparing to take a long term art sub job in a week or so. Duly assured, and with potential problems outlined for her, I left for my afternoon meeting.



This morning, anxious to see her notes from the day, I read her commentary in my plan book. She commented that she had a great afternoon, although there was an "inappropriate drawing incident" in my first class. Hmmm......... And then she sent two first grade boys to the office from the second class. Umhmm...... Not good.



Come to find out, in the first class, the sweetest, little, six year old, cherub of a girl decided to draw naked, pooping people on the back of her art work, inspiring no less than four other folks to join in. I'm not sure yet what happened with the two boys in the second class, but the sub did use the words "out of control."



I do not like missing classes. I do not like writing sub plans. I DO NOT like thinking that anything in my classroom was "out of control".

The sub left her name and number, telling me to please call her if I need a sub again.


Uh...........NO.



Today I was present for all of the instruction in room 202. Thank goodness!

Here's a happy pink photo from my day:

4 comments:

Blink said...

I can relate to your consternation over having subs. It takes so much effort to plan and inform the sub of all the routines in your classroom... all in the name of maintaining good instruction. You at least want to think a sub can manage a classroom.

Anonymous said...

Ugh..I was a sub for my first time last month and the teacher gave me no lesson plan, no schedule and no classroom roster. I had no backup plan and the 7th graders about had a riot. I'm afraid to do it again.

Anonymous said...

Naked people pooping - that is too funny. Love that she inspired a creative trend in the classroom too! :) I'm a former sub too. I think it is sometimes a hard thing for everyone - teachers, kids and subs. But I like to think that I was on the list of preferred subs.

Sara Bowen said...

Speaking as someone with no experience of teaching but having a 6 year old daughter in school, I am in awe of all you folks who go into the classroom every day! I took my daughter's year group on an expedition last week and came back exhausted... but they are amazing kids, and I guess that's what keeps you going.