A Good Day as a Substitute Teacher
Friends have asked me, “What’s a typical day for a substitute teacher?”
Why ask me? I’m a retired teacher. I sub and I’ve taught in Samoa, Korea, England, Connecticut, and California. I’ve taught kindergarten through college, but prefer elementary. Truth be told, 5th grade is the best. The kids are still overwhelmingly innocent. They don’t know about sex (it’s yucky) nor do they know much about drugs. In addition, their brains are developing abstract thought and they still like adults. In 6th-grade they begin to transmogrify into the semi-demons in their brittle and confused teenage years. No thanks.
Therefore I only substitute for elementary schools. Sometimes I get a request the night before. Often the request is for non-relevant postings like a janitorial or a nurses’ aide. Neither of which am I qualified for or interested in. I have repeatedly written on the official website that I only want elementary postings. This morning at 7:00 A.M. I had a call for a middle School posting – never!
Last week I received a call at 8:40 A.M. for a position which started at 8:30 A.M. A little tricky, but it speaks to the desperate need for substitutes. It was for an English-for-second-language learners teacher. The school is a mile from my house. I checked in got my substitute folder – (School map, classroom key, substitute plans, emergency plans, schedule, names of students, and identification tag.) I found the classroom, sat at a kid-sized table, looked at the clock and realized I had three kindergarteners coming in about two minutes. After five minutes I thought they were probably not coming. I’ll add in my own years as a teacher often I would not send my students to pull out substitute teachers I didn’t know. (Pull outs are when a child is pulled out for a special class) I figured more often than not the student got more from me than a sub. So, I thought that might be the case and I went to the class and asked for the kiddos in person. Two were absent, only Javier was present. He was a tiny ,handsome joyous little thing. Right off the bat he asked, “Can I hold your hand?” Which warmed my elderly heart (I’m 70.)
“Of course.” I replied. He placed his hand in mine, looked up at me and asked, “Are you old?”
Two aides nearby cracked up. I replied, “Yes, I’m old.”
Javier was satisfied and off to my classroom we went. His 35 minute lesson revolved around a worksheet with English words which were color coordinated. He had to color in words. I’d say the word. He’d repeat it. My Spanish is okay, so I’d confirm he knew the word in Spanish and connected it to English. Also we talked. I’d elaborate on the words. Use them in a sentence and try to be silly and make him laugh. Laughter is the best learning tool. Eventually I asked, “So what do you want to be when you grow up?”
He continued coloring and didn’t even look up. “A paleontologist.”
“Really?” I said and asked, “What’s a paleontologist?”
“Oh, that’s someone who studies bones and wants to put them in a museum.” Then he added, “Oh, and they study fossils too.”
I was impressed. I don’t mean to disparage any of my fellow teachers, but I think more than a few of them wouldn’t know what a paleontologist is.
I delivered Javier back to his classroom. My next class had two kids from Nepal and an Arabic girl. I looked up hello on my cellphone in Arabic. Said it and she gave me a huge smile. I played word games with them. Always encouraging them to speak and expand the conversation. The two from Nepal were super sweet. One was born here the other in Nepal. I asked if they had seen the mountains there. The more verbal of the two said, “Mount Everest, oh yes. But I have not climbed it.” Again I was impressed. They were 3rd-graders.
Later a group of Latinos and two Korean girls showed up. When I said hello in Korean and asked them their names in Korean they were astonished. One of the Korean girls was far more verbal than the other. I said to her, “I think your English is way better than my Korean.”
With the kindest of smiles and a quick polite bow of her head she humbly replied. “Of course.” She was in second grade – 7 or 8 years old.
So there you have it. A good day of substitute teaching at the elementary level. Perhaps in the future I can report a typical bad day of substitute teaching.