Tales of a Guest Teacher

I've officially finished my first semester of "guest teaching," and felt as though I should share some observations from these past few months. 

My name is apparently difficult to pronounce. I always thought "Eddings" was a pretty simple name that people somehow managed to screw up fairly regularly. However, nothing prepared me for the umpteen different pronunciations I was about to hear of my married name (even though Jamie tried to warn me). I have had students ask me if they can call me "Mrs. C" (sure), "Ms. Cash" (no thank you), and even "Kesha" (absolutely not!). One secretary called me by the French pronunciation of the name (Ca-SHAY) and others just don't even bother to figure it out. As one assistant told me, "It kind of sounds like a sneeze." Yes, yes it does. And at the end of the day, the students undoubtedly have mastered it over the other adults.

Know-it-alls become rampant. I think this one is hard for me because I've actually been in the classroom, and know way more than the typical substitute. It is particularly prevalent in the upper grades, where they want to "help," but also just want to tell you what to do because they think they know more. This is why I will eternally love early childhood :-)

"Teaching Christmas" is not as big of a deal as people make you believe. I was actually quite surprised at this one. For these white majority schools, it appears they just assume that everyone celebrates Christmas. One school had a full Christmas tree in the middle of their school lobby, replete with presents. One teacher even had a three foot decorated tree in her classroom!

Teaching PE is basically a perpetual field day... and I don't like it. I have always been a hater of Field Day: grateful for the break of teaching, but dreading the eventual hunger, thirst, fatigue, and general whining that is sure to come. I also don't like facilitating and having to explain how to play games I don't know. I took my first PE assignment last week, and it will be my last. Yelling over a group of kids who are going haywire is not fun, nor is listening to "can I get some water" every five seconds? I was thankful that the teacher left the same activities for all grades, so I didn't have to spend tons of time learning and setting up for tons of games. I did have to dig through a thoroughly unorganized closet to find equipment, which was also frustrating and slightly disgusting.  

Substitute mostly means "watch these kids while they do some worksheets."  I've had more days coming home with my feet hurting than I'd like to count. Why? Because I basically just do laps around the classroom watching the students do individual work. This is not true of all classes, but it's the general rule. I rarely get to do any actual "teaching," which makes sense, but is still sad for me. I relish the teachers who leave small groups for me to work with, or Read Alouds and Shared Reading to lead.

There is nothing I haven't already seen. I have taught in every grade, including multiple special education classes, and no child has ever done something that I haven't already seen in my own classroom. Wow.

Administrators coming in to your class first thing in the morning is probably not good. The only times I've had them come into the classroom at the beginning of the day is to talk to a class about how they better behave for me... and they then proceed to be one of my worst classes.

1st grade teachers are never absent from school. Okay, this one is probably a lie, but I have covered EVERY elementary grade except this one... and if you don't remember, first grade is what I taught for four years! Isn't that weird?




Well, there you have it. Hopefully I will learn some more this semester, as I add a second district to my employment. No more two day workweeks for me! I also get to teach a kindergarten class when their teacher goes on maternity leave in March, which I am excited about. I'm sure that will give me many more stories to share :-)