A Day in the Life (Part 4)

If you missed the last few entries in this series you can find them here:

INTRO

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

The worst is when you have entire classes that misbehave.

On this particular day I was substituting in a grade 6 class. They were doing art and all they had to do was follow along with what this guy on the television was doing.

Now, I'll admit, the program that they were having to watch was ancient... the teacher could have definitely found something better for them to do. But as a substitute teacher I just do what the teacher had left for me to do. I told them they could sit at their desks or on the carpet with a clipboard to follow along and they could chat quietly to the person next to them so long as we could still follow the instructions on the television.

I'm not sure how far into the program we got... but the class got so loud that even the student sitting right by the tv couldn't hear it. So I shut it off.

Luckily, the teacher had obviously anticipated that it may not go so well and left me a bunch of grammar worksheets to do with the students. So out came the grammar (which they did and we corrected). Assuming they had learnt a valuable lesson about not making the substitute mad I turned the television back on.

Big mistake.

Once again, it didn't take long for the class to get loud. Out came the grammar worksheets and we corrected, again, and again, and again. Let's just say they did a lot of grammar.

Eventually, I even called in the principal. The class got nice and quiet for her... but as soon as she left... loud.

I honestly couldn't stand it. It wasn't just one rude, disrespectful student... it was an entire class!

Eventually, I just put the program on the tv said (okay, I didn't actually say it out loud) screw the noise and wrote the teacher a note about how horrible her class was for me. Once again, I never returned to that classroom (I did return to that school because I was able to remember exactly what class I didn't want to go back to).

Luckily, I've never sat on a tack, or had something added to my morning coffee... and I REALLY hope that day never comes!

To be honest, I don't really care if you change your name with the person sitting next to you, I don't care if you switch your instrument either... but for the love of everything I just want a little bit of a respect.

I've had classes that have made me want to go to my car and cry they have been so horrible. They chatter all day, they don't listen to a thing you say, and you are pretty sure they are all making fun of you behind you back.

I've had students running on top of desks, students shouting, students throw books out windows. It's been bad... real bad.

Now I know as a substitute teacher that I'm not going to get the same respect as the classes regular teacher would. These students don't know me and I haven't spent months getting to know them (I barely even know their names by the end of the day). But I really don't think there is any reason why anyone at any point in their lives has to be that rude to someone. Everyone has feelings, everyone wants to feel like they are doing their best at what they do, and no one wants to go home feeling like garbage at the end of the day.

Students can make or break your day.

Once again, I'm going to remind you of some of my lovely tips to at least attempt to get the classes attention

Next Week:  "So you've survived your day as a substitute teacher"

Maud Lewis - Folk Art

I found the idea for this art lesson at the A Faithful Attempt Blog

We basically did everything exactly as Miss laid it out (why reinvent the wheel.. am I right?)

Our computer time was always conveniently right before art class so after I had showed them some things on Maud Lewis I let them look up some ideas on landscapes and they did a quick sketch of their landscape while in the computer lab.

In the middle is a write up that I did on Maud Lewis (whenever we learned about a specific artist I always did a write up on the artist and shared it with the students.

We watched the videos that Miss posted as well... I don't recall why but I think we were missing a few students the day we did this project and so we ended up watching them not once but twice (by their request).  My grade 4's actually found it quite interesting and when we learned the measurements of Maud's house we measured it out in our (very large) classroom.  They were shocked that her house was smaller than our classroom was! Anywho, I'm surprised they requested to watch it a 2nd time... but we were a pretty advanced group of 4th graders (does their teacher get some credit for their advanced state?).

Rules for Teachers

A friend of mine posted this to Facebook a while ago.

What rules have I broken (if it were 1914)

2)  I'm not exactly sure what that means... but I hang out with guys (not usually one on one but surely they couldn't have had a problem with hanging out with men AND women at the same time?)  I also take this to mean there was never, EVER any male teachers (because then shouldn't they have a rule about not hanging out with women?).

3)  I have to be home by 8pm!?!  Do we think this was just for school nights?  Or weekends too?  Guess all my friends would have to come to my place if the party was going to go "late" (which is apparently anytime after 8pm).

5)  My school is located outside of the city I live in.  So erm... that would be a problem because I either wouldn't be able to get home or to work.  

6)  Great, I'll just stop offering rides to guys.

8)  Bright colours!?!  Clearly they were not anticipating the 90's or neons.

10)  I'm not sure what a petticoat is but I'm nearly certain I don't own a single one (therefore I've never worn 2)

11)  What can I say, I'm a scandalous girl (I'm not really all that scandalous)

12)  Thank goodness I don't have to get to school for 7am... I would have to leave home by 6:20 (but I guess according to these rules I would also have to reside in the city my school was located so in that case it would only be a 2 minute car ride - it's a small town).

A Day in the Life (Part 3)

Here is part 3 of the series... here is part 1 and part 2 (in case you missed them)

Then there are the students

Like most teachers I to have a list in my head (no, I have not written it down anywhere) of names that I would not name any future children I may have because of kids with those names.

I once was teaching art. Can we all just agree that art is a great class (for students)? They get to be creative, draw, paint, mold with clay, and then clean it all up afterwards (plus, if you have me as your substitute teacher you will likely get music put on as well). I REALLY like substitute teaching for art. This was not one of those days that I loved though.

I had one student (one student can ruin your entire day). This one student decided to be the biggest jerk I have ever encountered whilst substitute teaching. He would not stop talking or wandering around the room. He refused to do anything. At one point he was making some kind of tower of all the stools that people were sitting on... at another time I'm pretty sure he was attempting to plank on the stool. It was awful.

Yes, I'm a substitute teacher. This means that I was not this classes regular teacher. But I don't think having a substitute teacher is any excuse to throw common respect out the window. This student had zero respect for me and made me feel like dirt. It was an awful day... because of one student (as far as I remember the rest of the classes were actually wonderful but what sticks out in my head from that day was that one kid). I actually never went back to that school because I didn't want to have to deal with that student again... that's how awful it was.

We've all had experiences with students who just won't listen.  You can find some tips I've come up with here on how to at least get their attention.  Any secrets you have for dealing with an unruly student?

Next week:  "the worst is when you have the entire class misbehave"