The Substitute

I've been working every day this week, so I haven't had a lot of time to post anything, but I was thinking about some of the special memories of this first semester as a substitute teacher. Here are some mental clips that pop up in my brain:

1) Having a very large graduating senior special ed boy come up from behind while I was walking down the hall. He put his arm around me in greeting until we came to his class, then he waved a shy good-bye and went on his way.

2) The exclamation of a junior in American History, "You're my favorite sub! I don't know why, but you're my FAVORITE!"

3) Meeting up with kids at church that I've had in my class. The middle school kids look at me in awe and the high school kids pretend like they've never seen me before in their entire lives.

4) A whispered "We've got the kindergarten sub today." (This one I didn't like so much -- wondering if I sounded too "good morning, boys and girls!" to them last time I'd subbed.

5) Having a kid tell his teacher to be sure to get Mrs. J as a sub next time she was out.

6) Teacher's "Lounge" conversations about inside scoop happenings and being able to put in my two cents (because I've always got a little something to say!).

7) Sitting in on teachers' lectures to see how it's done or not done, whatever the case may be.

8) Students asking, "Got a riddle for us, Mrs. J?"

9) Other students saying, "Dude, that riddle was DUMB!" And me answering, "It's only dumb because YOU couldn't figure it out!"

10) Some very smart kids showing me on the board that .9 repeating is equal to 1 using algebra and then calculus. I still don't believe them!

11) Allowing chemistry students to tinker with liquids that made a penny dissolve. I just told them to PLEASE not make a black crater in the middle of the chemistry room. In retrospect, I think maybe I should have just said no seeing as I am NOT a chemistry type and would not have had a clue about what to do if anything went wrong.

12) The power of being able to give permission hundreds of young people to go to the bathroom. (Sad, I know.)

There are many more memories, some that I'd just as soon forget, but most that I appreciate. I like working with kids. Whether or not I'm cut out for a classroom remains to be seen. It's been a good experience to sub this year just to get an idea about how middle and high school works here in our county.