Substitute Teacher - Part 1
There any number of ways to earn a little money if you are between jobs, retired, or maybe just want to work part-time. One of these is something you may not have considered - substitute teaching. “Are you crazy?” you may be thinking to yourself. I can understand that. Who in their right mind and of their own free will would want to spend the day standing in front of a classroom full of unruly kids trying to get away with the kind of nonsense that no regular teacher would ever put up with. As someone who has actually tried it, I can tell you unequivocally that’s a pretty good description. I can also tell you that of all the things I have tried along the often bumpy road of life, I have never failed so miserably at any of them as I did at that.
I wasn’t especially concerned about any of those things the day I signed up to be a substitute teacher, although I had been warned by my children that it was a genuinely bad idea. Actually what they said was I’d have to be out of my mind to even think about it, but I chose to ignore that advice. I plunged ahead and showed up at the orientation meeting for all of the new substitutes feeling full of confidence that I could handle whatever lay in store. After all, I was good with children, right? Little did I know.
At the meeting I was told that if there was a need for a substitute teacher, I would get a call the night before or early in the morning, so I would need to be prepared. I was ready and waiting when I got my first call a few days later, and off I went. My assignment was a middle school pre-algebra class, right up my alley. I was feeling no fear.
As my first class of the day filed in and the students took their seats, I stood in front of the blackboard and waited for them to quiet down. When they were settled, I introduced myself and jumped right in. The lesson for the day as I recall, was “order of operations.” Easy, or so I thought, but as I began writing on the blackboard and explaining the process, I noticed a loud buzz of conversation going on behind me. I turned and saw what looked to be three-quarters of the class talking to one another as though I wasn’t even there. I told them in a loud voice to quiet down and pay attention. This was only momentarily successful because the minute I turned my back it started up again. This pattern continued unabated. I was not off to a good start.
To be continued…