Thursday, February 16, 2017

SUB ME OUT!

I am currently sitting in my internship classroom for the second time this week with a substitute. Honestly, I don't mind it, it gives me a chance to kind of take over and teach, (even though I'm just suppose to introduce a worksheet and make sure they do it...), either way, I don't mind. However, today, it is a little different. I don't know the process and I'm sure when you don't know you'll be absent as a teacher until the morning of, there is probably not much choice when it comes to selecting subs. Also, I'm sure there are some teachers that don't care because they have developed the mentality that kids won't work if there's a sub regardless of who it is. All this being said, today's sub is, to put it nicely, "old school." Not the,  "I don't know how to use computers," old school, but the, "Please take out your pencils quietly, do not speak, do not leave your desk without permission," does not consider accommodations, doesn't think school should be fun, kind of "old school."🚷🚯🚱 She reminds me of that monster teacher from that book we read as kids.
And being that my supervising teacher is frankly, THE EXACT OPPOSITE, somehow today, (as I teach and this grumpy old lady does nothing but scowl at the children while I hand out my Valentine's candy gifts for them), I have to figure out a way to function somewhere along the middle to appease her awhile have the kids actually work in their typical environment. I'm trying really really hard not to be as mean about this as she is to the kids.😇 It's 3rd period planning right now, and she literally hasn't said a word to me. When I tried to talk to her about accommodations/disabilities, all she said was, "yeah, they told me which classes, you don't have to explain," and I had to politely stop her before she went to yell at a student for being on his computer in class because she figured he was playing when actually he was just typing his work, (his accommodation). She asked if we would have additional help in the ESOL class because she thinks that's two much more a "normal" teacher to handle, and when third period planning began I tried to make conversation by saying, "so far, so good?" and she responded in a condescending manner, "well, it has been interesting..." So yeah, today has been interesting. I feel like everything I do she glares at me but the kids are working and learning and there enjoying their day, (no rulers smacking their hands for talking out of turn 😂😅😂). It's not like she's doing my observation so I honestly shouldn't care, right? It just frustrates me because had I not been here these kids would have felt like ELA today was jail. It stinks that this is something we will have to deal with if we miss. I can hear my future students now telling me about my days off already. I hope I miss very few.
What would you have done in this situation?

3 comments:

  1. I love your image from The Teacher From the Black Lagoon. Having a sub is a crapshoot. I am glad you survived as did your kids. More often than not, the students are not as well behaved when a sub is there. I leave them choices in our digital classroom and if I can, I pop in digitally. Good work being a dependable presence for them today and taking the lead.

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  2. I love your image from The Teacher From the Black Lagoon. Having a sub is a crapshoot. I am glad you survived as did your kids. More often than not, the students are not as well behaved when a sub is there. I leave them choices in our digital classroom and if I can, I pop in digitally. Good work being a dependable presence for them today and taking the lead.

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  3. Oh my gosh, I could definitely relate to this situation. As a paraprofessional, I have dealt with PLENTY of not so pleasant substitutes. Being in PE makes it worse because they seem to always want to complain about how hot it is and why are we outside all day. I've had lazy ones, talkative ones, disrespectful ones, and ones like you described this substitute to be. I had one sub FALL ASLEEP! Having more than 50 students playing around the field and she is sitting down asleep.

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