The End to a Lovely Week

It's Friday! And that completes my time in kindergarten (at least for a few days!)

Today the IA was back (yay!) and the day went pretty well. She taught the morning while I made copies, cut papers, traced things, sorted, alphabetized, filed and generally did lots of little chores.

I taught the afternoon, and together we managed to get most things done.

While the kids were in PE I taught the IA how to do some things on the computer (namely, Wordart on Microsoft Word.) She exclaimed that she "learns something new every time [I] come!"

Otherwise, not a lot to report. It was a fun week! Much much MUCH better than last week's mess! Hoping that the new few weeks before Spring Break are as pleasant as this one was!

Kindergarten Week Continues

Today I was back in the same kindergarten, again with a substitute assistant as well. (Seems that's happened quite a few times this year! I think this is the 6th time I've subbed in kindergarten this year and had the assistant be a sub too!)

Anyways, today seemed soother. Calmer. I mean, they're still 6 year-olds, and prone to distractions and silliness, but it seemed less crazy today. Probably part of it had to do with the assistant and I both used to the schedule and the group a little more. Plus I remembered more names today, that always helps!

And I was proud of myself today because I got through the entire schedule with nothing left over! (Something that the teacher said most subs never do because she plans so much to do!) Go me. I did it.

Tomorrow the teacher's going to be out again, so Friday will complete my week of all kinder, all the time!

Simon Says

Kindergarten Week continues...

Today I was looking forward to an easy job. I've been to this class before, and it has one of the best assistants, who leads a good portion of the day's activities.

However, when I arrived I learned that the aide was absent too! :(

So we had a sub aide. The kids were a little rowdy. Probably because they had a different sub yesterday and today they had two. But we kept trudging along and it wasn't too bad. At the end of the day the kids we just done doing anything educational. It wasn't even worth trying, I could tell. So we played about 15 minutes of Simon Says before they went home. They thought this was about the funniest thing ever. "Simon says put your hands up. Simon says put your hands on your head. Simon says put your hands up. Simon says put your hands on your head. Simon says put your hands up. Simon says put your hands on your head. Simon says put your hands up. Put your hands on your head." Then they all erupted into giggles when I exclaimed, "Oh, I tricked you!"

I will be curious to see if any of them request to play this again tomorrow. Because I'm going back again tomorrow! Busy week!

Sharks and Billy Goats

Today I returned to the same kindergarten for the afternoon. The kids are pretty used to seeing my by now and it went pretty well. They were a little more wound up today, but there were less of them (four kids absent), and I know their schedule pretty well now, so it was ok.

We learned about a shark's body parts today (dorsal fin, chest fins, gills, etc.) and they did an assessment project that involved coloring four pictures from the story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and then gluing them on another piece of paper in order.

Tomorrow I've got a job at a different school - still in kindergarten though! I guess it's just kindergarten week!

Guess I Need Better Outfits

...but my shoes are still cute!

Today I subbing in the same kindergarten I subbed in last Thursday (the ones who admired my outfit). They didn't have much to say about my outfit today though! Although they did like my shoes.

Not much of interest for the blog I guess. The kids were good, they seemed to still like me, and things went pretty smoothly. Although we did have a fire drill while the kids were at recess (afternoon class) with the IA and I was inside getting stuff ready for the second part of the day. I had to follow the rest of the school out when the alarm went off and find where they'd lined up. I couldn't find the official fire drill folder to hold up to show all are accounted for either. So I had to stand there like a dork holding up four fingers with one hand (the room number) and making a thumbs up with the other. :) Thankfully we weren't in room 11 or something or I would have had to take my shoes off!

You've GOT to be Kidding Me!

So this week has pretty much stunk.

Granted, yesterday was pleasant, but Tuesday was not an enjoyable class, Wednesday was the "we don't actually want you" debacle, and today, oh today - it happened again.

Is it a full moon this week?!? (Oh, just checked - no it's not. I must search for another explanation.)

Anyways. It's about 12:30 and I've given up on a job for today and am talking on the phone with my mom when I get another call. It's the sub office calling for a job starting at 12:01. So I'm irritated and running around like crazy to get out the door. I arrive at the school, and this is just not my week because, once again, they look at me a shock and say, "Oops, sorry, we don't need you."

Yeah.

Again.

I know.

Apparently the job was SUPPOSED to go to another sub that was already in the building, and she was already doing the job. So they said sorry a couple more times, went back to their work and waited for me to just leave.

What am I supposed to do?

I wanted to say, "Well, find me something to do, because I'm here and you have to pay me." But I also didn't want to make everyone angry with me and get bad rep. So I acted frustrated and I left.

Then I went home.

And called the sub office.

And tattled.

