Refreshed!
This morning I taught 2nd grade at the Japanese Immersion School. I helped them with their “bell work” (as we used to call it – most schools call it “Do Now” these days) about oi and oy words, and then taught the reading/writing lesson where we read a story and analyzed it for character names, setting, plot and theme. Then it was time for math, taught in Japanese, so – they had me do some office work for awhile so that I would get paid for my full half day. Then I walked the kids to lunch. Overall, it was an interesting day. One aspect I didn’t like is the lack of doors between rooms – the teacher and class next door was only 10 feet away and thus very loud when I was trying to explain concepts to the kids.
Many of the kids are from Japanese families that are here for a couple of years – others are from mixed Japanese-Caucasian families, and some are not Japanese at all. There are only 4 Japanese immersion schools in the United States and this one just started this year. There are 133 students, some of whom come to Livonia all the way from Ann Arbor or Novi – a good-sized drive. The school currently goes thru 4th grade and will eventually go thru 6th, they hope.
In the afternoon, I taught 4th grade to a WONDERFUL (might-even-change-my-mind-about-4th-graders) bunch of kids! The room was HUGE and the kids were awesome. It’s a 3rd/4th split, actually, with 31 students. I FINALLY got to teach writing as I worked with the 3rd graders on reading a paragraph and summarizing it (Amy Lynn’s fave activity….). After they finished them, I looked them over, made suggestions and sent them back to work on them some more. Then I put them one at a time on the overhead, let the writer read it out loud, commented, and moved on. I also wrote one to show them some other possibilities. The kids really wanted to read them, by the way – I asked first.
The rest of the day went well – it was a lot of independent work, and I just helped or monitored and kept them in line. There were a few rascals, but they were no problem compared to some of the other kids I’ve worked with lately! I would teach in this class any day!
It was a pretty good day in Kindergarten in Livonia. Quite a chatty bunch and every transition took forever, but we did a few lessons in between recesses, lunch, and computer lab.
I did start to feel a little weary of the routine. It reminded me of when I was a camp counselor for a whole summer (Kathleen Hannan, Laurie Atkins, Joni Sayers, Ruth Jones) and along about week 5 we would start getting tired of the same routine, same food (Monday was hot dogs for supper, Tuesday morning was oatmeal……) same Bible lessons, same songs and games and jokes. Every week we were reminded to refresh ourselves and remember that it was new to each group of campers and we needed to renew our enthusiasm.
Time to refresh. 🙂
Day 72 in Livonia – high school
The only difficulties today were arriving at 7 a.m. and the logistics of finding my way around a rather unusual system!
I arrived at 6:59 to the Main Office, and was directed to the Scheduling Office, which is past the Attendance Office and the Guidance Office, none of which are near each other – back in a far corner of the building. It was 7:05 by the time I got there. I received a key to the Phys. Ed. Dept. and a map of the school so that I could go back past where I entered to the “Old Gym”, got lost and received wrong directions twice from students along the way, and the third time I passed the restroom, decided that was priority. I made it to the location by about 7:20 and the students arrived at 7:25. It was the beginning of a LOT of walking as I met up each period with students in the old gym and we walked down to the new gym OR to the weight room which was at the far end of the humongous new gym.
Three notable things about today:
1. I was directed to take attendance at the old gym – but I noticed in the Weight Room that there were not 39 people anymore – 8 were missing. So I put my chair in front of the door so as to monitor any further deserters – then took attendance at the end of class and reported the missing people in a note to the teacher. Another sub heard some of the kids saying to others, “You’re gonna get busted – she took attendance again!” 🙂 Sub: 1  Deserters: 0  For the remainder of the day, I met the students in the old gym and announced that attendance would be taken in the new gym or weight room. When I told a student about the desertions, he said, “people always do that when there is a sub.”
Consider this: there were 39 students (same for another class), none of whom are known, and in high school one doesn’t line them up and march them down the hall together, and it’s far enough away with a few twists, turns and doorways that it would not be difficult to disappear along the way.
2. We had a directive that they could not use the track – only the gym – volleyball, basketball, or just walking around. A tall girl asked again and I explained again. I no sooner finished, than her friend, who was standing right there, asked the same question. I said, “Did you not hear me give the answer to that  question just now? Why do you think that the answer has changed?”  She smiled and they were off to walk around the gym.
3. Since I’m taking Drawing class, I drew a piece of equipment in the Weight Room and later, a basketball hoop and one player. It passes the time and gives me practice with overlapping items, perspective, etc.
