I couldn’t have asked for a better first day of substituting. First off, the teacher/coach I was subbing for only had four classes, one of which was made up of only two little Mennonite girls. They were sisters who’d just moved from Mexico and knew very little English. The teacher/coach had given them some infantile worksheets to complete, and once we were through with those, I devised a game where I would write down the name of a common classroom object on the chalkboard. Then, they would run to the object in the room and pronounce the item’s name in English. Then I’d ask them to tell me the word in German. I’m not sure if my little exercise was at all pedagogically sound, but the girls seemed to enjoy themselves.
My other three classes were made up of 6th grade world history students. All they had to do was take their six weeks test and sit quietly once they were finished. The latter proved to be more of a challenge for them than the actual test, but I didn’t have any real problems. I may be jumping out on a limb here, but they seemed to like me, at least well enough to do what I asked them to do, in a general sense.
I think the biggest shock of the day was how much fun I had. I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, I am going into the teaching field. Shouldn’t I love kids? Shouldn’t I be excited about teaching? Honestly, all I knew was that I wanted to like these things, especially the kids, but I was secretly afraid I would HATE them. Not the case at all, at least today. They were so interesting to watch, and they were all so different. Even the more trouble-prone kids were endearing in their own way.
Goddamn, I’ve gone and grown a heart.
The other great thing about the day was the support from the faculty and staff. Most of them knew me from when I was a student at the school, but even the ones who I’d just met were nice and encouraging. I immediately felt like these people would have my back if necessary, and a few of them even stopped by throughout the day to see how things were going.
It really is kind of bizarre how well it went. I’ll probably get shot in the face, lit on fire, or peed on during my next gig. Until then….
Sincerely yours,
My other three classes were made up of 6th grade world history students. All they had to do was take their six weeks test and sit quietly once they were finished. The latter proved to be more of a challenge for them than the actual test, but I didn’t have any real problems. I may be jumping out on a limb here, but they seemed to like me, at least well enough to do what I asked them to do, in a general sense.
I think the biggest shock of the day was how much fun I had. I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, I am going into the teaching field. Shouldn’t I love kids? Shouldn’t I be excited about teaching? Honestly, all I knew was that I wanted to like these things, especially the kids, but I was secretly afraid I would HATE them. Not the case at all, at least today. They were so interesting to watch, and they were all so different. Even the more trouble-prone kids were endearing in their own way.
Goddamn, I’ve gone and grown a heart.
The other great thing about the day was the support from the faculty and staff. Most of them knew me from when I was a student at the school, but even the ones who I’d just met were nice and encouraging. I immediately felt like these people would have my back if necessary, and a few of them even stopped by throughout the day to see how things were going.
It really is kind of bizarre how well it went. I’ll probably get shot in the face, lit on fire, or peed on during my next gig. Until then….
Sincerely yours,
P.S. The "Great" on the board is from "Alexander the Great." I'm not that confident yet.
2 comments:
Kent's most important question about your first sub experience:
"Hamburger or chicken-fried steak day?"
I'm proud of you! And of muppet for showing her true hillbilly (or is it grunge?) colors!
Love and miss you both!
I'm so excited that you had such a great first experience in the classroom. Eh, I wasn't worried! And for the record, you already had a heart. It was just a little crusted over. Look at you now, you big softy...
Post a Comment