Well, not tattled really. You see, tattling is telling on someone when you want them to get in trouble, and telling is when you tell on someone to keep them and everyone else safe. (At least that's the best way I've heard to explain it to kids.) And while there might be a tiny bit of me that wants to get them in trouble, mostly I just want this to quit happening! The people putting in job requests need to learn how to do it right. And that would keep them safe from my anger, so yeah, it's just telling. :)

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty...

Today I had a lovely day subbing in kindergarten.

The kids were sweet, the assistants were helpful, the weather was lovely. I have nothing to complain about. :)

The morning class was cracking me up today because it seemed like all morning I kept getting little compliments from all the girls. "Miss Barnes, I really like your necklace." "Miss Barnes, your skirt is so pretty." "Miss Barnes, your shoes are so cute!" "Miss Barnes, you look so beautiful today." If you ever need somebody to tell you how cute and stylish and pretty you are I'd recommend spending the days with these kiddos. :)

It's Not My Fault!

Really it wasn't.

This afternoon I was sitting in my recliner reading a book, since I had nothing better to do and no place to sub. And then, surprisingly, my phone rings. It's nearly 1:30, so I'm not sure who it is but it can't be the sub office.

But it is.

It's a call for a sub job teaching 4th grade at one of the furthest schools from my house.

Start time?

Noon.

Yeah.

So I'm thinking, "That's weird. Wonder what's going on up there?" while I scramble around getting dressed, brushing my teeth, grabbing my stuff and running out the door. I drive the half-hour to the school and dash into the office. Pretty much as soon as I walk in the door I realize something is not right. Usually when you get one of these abnormal, really late calls, the office is waiting for you to arrive and there's a spark of recognition in their eyes when you walk in the door. This did not happen. In fact, they seemed very curious who I was and why I was there. I explained that I was there to sub and that I'd gotten a late call about a half-hour ago. Then they seemed really puzzled. This set off a series of events: one of the office people called the teacher, the other checked the sub site to make sure I read the date right I guess (I had). Turns out the teacher wanted the sub for Friday and put the date in wrong. However, now that I was there because of their mistake I now have a choice (this is district policy): I can leave and not get paid, or I can stay and do whatever they want me to and get paid for a half-day. They can't tell me to leave, it has to be my decision. Well, obviously, I wanted to get paid. (I did make the 30 minute drive up there! I didn't want it to be for nothing.) However, I got the feeling they were wishing I'd choose to leave so my sub pay wouldn't come out of their school's fund. I didn't want to leave though, I wanted to get paid, so it was a little awkward.

Eventually they sent me to the library to help out there.

The library people liked me.

I shelved books and covered new books with contact paper for a couple hours. They were very happy to have me and kept saying over and over how it was so great I was there, and "thank you so much". So at least someone was happy to have me around! :)

Blah

I thought today was going to be a lovely afternoon with a sweet class. However, it just turned out to be a frustrating afternoon with enough loud, rude kids to overwhelm the nice ones.

Thankfully I only had the kids for about an hour and a half. The rest of the time they were having lunch, at recess or at music.

So really it was easy, but it wasn't much fun.

A Late One!

At around 9:15 this morning, just as I was thinking I wouldn't work today, and was getting ready to go run some errands, my phone started ringing. It took me three tries to type in my ID number and PIN (don't really know what the problem was there!) Anyways, it was a job at one of the few schools I haven't been to, in a preschool class. And the start time was 9!

I dashed out of here with my directions in hand and once again feeling a bit frantic. I don't love late calls. Anyways, I arrive to the room to find 4 other adults there. I thought one was the teacher who I was taking over for, but apparently she wasn't. The teacher I guess was never there. One of the other adults kept asking me all day if I wanted to this or that or if I wanted her to do it. I kept trying to tell her I didn't care and she could do it if she wanted, but she still kept asking. The kids were cute, but really hyper. Much of the day felt like corralling wild animals. It reminded me of that episode of the Amazing Race when the contestants had to heard ducks up a ramp. Yeah, it was like that.

Fifth to Kinder & Lots of Confusion

Wow, I don't even know where to start today's blog! Today was a big mess of mix-ups, tight schedules and mistaken identity. I will try to simplify it so you don't have to spend an hour reading my blog.

Anyways, I started the morning across town in a 5th grade class. I arrived early (hoping that then I could leave early to go to my second school for the afternoon), only to have to wait in the office for 10 minutes for the office staff to arrive and print out the sign in sheet. Then I went to the room to find a mess on the teacher's desk and absolutely no plans or plan book in sight. I did spend a good 10 minutes searching though. Just as I was about to give up and go to the office to ask for some sort of schedule so I'd at least know when PE or Music and Lunch were. However, at this time the teacher walked in. He looked totally shocked to see me there and it was not long before we figured out that the person in the office who puts in the sub requests made a mistake and got a sub for the morning when he actually needed a sub for the afternoon! I told them I already had a job for the afternoon, so they had to get a new sub, and I ended up teaching the class for the morning anyway. They were a pretty nice class and the morning when by quickly. However, in all the commotion of the morning I didn't get a chance to call the second school and give them a heads up that I was coming from another school and might be a few minutes late.