Overall, a pretty easy day and while I didn’t like leaving the house at 6:30, I DID like getting off at 2:30 pm!
Day 71 – 5th grade in Westwood (Inkster)
[ okay, I’m tired, so this is off the top of my head
and could be better]
What can I say about an awful day?
Kids were not there to learn, just to play.
Let’s annoy the sub in every possible way.
Talk and talk and talk some more
Walk across that classroom floor
“I wasn’t talkin’, it wasn’t me”
My head turns – they think I can’t hear or see
“Is this task hard – I’m not gonna do it”
“I might do the easy one if I get to it”
“Office? – okay – send me, I don’t care”
Sit back in the corner, giving sub the glare,
Baby step around the room, takin’ their time
“Someone stole my pencil – that’s a crime”
“Can I read? Can I read? Can I read? Can I?
“Oh, man, that’s not fair.” Give the evil eye.
Warnings unheeded –Â “To the office you go!”
“You’re a racist!” he says. Really? Um – no.
Somehow we did Math, fractions and more,
Social Studies, reading, try not to bore.
I “lost it” and lectured, encouraged, cajoled
Hoping they learn before they get old.
Day 70 subbing – 1/2 in Livonia, 1/2 in Westland
I had a wonderful group of 5th graders this morning. Someone walked in and asked, “Are you nice?”
I responded, “Are YOU nice?” I smiled and let them know that there was a correlation. It was a good morning.
In the afternoon, I taught 1st grade in Westland, although I took over a 4th grade class during the last hour because a teacher had to leave. Â The 1st graders were a good bunch, overall. The only problem was that some of the items needed for the science experiment were nowhere to be found, so I had to improvise (have I mentioned how much I don’t like doing science experiments?) Â Also, one of the activities was not explained or described in any way, so I just skipped it and left a note.
Some of the 4th graders seemed prepared to give me a hard time since it was the last hour of the day and I’m a sub, but I wasn’t having it. Fortunately it was easier to “shut them down” than those 6th graders I had for art yesterday afternoon. Â There was one incident that I wrote up since it involved an injury. An impatient girl pulled on the chair of a somewhat rude boy and knocked him over and he hit the back of his head and got a good-sized bump on it. I sent him to the office to get some ice and wrote up what happened, how we discussed it, etc.
One thing that is hard about subbing is that I don’t know the history of the kids, or what they have studied. Some of the first graders had a hard time with the math lesson and I did not know whether it was unfamiliar territory or not. Not knowing how to proceed is a handicap.
Glad to see that the Livonia school has art class. And while I have been trying to master drawing an ellipse perfectly, I noticed that in drawing a rubber band a first grader drew a perfect one this afternoon. 🙂 “We gotta have art!”
Day 69 subbing:
Coloring.
I was the art teacher today, and that means that the lesson plans called for each class to come in and color some pages that were left for that purpose. So, 7 classes – 6 well-behaved that colored like champs while I sat and colored or drew and chatted with them, and last period – one 6th grade class that was loud and annoying. I had to send two girls to the office because they would not stop their verbal sparring. I sent three kids to sit on the carpet because they wouldn’t settle down (“Criss cross, applesauce” I said – and they said, “That sounds like Kindergarten” and I said, “That’s how you were behaving.”
If I was a bit further along in my art studies, I might have tried to teach them something. I think some kids benefit from coloring an intricate design – choosing the color scheme, etc., and their teachers benefit from getting 50 minutes away from them as prep time. Overall, it was an easy day for me, despite the last group. I’m glad I didn’t have them for the whole day.
Day 68 – 4th grade in Livonia
In the afternoon, some of the 4th graders chose books to read to the Kindergarten kids and I went with them. As they were choosing, one girl asked her friend, “Do you think this one is too scary for a child?”  🙂  Haha! She is, in her estimation, SO much older. 🙂
Another very good day! These kids were really fun to be with, they settled down easily, and I enjoyed talking with them. During a 15 minute time frame when only 8 of them were with me and the project was finished, I taught them how to play Rhythm (lap – clap – snap – snap – you know, saying 1-3, and then # 3 says 3-5, etc. It was pleasant to see them improve and make sure that everyone was included – and just fun to play.)
