DAY 96 and Day 10 of extension

Flexibility: Today I was assisting in the Montessori upper school when I learned that the Music teacher was subbing in the lower school, and therefore none of the kids were having music class (for the past two weeks, actually). So I asked if they might rather have me sub where she was so that all the kids could have music class again – they jumped at the chance. And so I went to the lower school, which is only about 5 miles away, and which I have been at numerous times. Wow – the Kindergarteners sure looked short after nearly two weeks with 4th and 3rd graders. 😉 Now the lower school nabbed me for all of next week – which is fine with me. I think it is very likely that I will have steady work as a regular sub in the two sections of the Montessori school, and I am happy for that. They are two of the closest schools to my home and the pay rate will be higher than I’ve made all year due to the longevity of the situation. They had me help two of the Kindergarten teachers, mostly with helping the kids write their animal books, and I spent two hours monitoring lunch (1/2 hour) and 3 outdoor recess periods (1 1/2 hours). I like doing outdoor recess – at least I get outside and I walk the perimeter or else sit on the picnic table.

Kids’ comments: Kindergarten kid, looking at a loopy 2 made by the teacher: “Is that a backwards 6?”  (He makes the non-loopy kind).

Another boy, M. – had to sit out five minutes of recess by the fence for talking in class. 9 minutes after he was restored to playing, he came to me and said, “I haven’t talked for the whole recess.” I felt sad at his misunderstanding.
“Now is the time when you should make noise and talk, M., during recess. Then you should be quiet when you go back to class.”
“Oh.” M. said, and ran off shouting to his friends.

Food. Don’t get me started about the massive waste of food. 1. So-called hot lunch – they had a tortilla wrap with good ham and American cheese in it, a packet of mayo and one of ranch dressing, a container with more than a cup of lettuce, and a container full of canned fruit, plus white or chocolate milk. Out of 24 kids, I doubt that any ate everything. Most did not eat the whole sandwich. Many ate one bite or none, or took out the ham and cheese and made a mayo sandwich to eat. Iceberg lettuce counts as a veggie – ha! Like anyone actually eats it, and it hasn’t a lot of vitamins anyway.
2. Then there are the home-packed lunches. Many were fine. But who gives a 5 year old a Lunchable Pizza Kit? It had three small circles of dough, an unopenable-by-5-year-old packet of sauce and a container of mozzarella cheese, and another of pepperoni slices. It’s not being heated, folks. So the girl patiently spends about 15 minutes squirting sauce on the bread pieces, and though she’s careful, some ends up on the table and some on the seat. She asks for the sauce to be opened. She asks for something to spread the sauce (I suggest she use a pepperoni slice). Finally she is able to eat her lunch, and does finish before the 30 minutes is up. Some kids only eat their pretzels. 3. Many of the kids eat very little – they are fumbling with their food, or talking to their friends. They stay obediently in their seats under our watchful eyes, but 20 minutes go by and much of the food is still on the table. Two kids get distraught because their friends’ Lunchables have a Butterfingers and a Reese’s in them and this is a no-peanut school. I tell the kids not to open the wrappers, but put the candy in their lunchboxes to eat at home later. This satisfies everyone. 4. Finally I bring around the large trash can and enough food to feed a family of four for a few days is thrown away. I salvage a few unopened containers, and consider taking some things to be my own lunch, but I figure I shouldn’t. However, some classes at the upper school encourage the kids to place untouched items on a table, and last weekend I brought home enough fixings for Dennis and I to have a pretty nice taco salad.

Laps: One of the teachers dealt with the problem of kids being too noisy in the hall by making the kids walk two laps around the playground before they were allowed to go and play. Later I heard another class asking their teacher if they were going to do laps around the playground. She said, no, they didn’t have to. They asked if they could please do them if they wanted to. 🙂

Overall, it was a very good day – I was thanked by many for being there to help (which is very nice and I understand it but I always think, “You do know that I am getting paid for this, right?” And the workload was important, but much easier than dealing with a whole class for a whole day.