a Fourth Grade Teacher (Field Trip Edition)

I subbed today in a fourth grade classroom, in a building I had only been in once.
We went on a field trip to a nature center.  I knew in advance that we would be going on a trip, but I did not really know much of anything about the destination.
The place turned out to be extremely heavy on nature, and very light on center.  Almost all of the six hours we were there was to be spent outside, on what turned out to be a VERY bright, hot day.
Guess which incredibly pale sub forgot to pack sunscreen.
Lucky for me, the group of kids I had to watch also came with a super-mom for a chaperone.  She saw my predicament nearly right away, and simply offered me some sun screen.  She also, later on, gave me a very long lecture on how horrible energy drinks are for your body.

The day as a whole turned out to be a lot of fun.

And, even with the sunscreen, I still managed to get a horrible sunburn on my scalp, because of how I had my hair gelled.

Adventurous

I've accepted a job for tomorrow with the following note attached to it: We will be going on a field trip to Forest Hill- you will need a sack lunch and will want to wear jeans/tennis shoes. Another class will be going also, so there will be another teacher there. 


Not only have I never subbed for this class, but I have only worked in this particular building once.
And did I mention that it is 4th grade?  I avoid elementary jobs like the plague.

It should be an adventure.

A 7th Grade Social Studies Teacher

The following conversations happened during two separate class periods.



Mr. C: And that's how a hydroelectric dam works.  Any questions?
*Girl in front raises hand*
Mr. C:  Yes?
Girl: What brand gel do you use in your hair
Mr. C: .......off-hand, I honestly can't remember..... any OTHER questions?
*Boy in the back raises his hand*
Mr. C: Yes, sir?
Boy: Is it "Got 2B Spike Up" brand?
Mr. C: ......*sigh* Yes, as a matter of fact, I think it is.  Good guess.  Now, any MORE questions?
*Several other hands shoot up*
Mr. C:  ...any more questions that AREN'T about my hair? *All hands go down* That's what I thought.  Moving on...

A Math Teacher

I had two seventh grade classes, and one senior pre-calc. class.

I spent both seventh grade classes moving around helping with math.  When it came to pre-calc, I told the kids flat-out that they were on their own.

Today should have been a full day, except the teacher came back early.  I did still get paid for a full day though.
Nothing like full pay for three hours.

An Art Teacher

A few weeks back I spent a week subbing for an art teacher.  She had an unbelievable schedule.  Not only did she not have have a prep period (not common, but something I've seen a number of times), but she did not have a lunch break.  She had a class of two students over the usual lunch period.  She was even double booked during that period, so that she had to leave the two kids alone for part of the hour to teach art in rotating elementary classrooms.
I could have subbed for her for the rest of the school year, but for several complex reasons I decided against it.

On the plus side, she had some really crazy/cool stuff around her room.  According to one Senior art student, she "just builds stuff and assigns projects to advanced students, so that she can have neat stuff all over the room."

I've got a couple examples below.  The teacher built the dragon, "just because," and I'm told that he son built the face.  The dragon also isn't done, as she hadn't finished the wings.

A Resource Room Teacher

I was a resource room teacher today, with one period of middle school gym class.

Just before lunch, the school had a special assembly to address bullying.  They brought in a motivational speaker to talk to the kids about the subject.
I really hope the kids were motivated, because I wasn't impressed.  The man seemed to ramble on pointlessly, and then weakly tie in the rambling to how it feels to be bullied.
Also, in the middle of it all he had two students "race" to empty tubes of toothpaste... then didn't connect the activity to anything that he was saying.
After the man's "presentation," small groups of students read off different power point presentations (word for word) that defined cyber bullying and described how gossip can lead to bullying.

On a different note, I haven't updated this blog in a while... I've got a sort of mental back-log of stuff I've seen since my last post.  Maybe this weekend I will have a chance to post a couple more updates.

A Freshman English Teacher

I subbed as a Freshman English teacher the past couple days.  It's actually been pretty boring, and uneventful.  In fact, if I hadn't drawn this sweet robot, I wouldn't even be writing up a post.