Here’s a great idea for schools or businesses: the secretary has a flower arrangement on the office counter – perhaps – 15Â inches in diameter and about 10″ high, with each flower being about 3″ in diameter – but wait – these are not just flowers – they are ink pens! Each silk flower is securely taped to a pen with florist tape – when someone needs a pen – there’s a small sign that they can choose and use one – and not likely walk off with it either. In the meantime – it’s beautiful!
Another great idea – there’s a long column dedicated to writing projects with several sections so that students can tell where their project is at present. “Prewriting” “Writing” “Waiting for Peer Review” “Revising” “Waiting for Peer Review” and “Publishing”.
There were two visually impaired students in the class who had a parapro with them most of the time. I talked with one girl for awhile when the other kids were playing during indoor recess – she appreciated the company and I enjoyed chatting with her.
DAY 67 Subbing – First grade in Melvindale
What a great day! The kids were awesome, the school is awesome (been there a few times in several different classes) and the lesson plans were sufficient and well-explained. I have been in enough classrooms now to know the general routine regarding breakfast, lunch count, and stack and pack (end of day) that I realized today that I don’t feel nervous or stressed about those procedures any more. I also realize that teachers are okay with not doing everything on the list or everything exactly in the time slots specified because they make changes on the fly all the time too.[Yesterday it took the kids 22 minutes to clean up and pack up before going to gym class (when there’s a special class near the end of the day this gets done beforehand because dismissal is right after the special). They missed a few minutes of gym – the teacher had alloted 1o minutes, but with all the distractions and messing around – I skipped something else and allotted more time.]
They did toss small parts of several kinds of multiple-piece toys around the room somehow, making quite a mess, and I scolded them soundly and reported it to the teacher (via note) who will no doubt do the same. But for the most part – the teaching went well, the kids were cute and fun, we got along and there were no troublemakers. I’d go back there anytime.
DAY 66 subbing – Wed. Jan. 28, 2015
2nd grade. Sigh. It was quite a challenge in Livonia today – some of the kids were just – difficult to deal with. I put one of the guys out in the hall a couple of times just so I could make progress. Probably should have sent him to the office. He wasn’t mean – just – commanding attention or not following rules a majority of the time. Second grade just seems to be the toughest group – old enough to have an attitude, but not old enough to care about grades and such.
Oh, and the attitude was displayed perfectly when I decided to try out the Hokey Pokey with this age (Kindergarteners love it). About half the kids loved it, another few tolerated it, but there was one girl in particular who stepped back and watched with a look of total disdain on her 7 year old face, like, “Really? You’ve GOT to be kidding me – I’m not doing that baby stuff.”
Best moment: I found out that we could have outdoor recess, and since I was already frustrated and not looking forward to a half hour condensed into a small classroom with about 23 rambunctious 7 year olds, I announced that we were going outside. I heard one of the girls say to her friend, “Could this day get any better?”  🙂 I’m pretty sure that the other classes had only allowed their kids on the blacktop, but since the awesome playground seemed perfectly fine, I took my kids in there – not having discussed it with anyone, and when the next groups coming out saw them having a wonderful time and not getting muddy, they let the other kids out there too. It was quite cold, but clear and beautiful, and I enjoyed walking around watching the multi-colored troops have a barrel of fun. I would have stayed out there a little longer, but the other teachers said I had to bring them inside. We were the last to enter.
This must be the “season” for student teaching, because this morning I sat at Melvindale High School as the “official” teacher while the student teacher did all of the book. I spent most of the time reading my Photoshop book from the library.
In the afternoon, I was in Westland teaching 2nd grade, which has consistently been one of the most challenging ages to deal with. They were – talkative and a little rambunctious. We did get some work done. As is often the case, they went to a “special” which today was Music class, so I had another 45 minutes to rest and to read my book. I was quite tired (didn’t get enough sleep) so I laid down on the floor on my coat behind the teacher’s desk while they were out and rested – it helped.
“Pack and stack” time is always such a nuisance – I need to find a better way to deal with it. The kids have about 10-15 minutes to put papers in their folders, write in their assignment books (sometimes), pack up their backpacks and lunchboxes and clean off their desks and stack their chairs. While most of them work at it fairly diligently, it also can degenerate quickly into ecstatic elementary kids roughhousing, shouting, playing, snatching hats or gloves,tattling, etc. and one can readily hear teachers loudly admonishing kids in every hallway and classroom then. It’s quite a feat to get about 800 kids onto the correct buses or outside to walk or to be picked up! In some of the Lower Elementary schools – just imagine – there are 800 kids that are K-1 or K-2!
“Herding cats” comes to mind. 🙂
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