Tag: school

Teaching in Someone Else’s Shoes

franciscanmom4 Comments

This past week, I’ve been substituting for one of the second-grade teachers at Little Brother’s school. I’ll probably be there for the next couple of weeks, which is a little terrifying.

Substitute teaching is not just a job. It’s a ministry. And it definitely isn’t babysitting.

Substitute teachers minister to students who are used to the way their Real Teacher does things. Subs try to maintain the usual routines, learning them as they go along and finding out halfway through a task that their Real Teacher does things differently. The kids aren’t being rude or defiant–they’re looking for the comfort of the routine their teacher has so carefully established. In second grade, it’s all about routine. There’s even a procedure for sharpening pencils. I’m a big fan of procedures, but the kids know them and I don’t, so I’m at a disadvantage. This week has been Procedure Boot Camp in the second grade–for me!

Substitute teachers minister to parents who worry that without their child’s Real Teacher, the kids will fall behind or miss out on learning key concepts. We’re not doing busy work here; I’m not babysitting the kids. I am teaching them the next math chapter and helping them practice their spelling words. We worked on the Oxford comma this week (and I even taught them its official name, which was not in the book, but that’s just a bonus you get when your substitute teacher has an M.A. in English Literature.)

Substitute teachers minister to the principal, who wants to make sure that learning is happening, the children are following the routines already in place, and no one’s swinging from the light fixtures or getting hit by cars in the parking lot AKA recess playground (yes, I’ve had to prevent that last from happening.)

morning message
I love this teacher’s custom of a Morning Message. It’s a fun part of their daily routine.

Substitute teachers minister to the Real Teacher, especially when it’s a long-term situation. The sub walks that fine line of making sure the Real Teacher knows that the sub does not want to replace her, but just wants to do the best possible job as an unrehearsed understudy.

The students and I pray for their Real Teacher every day, which is a lovely perk of working at a Catholic school. It’s nice for me to be working, but I don’t want to poach her job. I know she’d rather be in her classroom with her students, and I’m trying to make it as easy for her to be away from them as I possibly can. When she comes back, I want her to just be able to step back into her usual M.O.

We’ve had our challenging moments, like today when I was frustrated because we were assigning next month’s classroom chores, and there was a dispute about whether someone could choose a job he’d already had in September, because “you can’t have the same job 2 months in a row” means, to some children, “you can’t have a job you’ve done before EVER.” I made an executive decision and shut down the dispute fast, and half the kids were not happy. Oh well.

We’ve also had our sweet moments. If someone drops a crayon box, half the class hits the deck to help pick them up–unasked. One child has measured me for a rubber-band bracelet. And yesterday when they were answering some questions from their religion book, they reached one that asked, “Who helps you learn about Jesus?” and a few of the kids asked if I would write my name on the board so they could spell it and fill it in for that answer.

I’m following someone else’s procedures and carrying out someone else’s lesson plans. I’m trying to be fair to my grade-partner teacher who is shouldering extra burdens as she helps me pick my way across an unfamiliar curriculum and grade level. I’m going home each day with tired feet and a tired voice and wearing chalk-dust smears.

I’m teaching in someone else’s shoes. They don’t quite fit me, but for the sake of the kids, the parents, the principal and the Real Teacher, I’m doing my best to make it work.

 

Small Success Thursday: One Week Down

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Small-Success-Thursday-400pxThursdays at CatholicMom.com begin with a look at the past week’s Small Successes!

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I figured out that I can READ while I use the exercise bike at the gym. What with the blaring pop music, I can’t read nonfiction that requires thought, but it’s a great opportunity to get some “fun” reading done–and I don’t even notice the time going by.

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The first week of school is in the books! Little Brother seems to be settling in to a good morning and afternoon routine, despite constant interruptions from his friends who get home almost an hour before he does and can’t understand why he’s not finished his homework yet.

Play Later signI might have to hang the “Play Later” sign up if this continues. (The other side reads, “Friends Welcome.”)

