Thursday, June 30, 2011

A Summer School Teacher (4)

Today was the last day of the first secession of summer school.  All we had on the agenda today was to catch-up on missing homework and take the final exam.  Since I only had four kids in the room and had three hours to work with, I let them decide for themselves when they wanted to take the exam.  We were done by about the second hour of class.  Many of the kids from the other classes were also done early, so another teacher set them all up with a movie in his classroom.  It gave me plenty of time to put together a report on final grades, get the classroom cleaned up, and leave right after the kids.

Now I've got a month off from school.

I recently accepted a job in a local photo studio.  I'm sure that will make the summer interesting.

Will there be a "Mr. C. Pretends to be a Photographer" update in the future?  Only time will tell.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

A Summer School Teacher (3)

I can't believe that the second week is already over with.  Next week is the last day of this session.  I'll start back again the first week of August.

I had a girl actually use the line, "my dog ate my homework."  I told her that there was no way I would ever accept that excuse, but either way she'll just have to turn it in late.

Some seniors had just finished up some testing which allowed them to graduate on time (or at least a month late), so they put on a mini graduation ceremony.  Since I'm one of only 3 teachers in the building right now, I had to participate in part of the ceremony... which pretty much just meant standing in recognition at a particular time.
I also got some free pizza out of it.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

A Summer School Teacher (2)

I've now finished my first week teaching summer school.  Two students have already dropped out of my class.
I've now got three US History 1 students, one Economics student, one World History 1 student, and one World History 2 student.
I'm finding that teaching four classes at the same time, all day long is rather trying.  Also, packing 12 weeks worth of material into 12 days seems to be more content at one time than these guys are used to.

This is going to be a very educational summer... hopefully for more than just me.

Monday, June 13, 2011

A Summer School Teacher

As I said on Friday, I just accepted a job teaching summer school.
The position lasts a total of six weeks.  Three weeks now, through the end of June and another three weeks in August.  8am - Noon.

Today was rather hectic.  It got easier about halfway through when I got some textbooks and a scope and sequence for most of the classes.
I've already got the rest of the week sketched out, so it should go much smoother from now on.

Seeing as I'm looking to find a part-time job to fill in the second-half of the day, I don't think I'll have time to do daily updates.

Friday, June 10, 2011

An Elementary Gym Teacher.

I subbed today for an elementary gym teacher.

It was only a half day, but it was a lot of fun.

I had four classes, each played a variation of freeze-tag and a variation of dodgeball.  The last couple classes I decided to join in on the dodgeball... THAT was a lot of fun, especially since, instead of getting "out" I would just switch teams.

Also, as of about 10 minutes ago, I am officially going to be teaching summer school at a local high school.  It's only four hours a day, four days a week, for six weeks... but I'm still looking forward to it.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

A Middle School Language Arts Teacher.

I subbed today for a middle school language arts teacher.  Once again, it was only a partial day.

During one of the class periods the kids just had to go outside and play.  It was real rough.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Another Third Grade Teacher

I subbed for another 3rd grade teacher today.  I was actually in the room right next door to where I was yesterday.  This resulted in a lot of hugs and shouting of "HI MR. C.!" throughout the day.  Apparently, I'm the only "nice" sub they have ever had.

Right at the very start of class today, a little girl came up to me...
Girl: Hey, I have something to tell you, but it's very sad - my dad died.
Mr. C.:  ...oh, wow, I'm very sorry. Um... when did this happen?
Girl: When I was six.  I'm 9 now.
Mr. C.: Oh......... Why are you telling me this?
Girl: Just so that everyone knows.
Mr. C.: ...Alright...well, I'll keep it in mind.
Girl: Kay!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

A Third Grade Teacher

I subbed for a 3rd grade teacher today.

We had a Foster Grandparent in the class today.  He was fantastic.  Usually Foster Grandparents just sit in the back of class and glare at me, like I'm doing everything wrong, but not this guy.  Today would not have gone nearly as well if Grandpa J. hadn't been there.

The students had to write their last letter, today, to their "Soldier Friends."  The note left to me said that I had to approve any letters before they could be considered "done."  One boy handed me a letter with the following line, "I hope none of your friends have gone to Heaven."  I knew what he meant... but that may not have been the most tactful way to put it.  I had him just rephrase the line.

Little Girl: Mr. C.!  Guess what, I came up with a new name for you!
Mr. C.: ...oh?
Little Girl: You're so funny that I'm going to call you Mr. Giggles!
Mr. C.: No... no, you're not.  You can stick to Mr. C. just like everyone else.

During recess, which I had to supervise, a little girl came up to me and show me a caterpillar that she had on a stick.  She told me his name was George, and then gave me his whole life story.  Later, as everyone was lining up to go in, I saw her bawling her eyes out at the back of the line.  When I was finally able to calm her down a bit, she told me that another girl had proclaimed George as "gross," and stepped on him.  She then went back to crying uncontrollably, all the while proclaiming her love for George.  I sent her to Grandpa J.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Two Different High School Social Studies Teachers

Oops.  I forgot to post on Friday.
Between today and Friday I subbed for two different high school history teachers, in two different schools.

On Friday I had to cover an hour for a resource room teacher.  There were only two kids, and they were really good about getting their stuff done.  It was during this class period that I had my first chance to really use a SmartBoard.  It was pretty great, especially when I discovered that I could draw a dartboard and some darts, then "throw" the darts from one side of the screen to the other.

I only got in a few hours today.  Most schools are done by the end of the week, with a couple finishing up Tuesday of next week.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

A High School Art Teacher

I subbed today for a high school art teacher.

The kids were working on a cool project.  They'd been given old books, and the assignment was to "alter" them to reflect their own lives.  The kids end up painting, drawing, cutting, burning, gluing, etc. the books.  The results are pretty cool.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

An 8th Grade History Teacher

I subbed today for an eighth grade history teacher.

I "had" to give lecture-ish notes on the Reconstruction.  I loved it.  Classes are so much easier when I know what I'm talking about and I don't have to try and figure out stuff on the spot.  It would have been even smoother if I'd known that was the topic ahead of time, so I could have prepped.  Lucky for me I recently saw the America: The Story of Us episode on the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Once again, though, when I tell the kids, "hey, you're in luck.  This is what my degree is in" all I get in return are groans.