A Little Off Today

The kids were kind of naughty today. Here's a synopsis of what I said frequently today:

"Look at me"

"Sit criss-cross applesauce"

"Stop talking"

"Listen"

"Sit still"

"Sit up"

"Go to your seat"

And it goes on and on. Lots of the day felt like corralling a large group of wild animals. Getting them all to sit the right way and listen for 5 minutes was like pulling teeth. I am tired, and hoping tomorrow will be less bizarre. On the plus side (I think) was that all the other teachers said their classes were wound up today as well.

Running Out of Things to Say

Today was much the same as yesterday. Same class, same kids, virtually the same schedule. It went smoother and kids were slightly better behaved.

I'm going back tomorrow. I will try to have better stories for you. Or at least remember something.

This just goes to show that I can't wait til 10pm to write the blog. All I can remember right now is that kids love Dogzilla and Kat Kong (both by Dav Pilkey). Seriously, those books are the key to getting kids to shut up and listen. :)

Oops!

This entry is about my job on the 28th of September, even though I'm actually writing it on the 29th. I completely forgot about writing something all evening yesterday.

I got called Sunday evening to work for a teacher I know at a school close by. I was glad to be going somewhere close, and to a class that's actually in English - nevermind the pleasure of knowing ahead of time.

The day was a bit chaotic. It was the first day the kids were doing literacy rotations. The four first and second grade teachers mix their classes up for reading so all the kids will be with a group at the same level as them. So I had to hand out name tags that indicated what room they were going to, and take attendance, and introduce myself, and sign reading logs and pass out folders with the kids' names on them all in about 10 minutes. I didn't get all of that done. The folders remained in a pile at the back of the room. And some reading logs went unsigned. But the it wasn't the end of the world. (A phrase the students laugh at whenever I use it, by the way!)

I can't remember much else of what happened. It was busy. On my way out of the office at the end of the day I was asked to continue subbing for the class for the rest of the week. So I'm very excited to know where I'm going and what I'm getting into all week!

Too Many Kids

I got a call this morning! First morning call of the year. Unfortunately it was at 5:45am. Not my favorite way to wake up.

But I went back to sleep for 30 minutes or so before I had to get ready.

I arrived at the school and signed in, and then made my way to the kindergarten classroom. The room I was in was bilingual. The morning class was all in English and the afternoon class was all in Spanish. The assistants arrived (I got 2!) and I was glad to have the help. Then I realized why I got 2 assistants - because there are 36 kids on the roster for the am class and 34 for the pm. The morning class' attendance list was so long it didn't even fit on one page!!

So it was a wild day. But we made it work. The assistants were amazing help - it was like have extra teachers in the room. We did station time, which was fun. The kids cracked up when I made a giant tower of unifix cubes and then it fell on me. One boy in the morning class liked me so much that on his way out the door he happily exclaimed, "See you tomorrow teacher!" When I told him I probably wouldn't be here tomorrow because his teacher would be back, he made a sad little face and said, "I wish you would stay and be our teacher! You are cool and nice and funny!" (Something like that at least). I told him maybe I'd see him again sometime and he said he hoped so. Its nice to have the kids like you.

It Really Shouldn't Take That Long

Today was not a bad day. However, it was also not a good lesson plan.

Biggest problem? All the activities for today's group of bilingual 1st graders were pretty simple, quick projects. However, the time allotted for them was excessively long! For example, we had 30 minutes to listen to a CD of songs, 50 minutes to practice counting, and 25 minutes to clean up and line up to go home. I kid you not.

First off, the kids could barely listen to the songs for 3 minutes. So we did some "dancing" to the songs. They were supposed to sing them I guess, but they didn't know the words, and I didn't either. The assistant and I made up some movements and marched around the room and this seemed to entertain them while also wearing them out a little. Ulterior motive? Yes.

Secondly, who counts by 2s 5s and 10s for 50 minutes?! I'm bored just thinking of it! I can't even fathom how I could stretch that activity for that long and keep the kids' attention. I don't think it's possible. So yeah, we didn't do that. Instead, I read a book, we counted for like maybe 10 minutes and then we did some math worksheets. All of that took 50 minutes. You see how the original plan posed a problem.

