Three week run down

Well, after a week of daily occasional teaching, I feel like I'm on vacation! I got so much done this past week, and I taught for three days! How great is that! After teaching full time for the first time ever, I am loving the supply teaching gig. Not that I'd turn down an LTO or contract of course...

Anyways, let me fill you in on what's been up. This is going to be long, so I do apologize. It's partly just for my own records (if you know me you know I have a bad memory) that I'm writing this all down.

On the Monday after Christmas holidays I got a call from the school where I'd spent the Christmas season volunteering. The principal asked if I was free to teach for the rest of the week since the grade 6 teacher had pneumonia. He had come in on Monday but that was a mistake and he was not doing well. I immediately agreed to take the job. Looking back it is really a miracle that I got that phone call and was able to take that assignment - I was just in the right place at the right time.

At the end of the week, Mr. Irons, the teacher, called in to ask if I'd be alright to make up lessons for Monday, since he had an appointment on that day. I said sure. It's not too tough to improvise for one day. I went back on Monday and at the end of the day tried to leave everything neat and organized and presentable for Mr. Irons. I was glad, in some ways, to be done, as it had been a tough week dealing with behaviour and homework and all that jazz (which you would expect as a supply in a grade six class).

Tuesday morning, 8:15am I get a call from the principal. Turns out Jim (Mr. Irons), came in to school that morning planning to teach. He was looking so bad that the principal promptly sent him back home. So she called to see if I was available. Again, I said, of course (again, another right place, right time thing). I got there as soon as I could and picked up where I had left off. I ended up being there for the rest of that week as well. It was a really tough week since it was so day-by-day. I was never sure when Jim would be back, so I couldn't plan properly, or get a good system set up for managing behaviour issues. The principal was very helpful and took a lot of responsibility for managing the kids too, which was good.

Friday afternoon as I cleaned up again, and set things out for Jim, I was informed that he'd be off for yet another week. Alright! So, I had to switch gears and really get into planning. I spoke with him that afternoon to get a few things cleared up about what was going on, and then spent the weekend planning.

The third week was by far the best. I started off on Monday morning with a note to the students saying that I was looking forward to spending another week getting to know them, but I was not looking forward to another week of warnings, lectures and trips to the office. I think they really took me seriously. We also set up a system of consequences for behaviour which really helped. By the end of the week we were getting along and making some real progress.

Of course just as we're starting to connect, Mr. Irons is ready to come back. So last Monday he returned (the kids were thrilled) and I was back to daily supply teaching. I was happy to be done (teaching full time is A LOT of work) and of course so thrilled to have had that opportunity.

One of the many benefits of that placement was that I have now been promoted to the number one supply at the school. I get called first (I'm pretty sure) whenever there is anyone off at the school. It's wonderful. Another benefit is that since the job lasted for longer than 10 days, it counts as an LTO (long term occasional). This means a few things. One, that I got paid at my actual pay scale rather than the daily rate, and two, that I now have an LTO in the DSBN to put on my resume. Oh, and I asked the principal if I could put her down as a reference and she immediately, without hesitation, said “absolutely”. So this is a really big step.

Anyways, there's the rundown of what I've been up to lately. Sorry for the boring narrative, but at least it gives you an idea.

I promise I'll post more fun stuff soon.

what?! full time!!

Remember that "four day stint" I mentioned? It has now turned into a 3 week (at least) LTO. I am thrilled to say that this is my third week of teaching full time (for the first time ever), and it's going great. I am, however, super busy, so I'm afraid I don't actually have time to post on here. But the stories are piling up (I'm trying to at least jot them down so I can remember them). I know I've always said kindies are the best, but somehow these grade sixes have been really amusing as well. Stay tuned for more posts once this is all over. I'm not sure when the teacher will be back, but I'm predicting next week...we'll see...

post Christmas happiness

So, the last time we spoke I believe my script for the school play was just going out to teachers. Much has happened since then! The teachers flipped because the songs I had assigned to them (classic Christmas songs with the words re-written) were way too hard. Apparently. I was frustrated, but arranged to put up a sign-up sheet for the teachers so that they could have me into their classes to teach their class the songs. Though time consuming, this worked to my advantage as almost every teacher got to see me "in action", as they say, teaching in their class. And best of all (yes, I'm letting this all go to my head), they were all so thankful that I came in and claimed that they certainly couldn't have done this without me... Although not entirely true, these comments did make me feel good :)

In the meantime, the choir was working on their songs, and things were going well with that. A few kids were dropping out, but I was still left with about 30 kids in the choir.

So the last rehearsal day came - the day before the concert. We had rehearsed many times before without a hitch. The only difference this time was that the school would be watching (rather than pulling classes from their rooms for their performances). The choir sang their first song well, and then everything exploded. Their second song was a disaster! Needless to say I was so embarrassed in front of the teachers, and called for an emergency choir practice the next morning before our afternoon performance. I was terrified! What would I possibly do if they messed up the song?!? In front of all those people!

After a good lecture during our impromptu practice the two performances went perfectly. I nearly broke down into tears after the second song, I was so relieved that they hadn't botched it. I was also happy when the principal thanked me for everything I had done, and I even got flowers! It was a fantastic experience.

I certainly learned a lot through this experience. Working with kids comes pretty naturally, but working with other teachers isn't always easy. When I assume something is going to be simple and it turns out to be impossible from another persons' perspective, I've really got to put my flexibility into action...

Anyways, after all that was done, I was anticipating a slow few weeks to start off the new year. Then, yesterday, I got a call from the very school where I had devoted my pre-Christmas months, asking if I wanted to come in for the rest of the week!! I was beyond thrilled.

So today I started a 4 day stint in their grade 6 class. I started the morning with a note on the board explaining that I was going to be here for the week, since Mr. Irons had pneumonia. One trouble making student didn't believe me.

"Mr. Irons doesn't have pneumonia!"

"Yes, he does"

"No he doesn't! He's not going to be away for the week! He's coming back tomorrow. He's just at something for his daughter - he told me yesterday".

"No, he has pneumonia"

"You're lying!"

"Why would I lie about this?"

"Because, maybe you're one of those joker teachers, who likes to play jokes on us. Mean ones"

"No, I am not one of those joker teachers. This is not a mean joke. It's true".

Again I ask, where do kids come up with this stuff? Ridiculous.

It's so good to be back!