Come midday I ended up racing out of the first school and driving back out across town to the second school. Annoyingly, I got behind some slow drivers and hit a few red lights so I was about 10 minutes late. I literally ran from my car to the front door. Thankfully, the second school hadn't even noticed I was late, and didn't seem to care either (helpful that they know me so well I think). The afternoon was with kindergarten, and when I got there the teacher was still in the room. For a minute I was afraid I was going to have a repeat of the morning, but all was well. The teacher actually stayed and lead the class for the first hour. After she left the assistant (also a sub) and I took the kids to recess, then I read them a story, and then they did math centers. It was pretty easy and the kids were good. It was a pretty drastic change from 5th grade though!

Anyways, despite the two nice easy classes it was kind of a stressful day. I'm hoping I don't have to do two half days at different schools again anytime soon!

Valentine Bags

Today the Valentine preparations begin!

I was subbing in 2nd grade today, and this afternoon we made Valentine bags that looked like cows! It sounds weird, but they were really cute. The spots on the cows were black hearts. While they were working on this, some of the kids felt compelled to make me some valentines as well - most made out of tiny black hearts. :)

Not much else to report for today. Got requesting this afternoon to work tomorrow morning for a teacher I've never subbed for before, at a school I don't commonly go to - not sure how I ended up being requested, but it's at least nice to have something to do tomorrow morning!

Surprise Student Teacher

Whoops! I knew I was forgetting something! I did work on Friday, and so I'm dating this post as Friday even though I'm writing it Saturday night...

Anyways...I got called at 5:30 in the morning on Friday to sub in a 1st grade I did a few weeks ago. And once again, this class had a student teacher (which I was not expecting) - although it was a different student teacher. This made my day pretty easy. I gave a spelling test, coaxed children along with their various projects, and just helped when I was needed. The kids were pretty good, so I just enjoyed walking around and talking with them.

All in all it was a pretty good week! I hope next week is as enjoyable.

Reading Time

I've always wanted to get paid for reading a book! Today came close...

I arrived in the class of 5th graders when their teacher was finishing up instructions for the book discussions they were going to do in groups. She asked me to rate their participation in their groups - something that I found a little difficult simply because I knew nobody's name and had no idea what book they were discussing. This was about the hardest thing I did today though.

After this they had music, and then library. Upon returning from the library they had a handwriting assignment, which had already been written on the overhead. They copied it and a student checked it off for the teacher. Then they had silent reading and then they went home. I pretty much sat at the desk and read my book for most of the day. Even when they were in the room they didn't even seem to need me! :)

Teacher Voice Still Works

Can't believe I'm at post #165!

Anyways...today was a pretty good day. The kids were ok. At one point they made me mad because they were goofing off and running around the room (literally) when they were supposed to be doing a worksheet. However, they knew very quickly that I was mad. It's amazing how quickly kids move when you say in your loud, not yelling, but mean teacher voice, "Everybody. At the carpet. NOW." We had a chat about expected behavior and how I shouldn't have to tell them this because they're "not babies" and should know already. Second-graders do not want to be thought babies. They were much improved after this and I gave myself a pat on the back. :)

Tomorrow I'm off to a different class for the afternoon - a fifth grade at a different school. My class from the past few days will probably be glad to have their teacher back - although I will miss them!

Back For More

I got called last night to sub for the same class I subbed for Thursday afternoon and Friday. I was pleased with this, because I liked that class, and I liked the school and I liked that it was not all the way across town.

The kids were surprised to see me. A couple said things like, "I thought our teacher was going to be back!" I told them, "So did I!" They were pretty good again - despite a few typical 2nd grade issues.

We had a good laugh during math when they were guessing my height. One girl meant to say, "One yard, some feet, etc." but accidentally said, "One foot, 6 inches....." Then she paused and I asked, "One foot?" She then realized why she'd gotten confused and corrected herself. I said, "Wouldn't that be funny if I really was one foot, 6 inches?!" They all laughed and one boy suggested that they could then step on me. (I don't think he really wanted to squish me, he'd just perhaps seen too many cartoons and thought I'd be funny as a pancake.) Oh, 2nd grade!

Near the end of the day I found out that I'll be going back tomorrow as well, so I'm looking forward to that. Too bad that their teacher is feeling so crummy, but it works out well for me!