Lastly, 25 minutes to clean up is substitute suicide. I know this because I have made the mistake of attempting a lengthy clean up/jobs time before only to wish that I hadn't. You see, students are not dumb. And when they realize that we are cleaning up because this is the END OF THE DAY, they think, this is my last chance to try something that I know my teacher wouldn't let me do! And then my friends, we have chaos. So instead we colored and looked at books and spent about 7 minutes cleaning up. Even that was a bit long.

But despite the sparse schedule, some long waiting in the hallway for the PE teacher to arrive, and my lack of Spanish proficiency, it was a pretty decent day.

Waiting

There is a lot of waiting in Kindergarten.

First off, some kids are waiting for things that aren't likely to happen. One of the sadder moments of the day: during the morning class' recess, one little boy came up to me crying. I assumed he had somehow hurt himself on the playground. I asked him what was wrong and he told me how his daddy left for California and he didn't want to come back. It just about broke my heart. I went and spoke to the IA to let her know what he'd told me (in case they weren't aware of the situation yet). She told me she'd seen him crying and he wouldn't tell her what was wrong. I still can't figure why this little boy felt like telling me this story and not the teachers he actually knows more.

Later in the day, we did some more waiting. At the beginning of the PM class one student was supposed to select a classmate to take the attendance to the office with him (well, and me because they don't know where the office is yet!). Seriously, the kid stood there for like 3 minutes just staring at the group while the IA was telling him to just point to somebody. Finally she pretty much picked for him. It felt like I was just a character in this kindergarten tv show and someone had paused the DVR!

The afternoon class also had recess (it was much hotter outside for this one!). When we got back to the room and lined up for drinks I stood by the line supervising while the IA was with the rest of the class. As I'm standing there I'm realize that the line has not moved for a long time. One little boy was standing at the fountain just gulping water! I stood there and waiting, thinking that surely he was almost done....ok, maybe almost done now......or maybe now.....or not! He just kept drinking and drinking and drinking and I'm wondering, "Where is he putting all that water?! He isn't that big!" Finally I had to countdown for him because otherwise I was afraid he was going to drown himself!

Despite the waiting, it was an enjoyable day. The kids were pretty good, lots spoke English pretty well, and all were super cute. One thing I didn't have to wait for though was a good review! After being in the room for about 2 minutes for breakfast, a little boy asked me to open his cereal bar for him, and while I was doing so he exclaimed, "You're a really good teacher!"

I guess kindergarten is not that hard to impress either. :)

Back by Popular Demand..

...it's me!

Yes, that's right it's the start of another year subbing and I'm gonna keep this blog thing a-goin! I actually found I enjoyed it a lot last year.

So, this marks the beginning of year 4 subbing, year 3 in Salem-Keizer, and *exciting* - my first job of the year was a request! Last week I sent out emails to bunches of teachers who I subbed for a lot last year and asked them to keep me in mind when they needed a sub. I also wrote to the office manager of one of the schools I really like and told her I was still subbing. I got responses from about half of them, so that was encouraging. Also, I've been called a lot by the calling system, and - get this - my roommate has yet to be called once! It's very weird.

Unfortunately, all the jobs that the machine has been calling out for are bilingual jobs. Normally, I'd do a bilingual (obviously, I've done them before), but sometimes the teacher will put in special instructions in the job request, and all of these jobs have requested bilingual substitutes. So I feel like I shouldn't take them if they ask for bilingual and I'm not. Especially when they are popping up a few days or weeks before the actual job date. It's at least good to be getting called.

Anyways, today I subbed for the afternoon for a 1/2 blend. The kids were fine. Pretty chatty and obviously still trying to get used to being back in school and learning the routine. But some of them remembered me from last year and all seemed really excited to see me back. I got lots of "Miss Barnes!!!" and "I missed you!" accompanied by as many hugs. It was fun.

I was also able to talk to some other teachers in the building and they acted like they'd heard good things about me and they might want to request me later in the year. I hoping that happens, because I would just love, love, LOVE to be doing primarily requests! Then I'd get to know ahead of time and actually have a better chance to know the schools and staff and administration. We will see how it goes. I'm optimistic.