Substitute Teacher - Part 2
If you read my last post you may remember that I had just begun my first day as a middle school substitute teacher. The course was pre-algebra, a subject with which I was quite familiar, and I was feeling very sure of myself. That didn’t last long.
I had been unable to stop the constant drone of conversation that started up every time I turned my back to write on the blackboard, and I could feel my pulse quickening as I struggled to remain calm. Then a small red haired boy raised his hand and very forcefully told me I was doing the problem incorrectly. I assured him I was not. We went back and forth until he suddenly stormed out of the classroom and brought back another math teacher to prove me wrong. The teacher took one look at the problem on the board and told him I was right. Furious, the boy turned his desk to face the wall, folded his arms over his chest, and scowled for the remainder of the class.
It wasn’t more than a few minutes later that a tall girl with long, dishwater blonde hair got out of her seat and nonchalantly approached me as I stood in front of my desk. She then announced in a startlingly loud voice that she had to go to the nurse because she needed a feminine hygiene product which she then named. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. At that age I would have opened a vein before I blabbed something like that in front of my classmates, but she wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. I sent her on her way.
The class was briefly shocked into silence by her brazen pronouncement, and I saw my opening. I quickly took advantage of the situation and began my attempt to complete the lesson, but no sooner had I started than I noticed a boy in the back corner wearing a hooded sweatshirt. The hood was pulled down so low that it covered half of his face, and I suddenly understood that it was an attempt to conceal the fact that he was using earbuds. He had been listening to music the whole time. I realized this too late, and as I was about to call him out the bell rang and class was over.
That was just the first class of the day, which should give you an idea of how the rest of the day went. It was an unmitigated disaster. I hung in there for as long as I could subbing at different schools and different grade levels. I was determined to rise above it all, but in the end it never got any better, and I eventually took my name off the substitute list for the next year. My children had been right all along.
That marked the end of my foray into substitute teaching, and although this account of my experience may come across as a cautionary tale, that is not my intention. There is a real need for substitute teachers, so I don’t want to discourage anyone from trying it. If you’ve got a little experience teaching, or if you have a strong, commanding presence, or if maybe you’re just a better man or woman than I am, then go on and give it a go. I’m rooting for you. I’ll be with you in spirit, and if it doesn’t work out, there’s always online teaching. I just now thought of that. Could work.