Well, I am officially a substitute. I must say, it feels very strange to be on the other side of things. I've thought about how this job is actually quite counter to my personality. I am a total plan ahead, overachiever. With subbing though, I have no idea when I will teach. I don't know anything about the schools; I don't know where anything is and how to get there; I don't even know what grade I'll be teaching! When I signed up, I had no idea how competitive it would be. According to the district coordinator, there are NINE HUNDRED substitutes in their system.This has led to me only seeing two jobs even listed in the past nine days.
I had my first and only assignment thus far on Wednesday. It was a second grade class and the whole team had subs because the grade was having a "data day." Lucky for me, that meant I was able to talk to the teacher at the beginning of the day because they were on campus. It was also picture day, but she was there for that too. The day wasn't what I would call "fun," as Jamie asked me, but it was manageable. The sub plans said the class was supposed to go to the library for half an hour, but there was a mixup, so I had to fill in that time myself. Good thing I've actually taught before and brought along an emergency sub kit (containing books, games & post-its!) so I was able to fill that time. I was wondering, as the day went on, how non-certified subs make it through. Granted, I didn't do any actual "teaching"-- except one on one assistance-- but just knowing the little things that make a day run smoothly from my own experience was extremely helpful. The kids were sweet, but they were so noisy. I definitely had some deja vu, at times, from my own teaching days! Any class is manageable for a day though, at least after everything I've handled in my short four years.
I hope that my job volume picks up, or it's going to be a lonnnnng school year. If you know anyone that teaches in Lexington One, please let them know about me, so they can request me! That seems like it may be my only chance of really getting in there. I'm also looking maybe for tutoring/ babysitting/daycare opportunities, or anything else educational, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. I don't like being unemployed, mostly from the money standpoint, but also from the being bored standpoint. Although, it is way too easy to get used to not working!
Continuing on the career subject, I took the Praxis a couple of weeks ago to get certified as a reading teacher. Those scored come back mid-month, so I really hope to add that certification to my certificate! I'm betting on that either allowing me another job path, or just putting my resume at the top of others who are just certified in EC. I also babysat a couple of times for the first time in years, which was fun.
There are just so many possibilities out there, I hope God leads me where he wants me to go soon!
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Parents and Teachers, Teachers and Parents
My news feed was blowing up last night with people posting this CNN article, so before you read my musings, check it out if you haven't already:
What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents
I don't know that I have a ton to add, but I really agree with a lot of what he's saying. And unfortunately, I've had to deal with most of the situations he writes about. I resigned from my school of four years for a myriad of reasons (which I won't air here), but parental issues were definitely a contributing factor.
EXCUSES: Parents are full of them. I understand the need to protect a child, I really do. However, not allowing students to take responsibility for their own actions is NOT helping them. They will grow up thinking someone is always going to bail them out for mistakes and wrong choices. I can't even begin to count how many parental excuses I've heard. My favorite is when a child would get in trouble for not being able to keep his hands to himself and it was always another child's fault. Then I get to explain ever so nicely, how the first child is actually the instigator the majority of the time. UGH.
PROSECUTOR: These were my least favorite parent interactions. The parent whose child accused me of telling her to "get your a** in line." The parent whose child accused me of "bullying" her, then told the mom not to say anything. The parent, seriously misinformed, who emailed the district office and told them I "lost" her child and didn't know where he was. The parent who claimed his child was being bullied by other students, even though it was the other way around. I could go on and on and on.
EGGSHELLS: Honestly, I wasn't too happy when parents came to visit during the school day. Most of them didn't want to help, they just wanted to sit and stare and point out things that the other students were doing wrong. Talk about walking on eggshells! I'm a nervous person anyway, so that didn't really help much.
The bottom line is, teachers teach because we WANT to. We are not out to "get" your student. We want to teach them as much as we can, without being torn apart for every decision we make. It makes me cringe when I see acquaintances on Facebook complaining about their child's teacher. If they even had an inkling of what that teacher goes through in a normal day, they would think twice about airing their grievances-- at least I hope they would.
I didn't really mean to unload like this, but I applaud Ron Clark for having the courage to speak out about this. And for giving me the courage too!
Teachers? Thoughts?
What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents
I don't know that I have a ton to add, but I really agree with a lot of what he's saying. And unfortunately, I've had to deal with most of the situations he writes about. I resigned from my school of four years for a myriad of reasons (which I won't air here), but parental issues were definitely a contributing factor.
EXCUSES: Parents are full of them. I understand the need to protect a child, I really do. However, not allowing students to take responsibility for their own actions is NOT helping them. They will grow up thinking someone is always going to bail them out for mistakes and wrong choices. I can't even begin to count how many parental excuses I've heard. My favorite is when a child would get in trouble for not being able to keep his hands to himself and it was always another child's fault. Then I get to explain ever so nicely, how the first child is actually the instigator the majority of the time. UGH.
PROSECUTOR: These were my least favorite parent interactions. The parent whose child accused me of telling her to "get your a** in line." The parent whose child accused me of "bullying" her, then told the mom not to say anything. The parent, seriously misinformed, who emailed the district office and told them I "lost" her child and didn't know where he was. The parent who claimed his child was being bullied by other students, even though it was the other way around. I could go on and on and on.
EGGSHELLS: Honestly, I wasn't too happy when parents came to visit during the school day. Most of them didn't want to help, they just wanted to sit and stare and point out things that the other students were doing wrong. Talk about walking on eggshells! I'm a nervous person anyway, so that didn't really help much.
The bottom line is, teachers teach because we WANT to. We are not out to "get" your student. We want to teach them as much as we can, without being torn apart for every decision we make. It makes me cringe when I see acquaintances on Facebook complaining about their child's teacher. If they even had an inkling of what that teacher goes through in a normal day, they would think twice about airing their grievances-- at least I hope they would.
I didn't really mean to unload like this, but I applaud Ron Clark for having the courage to speak out about this. And for giving me the courage too!
Teachers? Thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)