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Last Friday I subbed in the fourth-grade class. I’ve known most of these kids since they were in kindergarten, and they are not without their quirks. I consider it a success that I got through the day without losing my mind, even with all of these roadblocks:

  • it was a beastly-hot day. My classroom was 88 degrees all afternoon.
  • I had lunch duty. Outside. And there were no “specials” so I had no prep period.
  • One child narrates her way through the day and insists on showing me EVERYTHING. Including her tin of 5 lip balms, which she wears layered.

Actual conversation with a fourth-grader:  “Is today Back-to-School Night?”
Me: “No, that’s Wednesday.”
Fourth-grader: “The other Wednesday?”
Me:  “Uh….”

-BONUS SUCCESS-

SCBS 50th cake 1The school celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and on Tuesday the PTA brought in enough birthday cake for every student. I learned about this on Monday night, and within an hour I was put in touch with the Mom In Charge Of Cake, who graciously provided me with cake mix and frosting labels at school on Tuesday so I could calculate the carb count of Little Brother’s slice of cake. (They also had separate treats for gluten-free, dairy-free and food-coloring-free diets. WTG, PTA!)

And not a success but an observation:

13 years ago today I was teaching first- and second-grade Spanish at a local elementary school when the Twin Towers came crashing down during the 9/11 attack.

Today I will be substitute-teaching in a third-grade classroom so a teacher can attend a 9/11 memorial service with her family. And I am thankful that, since I work at a Catholic school, we’ll be able to openly pray today.

Share your Small Successes at CatholicMom.com by joining the linkup in the bottom of today’s post. No blog? List yours in the comments box!

Overheard: The Classroom Edition

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I’ve been substitute teaching a lot recently, and sometimes the things the kids say are nothing short of priceless. Here are a few samples I managed to scribble down:

7th-grader, upon hearing that we’d be eating lunch in the classroom because the cafegymatorium was set up for a graduation reception:  “Can we order some ribs?”

scissorsMe: “Tie your shoes.”
3rd-grader: “They came untied yesterday.”

3rd-grader: “This is my folder. It’s blue. It’s my new favorite color.”
Me: “Blue is a great color! What was your favorite color before?”
3rd-grader: “Well, I made something with my buddy…”

Actual 1st-grader-composed spelling sentence: “If you took my pencil, I would tell on you.”

Actual 7th-grade religion test answers:

  • The religious vows:  “chastity, obedience, patience”
  • The religious vows:  “poultry” (others left blank)
  • The theological virtues: “Don’t lip, Don’t cheat, Don’t steal”

Things Teachers Say:

  • “Tie your shoes.” (100 times a day, no matter what the grade)
  • “You don’t close the window by pushing on the glass.”
  • “Stop juggling scissors.”

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Small Success Thursday: High-Tech Party Planning Edition

franciscanmom7 Comments

Small-Success-Thursday-400pxIt’s Small Success Thursday, and at CatholicMom.com that means we celebrate those little accomplishments that make our world go ’round!

We’re getting ready for a Double Graduation around here, so my successes are going to be party-related.

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I figured out how to make a Facebook event to invite the family and friends who use that platform. That saved me a LOT in color-printing and postage costs. (Translation:  more in the party budget for delicious food!)

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I made a party logo with the help of Microsoft Publisher! I think it’s pretty spiffy!

Big Brother is graduating from LaSalle and starting a job in his field at Monetate.

Middle Sister is graduating from Holy Cross High School and entering LaSalle in the fall.

one out one in

(Little Brother is not graduating at this time.)

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High-tech party planning continues with the help of an Excel spreadsheet. I still hate Excel, but it really is the best way to go to keep track of all the EVERYTHING that goes into having a big backyard bash with over 100 invited guests. I’ve got the setup figured out, and data entry will take place today.

