This is the second post in a series from a local Richmond substitute teacher who wishes to remain anonymous. Visit her first post here. On another note, if you know of a great Richmond Teacher, please nominate ‘em in our Richmond Top Teacher Contest in March!
So another week of learning under my belt!
This week started in Art class. I taught one subject and students came to me. I began with 1st graders and ended with 5th graders. It gave me a look all the ages and classes in Elementary. I’M STILL GOING WITH PRE-K as my favorites.
Remember the snow pea story…well I had the opportunity to stick my head in the door of that class in the morning and boast, “Aren’t you glad you ate your snow peas?” At first glance, their look was one of horror! “OMG – that’s the teacher that makes us put our heads down forever!” screeched one child. I assured them I was only there to remind them about the snow peas. They were very excited about what they had done and couldn’t wait to have snow peas again! Now I’m off to prepare for a fun day of Art!
Ok, one would think Art Class…oh I’ve got this! NOT SO FAST! I was left instructions from the teacher to simply have the students make Valentine’s Day cards. Give them paper, crayons and markers ONLY! No scissors, no glue, no getting out of your seat, no loud talking, no asking to go to the bathroom, no water, JUST SIT AND MAKE A STUPID VALENTINE CARD! How hard would that be? Let me just start by saying, NO NAPS EITHER! First graders were just as I expected them to be…As soon as my instructions began, hands flew up… “Can I go to the bathroom?” “I need to get some water.” NO…and no to the next 35 questions you intend to ask over the next 40 minutes!
Then came the 2nd graders…exact same questions – AND SAME ANSWERS! Not too bad. Once we got the questions out of the way, they were extremely compliant!
By now, I’ve learned how to pick out the trouble makers. They are the ones that come in the room smiling and acting the most innocent. They always introduce themselves and ask your name. The evilness begins shortly thereafter.
Next 3rd graders! That’s quite an interesting age. I don’t think they know what their role is in the school food chain. They still have meltdowns–I do know that.
Then my quiet private lunch. I didn’t have to sit at the kids table. I picked up my Panda Pack and headed back to the art room.
When I walked into the cafeteria, my snow pea 1st graders all ran up to greet me – very much to the dismay of their teacher. But it was fun, nonetheless!
After lunch came: fourth graders. It appears that is the grade where they begin to “hate” the opposite sex but CAN’T QUITE STOP TEASING THEM AND TALKING TO THEM. The names they can come up with to call each other – amazing. It is definitely a boys vs. girls environment!
Then the dreaded 5th graders! They don’t want to do anything you ask them to do. They think, “Valentine’s Day is stupid and why do we have to make stupid cards?” They are definitely into impressing each other with how non compliant they can be.
At any rate, I survived the day. There was one very consistent during the day: the students always arrived early and left about five minutes late. Teachers had huge smiles on their faces at drop off and not so much when they came back to pick them up! I can certainly understand and appreciate the joy and pain!
In the end, I did have a “referral of good behavior” for my second graders. That is a note given to the person providing the afternoon announcements commending them on their excellent behavior during your art class. They get lots of kudos for stuff like that!
Then I was off to the great return of the Pre-K class at a new school for me. I had the same class for four-days straight. That was the first time I actually learned all seventeen student’s names. They were very sweet students; the first day was Valentine’s Day and boy did we party?
However, it’s really kind of hard to party too much:
- A teacher has to send a note home weeks in advance to plan for a party.
- She has to provide the menu and ANY food involved.
- All food items have to be purchased from the store
- NO homemade foods
- Nothing with any kind of red dye
- Parent-signed permission has to be kept on file. This document says it is ok for their kids to eat the items provided.
So, we loaded them with sugar and then . . .Ah . . .nap time!
The one thing I noticed about this school: there were parents involved heavily! I was substituting for a teacher who had a death in her family and was to be out all week. Because the parents knew that, everyday, two-to-three parents showed up to volunteer and help anyway they could. WOW! At the other schools, I barely saw parents. They came to assist with the party – we had five parents do that. They came to help with breakfast and lunch. Shout out to all you parents who volunteer at your child’s school!
I managed to avoid a cold for my first 6 weeks of teaching, but not on week seven! It seems every child in that classroom had a cold. They either hadn’t learned or simply didn’t care about sneezing and coughing into elbows to catch the germs. So, all my Ziacam didn’t help at all. It finally got me! My first cold in two years. Good thing I have a long weekend to recoup!
Had a couple marriage proposals this week as well as a couple of “hair-fixings”. Even one invitation to move in with one kid! He didn’t want to let me bring my cat – so I had to sadly decline. Two wanted to move in with me. The Pre-K students were fantastic! There were a couple of “disrupters” but not on the “mean” level; they were just antsy.
Although, one did throw out the “f-bomb”. He was horrified, but told his father as soon as he arrived to pick him up and the next day apologized to the entire class for using inappropriate language! Of course, I suspect he had no idea what he had said, he just knew it was bad! Luckily, I don’t think any of the other students knew it either just the teacher who happened to hear it.
We did have a couple of drama queens. The least little thing that happened, they ran to me to let me know someone had horribly treated them or had some major injury. None could ever be identified. So I began responding with: shall I call the ambulance or Chief Norwood!? I explained that I knew Chief Norwood well and could have him there in a matter of minutes if they wished.
Back to the teacher; she was fantastic, and probably the best one I’ve worked with so far. Although, all of them have been very good – this particular teacher really LOVED HER STUDENTS! She was so incredibly patient with them and loved teaching them every single day.
She came to work two days with a migraine but insisted on being there to work with them. She said she feels like they are all her grandchildren and she truly treats them as though she is responsible for their futures!! I learned a great deal from her; those of you who know me know that my patience level is–well let’s just put it out there–NEAR ZERO! I learned more about patience from her than from anyone else I’ve known. She commanded their respect as well as the respect for each other and the classroom.
I was able to utilize my business skills. This week’s letter was “C”. I made a PowerPoint with pictures of my cat with his comments for 
story time. THEY LOVED IT! (The teacher was very impressed as well.) They especially loved the one where he was laying on the bed watching President Obama’s State of the Union Address and the one where he had stuffed himself into a box half his size. We participated in art projects every day and I worked right along with them. My niece was the recipient of all my work–from the Valentine card, the Cat hand puppet made from a brown bag and construction paper to the letters upper-case C and the lower-case c made by gluing corn and cotton to construction paper (you had to be there!).
My very own refrigerator art! I was so very proud. I guess I should have given it to my Mom–next time Mom!
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