24 November 2008

Back On The Job

I submitted my substitute teacher application at my children's school way back in August at the beginning of the school year.

Until today I'd been in the school in a professional capacity for a whopping grand total of a little over an hour.

This morning I rose earlier than I normally do - well before Frank (and the sun) was up in order to shower, make myself presentable, prepare 3 lunches instead of 2, have breakfast and my requisite 2 cups of coffee, get the children up, dressed, fed and out the door before 7:30. I wanted to be a little early to school so I could go over any sub plans the teacher I was filling in for left.

I was with sixth graders today, an age group I have not spent this much time with since I was part of it (a very long time ago). All in all, the day went well in spite of the fact that I had to teach two sections of math (pre-algebra no less). The kids and I muddled our way through some basic equations. I hope I didn't confuse them too much. I'm thankful that over lunch the 8th grade English teacher confided that she, too, has an uneasy relationship with numbers.

My homeroom group consisted of 28 11-year-olds. 28 mostly very talkative and highly charged 11-year-olds. They. never. shut. up. Even when they were supposed to be quiet, some of them were muttering. The kids were, on the whole, very good and helped me with their daily routine. Most of them have siblings that are in either Evan's or Flynn's classes. And I learned something else today: 11-year-old boys cannot keep their collective bottoms in their chairs to save their lives. I don't mind kids getting up and sitting down, but the constant fidgeting was something I found wearing and it was compounded by the fact that they did not have P.E. today.

But I'm a veteran mom and a veteran teacher. I've been there, done that.

And it felt sooooooo good to be in the classroom again.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I heard horror stories about jr. high kids all through my undergrad but have had an absolute blast with the jr high track squad the past few years. Granted I deal with them 2 hours and not 7 but they can get pretty wild