Adventures of a Substitute Teacher

After my Student Teaching, I was signed up to be a sub in the same district. I've only been hired by my school, but I think that was a good thing for me.

First, I subbed an afternoon for another 1st grade teacher. It was exciting. It's a tough class, so I was tired after that day. When other teachers saw me there, they realized I'm a sub for them, too!

I subbed Kindergarten all day. That was a crazy day. But it was tons of fun! I've learned that you can't really staple yarn to paper and expect it to stay. That needs tape, or a knot and then a staple.

There were two days when the teachers had grade collaboration, so they needed an entire half day off for it. I subbed all of the grades in three days except for kindergarten. It was fun! The hardest class was 4th grade. They are always hard, actually. They were my first half of the day and then, I had 3rd grade. The 3rd grade class earned a movie for the afternoon, so I got to watch Megamind. It was awesome. And I totally earned it with my experience with 4th grade. ;)

Then, I subbed in the same 1st grade class for an entire week. She had to be gone with her husband for medical reasons. So I subbed all week. I loved it! Day one, the hardest kid wasn't there. Day two, he was. He pushed me to my outer limits. At the end of the day, we talked about it and what we would change the next day. I told him I would be tougher and would follow through. I think he believed me. Throughout the week, I did end up sending him to the office, he threw the biggest tantrum I've ever seen, and he gave me a huge hug and said he liked me as a sub. Sometimes, kids make you crazy!!!

Then, I subbed in MY class last Thursday!!! I LOVED It!! We had a blast. Lots of fun! Good memories.

The other 3rd grade teacher asked me to sub for her on Friday and Monday. That was pretty neat because the principal suggested me because I could handle the kids. Turns out, they are REALLY tough. They gave 4th grade a run for their money!! On Friday, one of the kids struggled with me ALL day and at the end, told me he hated me. When J got home, I was moody and stuff, so I broke down and cried when I told him about this boy.

Monday, we learned how to deal with each other, so it went better, but we had an exciting day. Here's the note I got from the student who visited with the principal:

Sorry for saying that bad word that I wasn't supposed to say. I promise I will never say it again because I would get in real bad trouble if I said it at home. So I won't do it again because they would call my mom and I would get in trouble. You should never hear bad words.

Please forgive me, ______

Wow. Yep. I heard the F word. I couldn't believe it. Then, when I told the principal with him right beside me, he said he said "Frickin" hmmmm I could DEFINITELY tell the difference with this one. So she had him stay with her for the afternoon. Wow. I hate when kids get in trouble because I sent them out. I hate it. I feel so bad! but I know that he needed to go. He was trouble for me both days. I think he learned something from it!!

Stay tuned for adventures in PE tomorrow! School ends next week, so that'll be the end of the substitute stories for a while. :)