Um, I kind of forgot that this was here. I'll be back soon - I promise.

I'm not subbing right now as this is a crazy semester but come mid-December I will be. And oh the stories I could tell right now.

I had to sub in a fifth grade class today. A fifth grade class that most refuse to set foot in. 

I sent three children to the office today. I had no patience for the crap that they are used to getting away with. Their teacher is nice, but has a difficult time with them - I admit they are a difficult group, but if they know you aren't going to put up with anything, they are better at following instructions. 

I guess most of the time they lose "gym" and it was on the schedule for today much to their surprise. We played two games of basketball and everyone participated, which is going to shock their teacher as I was warned that "the girls don't usually play" - we had the boys play against each other and the girls played against each other and everything was great. 

One of the children who I sent to the office ended up there for taunting and making obnoxious comments while we were in class and then refusing to work when I sent him into the hall. I asked him to read his book and he wouldn't get it so I handed it to him and he threw it. Not knowing what else to do, I sent him to the office. His father thinks he's unfairly targeted, but if only he knew! I guess he wants to speak with the teacher who sent his son today, which would make me nervous if I didn't know I was in the right!

Apparently I may be out of a job soon. The teacher that I have been for the last several months may be coming back. There are a great number of reasons why that doesn't make any sense beginning with the fact that the kids don't even know the teacher who would be coming back. And a couple of other things that would jeopardize any anonymity I have so I'm not saying anything.

If you read the post before this - which I don't think anyone did - I'd like to add another point. The next time I am yelled at for leaving THREE. MINUTES. EARLY. I may just lose it.

I start working one on one tomorrow with a child who I have great to care about greatly. Her success is very important to me, so I'm excited to have the opportunity to pull her for 30 minutes and work on reading skills. I'll let you know how it goes.

Dear Teacher-whose-class-I-spend-hours-planning-for- and-teaching-in-each-week,

• I have a name. And it is not "substitute." "Mrs Anything" or any name with a short o sound. In fact, I don't have a single 'o' in my first, middle or last name. The fact that you can't be bothered to figure it out after THREE FREAKING MONTHS is disrespectful. It's embarrassing that your students have to correct you daily.
• Oh, and by the way. I know about the teaching methods you're supposed to be following. Don't worry so much about being observed. If I'm there you might have a chance at passing. If not? Well, good luck.
• And if you really are that worried, why are you stealing my objectives and lesson plans. While I'm sitting there teaching my group, you shouldn't be standing over my shoulder and change the instructions you have for your students.
• LEARN TO SAY YOUR STUDENTS' NAMES. Don't ignore letters or reward students for correcting you because you couldn't be bothered to learn how to say that child's name for months.
• If your lunch ends at 12:00 and my duty ends at 12:05 because I have to cover someone else one day a week, don't send your student over to ask if I'm going to "show up" for groups at 12:01. What if I needed to use the restroom? Is that not an option in your world?

I will end this letter here - even though there is so much more that I could say.

I'll be there Monday and I will smile and nod when you talk to me. But don't think that I'm not mentioning what I observe to others.

\

If I work, I should be paid, right?

I found out today that I sat through a training one day last month that I will not get paid for. On a day in which I had been offered other jobs.

Why bother telling me to come if you are not going to disclose that I will not be paid for my participation? I may have chose to attend anyhow, but I would have liked to have known all the facts ahead of time. I have been budgeting my money and that's a lot of money I won't receive.

To top it off, they tried to make it so that the days when they pull me to sub in other classes I won't get paid at the long term rate. Now, why would I agree to be flexible and sub wherever you want to put me, if you are going to cut my pay by almost thirty percent? Luckily, when she came back to tell me that I wouldn't get paid for the training day, I would in fact be paid for the other days.

This month, however, you'd be hard-pressed to get me into another classroom if that's the stress I'm going to face at the beginning of April.

One day last week I witnessed something I should never have seen in a classroom.

I had a teacher have her students write a letter listing all the things one of the students did wrong. It bothered me so much - especially because I flat out asked the child what happened, and he said that they were throwing rocks and kicking him so he did it back.

We've had LONG conversations about walking away when you are mad/angry/upset.

So far, he has had an awesome week (earning enough rewards that his mom is going to take him out to dinner tonight and he gets a special reward from another teacher tomrrow). He knows that he can walk away to either me or two other teachers who will listen and care. It apparently worked.

Now, if only we could fix things for this child - even if it means switching his teacher - yes I know it's March, but it seems necessary.

A normal day, oh yay!

I finally got to teach all of my kids today. It's been well over two weeks since I'd taught according to the schedule I was given two months ago.

There is one first grader that I feel particularly drawn to working with. He's become my project. I've seen how much he has grown in just a few weeks and I'm determined that he will be really close to, if not all the way up to, grade level by the time the school year ends.

He's the kind of child that craves one on one interaction and that appears to be all that he needs in order to grow in reading and writing (and possibly math). If spending fifteen minutes with me means that he can focus better all day, I'm more than willing to make sure that I am in his class every single day.

Hopefully tomorrow goes as smoothly!