And one week from tomorrow, Big Brother will move out of his college apartment for the final time. It’s hard to wrap my head around that idea–and hard to express how very proud I am of his accomplishments. (Next week my Small Success had better include “make space in the garage or basement for Big Brother’s kitchen equipment.”)

Join us over at CatholicMom.com and share your successes for the week! No blog? No problem! Just post your successes in the comments box.

College Prep

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There’s outrage all over the Internet right now over the cancellation of a kindergarten student performance because it would take away instructional time needed for the kids to become “college- and career-ready.”

I’d like to join my voice to the disagreement with the school administration; I’m all about encouraging students to participate in the arts. But I take issue with what a lot of people are saying:

“KINDERGARTNERS ARE GETTING READY FOR COLLEGE?”

Well, yes. Yes, they are. That’s why the arts, and recess, and physical education are so important. College is not all about performance on the SAT or ACT. It’s about using your knowledge, skills, abilities and interests to learn even more.

I had a school principal tell me once that kindergarten students are not preparing for college. That was in response to my concern that my daughter and her classmates were not being taught at all for an entire month while the kindergarten teacher was caring for a terminally-ill parent and the school failed to provide substitute teachers. Instead, whatever grownup (or, in some cases, eighth-grade girl) was available for the next half-hour would babysit the kids. They watched movies and played all day for a month.

Because the principal would not take calls from kindergarten parents and the situation was never addressed, we removed our daughter from that school. Suddenly the principal had time for a meeting with me, in the form of an exit interview. She defended her decision not to provide the class with a substitute teacher by telling me, “It’s kindergarten. It’s not like we’re getting them ready for Harvard.”

wpid-0112141301b.jpgNot surprisingly, that school only lasted two more years before closing due to lack of enrollment. Here’s what the school looked like the last time I saw it.

Schools do need to find a good balance between instructional time, play time, physical activity and the arts–on every level of education. Emphasizing one of these at the expense of the others is disastrous for the students and does no service to society.

Yes; kindergarten students are preparing for college–maybe even Harvard. They do this by learning reading-readiness skills, counting and doing simple math, looking at the clouds in the sky, drawing pictures with sidewalk chalk on the playground, practicing music for a show, and perfecting their kickball skills. It’s all important, and good teachers and principals are needed to keep it all going and support that learning. Like the building blocks the kindergartners use to make towers and castles, the skills the children practice as five-year-olds lay the foundation of the work they’ll do later.

 

Never Off Topic

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I spent Monday as a substitute teacher in second grade at the parish school. As my training is in secondary education, I’m used to students trying to derail any discussion in order to avoid doing work. Seven-year-olds don’t generally display that level of guile, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t stray off the subject during our school day.

Children that young just want to share. As soon as you mention anything, they make a connection and need to tell you–and the whole rest of the class–about it. Every once in a while, that can be a good thing, if you can manage to capture the moment.

raised handWe were in the middle of a language-arts lesson based on the story of an injured child riding to the hospital in an ambulance. Up goes a hand. “My mommy says that when you see an ambulance you should say a Hail Mary.”

Me:  “Yes, a lot of families do that. It’s a really good thing to do. When you see an ambulance, you can pray for the person who is sick or hurt and for the people who are helping.”

Student:  “And police cars too.”

Me:  “Right. That’s another good time to say a prayer.”

Other student:  “But just for the police. Not for the bad people.”

Me:  “We should definitely say a prayer for the bad people. Do you remember that Jesus told us we should do that?”

Class:  “Yes.”

Me:  “Jesus said that we should pray for people who hurt us, not just for our friends and family. Maybe the people who hurt us need even more prayers.”

Moments like this are why I love Catholic school. Our faith isn’t confined to the schedule block reserved for religion. It can (and should) pop up at any point in the day. I love that the children in this class feel free enough and comfortable enough to bring up the subject of prayer when the thought enters their mind–even during a story about a fictional ambulance ride. I pray that these lessons will be put into practice during a real emergency.

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