My First Substitute Assignment

Sooo.... I was really excited to get on the sub list in our school district. Everyone I've talked to says it's really tough to get a job in KISD, and I believe it, given the number of applications I've submitted over the last year+ for different positions in the district with absolutely no response. I've been told that they really like to hire off the sub list, and if I have a good track record once I graduate, I'll be more likely to get a teaching job in the district.

Last Friday was my first sub assignment. Aaron's friend's mom is the secretary at the Early Childhood Center (Pre-K and Kindergarten) and is in charge of calling subs. I asked her to call me anytime and she called right away! I subbed for the art teacher, and thought it would be a really fun day, if a little stressful because it was my first ever sub assignment. I was secretly relieved that my first experience would be with the little ones instead of the High School or Jr. High.

Oh my, what an education *I* got!

I learned:

-Never, ever, under any circumstances wear a distracting or otherwise interesting shirt when subbing with the under-6 set. I wore a scoop neck 3/4 sleeve shirt that was printed with a cityscape and accented with sequins and beads. D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N!

-It's not a good idea to pause the movie to try to get the kiddos to calm down when they are being too noisy. Apparently, it's a sign for them to get up, play with one another's hair, dance, sing, spin around, etc.

-Late afternoon is a time when various kiddos may or may not need to be medicated or re-medicated, even though their pediatrician may not necessarily think so. Or maybe they need to have had less sugar at lunch. Or a nap. If you try to make a special consideration for one of these kids, to keep them from disrupting the class, the other kids will not appreciate being "left out."

-A LOT of what I've learned in school this semester sounds really fantastic, but just does not work in the real-world. Seriously. Too bad we don't live in an ideal society with ideally behaved kids and ideal situations, because a lot of the stuff my education profs have said really made sense.

-Sometimes you have to raise your voice to get Kindergarteners to line up in a straight line with their hands behind their backs and a bubble in their mouths.

Fun, eh?

Seriously, I did enjoy the day and am looking forward (with maybe a teensy bit of trepidation) to subbing at the High School on Wednesday.

:D