Very excited – longterm subbing has officially begun! Today was day two – I was going to update this yesterday, but here’s a shocker: I was EXHAUSTED. Immediate thoughts from only 2 days in the field:
1. Why am I so hungry all the time now?
2. I would not be opposed to going to bed at 8pm for the next few days.
3. I love middle schoolers…they’re both funny to work with and sometimes surprisingly sweet.
4. Someone should seriously consider putting an IV drip of caffeine in my classroom so I have constant access.
5. Huge gaps between sone of my classes…this might be the year I dominate differentiation. As though student teaching wasn’t practice enough.
I’m planning on fleshing my thoughts out more as the week goes on, but I can honestly say that I am so excited to be teaching (finally) and really do love it so far. Right now I’m in the beginning of a unit on WWII, so in addition to my rantings/questions, I’ll try to share any cool resources I come across!
Since the recent snow in my area meant that the schools were no longer taking President’s Day off, I subbed for an Art teacher at an elementary school nearby. Immediate thoughts: So glad I brought a book, Kindergarteners are adorable, Art can get really messy, really quick; and 5th graders are an abomination.
I called my mom afterwards and told her my new found opinion of 5th graders – which she thought were hilarious considering some of the stories I told her about my 12th graders, and how they didn’t bother me nearly as much. And honestly, I could have gotten a rotter of a class – but, here’s what kills me: 12th graders, I expect an attitude. I remember being 17 – you’re tired of high school and you think you’re the top dog. 5th graders are still so young, but the attitudes – maybe because they were unexpected were just exhausting. I don’t know how elementary school teachers do it. The blessing was that I just had them for a period versus the entire day.
Kindergarteners though – ohhh they’re so little and precious I could have had them all day. There was just a wee bit of tattling and the occasional tears but they’re so cute I could have forgiven anything.
I will say I enjoyed it – especially since the teacher included really detailed art lesson plans. I have noooo idea what I would have done with all those kids without them! I’m subbing for another art teacher today, and fingers crossed she leaves some too. If not, I’m planning on remembering everything from yesterday and just redoing it today. And hopefully I get better 5th graders this time around…