Out of the Haze

Ahhhh, I'm finally starting to feel better. I've been in the haze that surrounds you when you feel like crap. For the past week all I've been able to think about is getting through the day to drink some herbal tea and take a nap. I'm almost positive I got sick because I'm pretty much surrounded by kids the entire day. And not even the same kids each day, the thing about subbing is that each day it's a different group of kids and a new set of germs to ward off.
This past week I did two days for a middle school art teacher, a day in an alternative middle school program (yikes!), a day as a high school math teacher and finally a day in a freshman PE class. Where do I begin? Well I can honestly say that I can cross all of those off the list of subjects I'd like to teach in a permanent teaching position.
High School math is such a funny thing. I mean I remember doing it back in the day. I wasn't great at it by any stretch of the imagination, but I passed...I even passed my college math classes. I went into the day feeling pretty confident about things to come, but as soon as I got into the classroom and started looking over the assignments for each period...I quickly realized that today was going to be all about shooting from the hip. At least they had enough busy work to keep them mostly occupied for the entire period...which freed me up for a casual browsing of the USA Today and the occasional stern look from behind the podium if the rumble grew to a roar.
Just an example of the problem solving abilities required of the substitute teacher...One delightful little sophomore asked me to explain a portion of the calculus worksheet to him...I looked at the sheet, then at him, then at the sheet, and then I asked him..."Who's the smartest kid in class?" The delightful little lad, replied with a smart ass remark...something to the toon of "Aren't you supposed to be the teacher?" I was like "Dude, I haven't done this math since high school...I could tell you how to fill out your w-4, figure tip, set up a budget, do your bills, or any other legimate, useful math related task". But I digress...Subbing is actually a pretty interesting experience and I can't really say anything negative about it. Everyday is different and it's pretty funny to interact with different kids each day. Each day is a learning experience, it's all about figuring out how to get kids to stay on task, not throw crap at each other, not make fun of the scrawny smart kid, and keep them all somewhat moving in the same direction...