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.
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