Their teacher was out because she has 3 broken ribs. Because one of the kids in the class purposely tripped her. Awesome, right?
Yesterday morning, I walked into the office and confidently introduced myself. When I told the office aid what teacher I was subbing for, she said, "oooooooo," and kind of grimaced. I told her not to lie to me, and she said the class is one of the worst in the school. Oye. As I walked to the room, a student asked me which room I was looking for. When I said the teacher's name, another grimace, and a "Good luck!" FROM A 10 YEAR OLD. Haha.
Yes, it was awful at times. Both days. The kids have no boundaries, no expectations, no rules, nothing. They do what they want, when they want. They have no idea how to raise their hands, they talk over each other, over me. They bicker, fight, shove each other, scream at each other, and write "fuck u" on the tissue box. I found 24 paper airplanes around the room when I cleaned up after school today. TWENTY FOUR! And they don't even have recycle bins here!
I was firm. I raised my voice sometimes to get their attention. And I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. I asked for their attention, and if I didn't get it, I stood in the front and I stared them down until I got it. A handful of the kids still didn't understand. It took their peers screaming at them to get their attention, and obviously I didn't really want that either. Haha.
BUT, we had some amazing moments, and one of them was actually witnessed by a fellow teacher. I got the kids to write in silence for 7 straight minutes about things they like. The teacher that came in said she's pretty sure they've never been that quiet...ever. (It did help that 2 of the problem children were out of the room, hanging out with the principal for the morning for how they treated the previous sub.) OH! And their punishment for their behavior? Writing lines! I didn't even know that was a legal punishment in public schools. They had to write a sentence saying something like I will treat adults with respect, ect 400 times. FOUR HUNDRED TIMES! Oh, my goodness.
I gave them the option during SSR to draw while I read them Shel Silverstein poems. (Which, they loved, and I freaking loved too. And some of them were actually paying enough attention to laugh at the poems!)
The first day, they had nearly earned a little bit of extra recess, but at the last minute, I took it away and we sat for the last 5 minutes of school. We discussed how we had done for the day, and one kid raised his hand and said it was a 50/50 day. I asked how today could be, and he said 75/25, hopefully. :) Another kid asked me if I was actually coming back on Friday, and when I said yes, he said, "So you don't hate us?"
Today, when the kids were taking a reading test, one boy tried to talk to a girl sitting near him. She told him to be quiet, because I was going to get them in trouble. He said I was mean. She retorted back to him, "No she's not, she cares." Good God, my heart nearly broke when I heard her say that. Later, she made me a thank you card for being their sub.
I'm so thankful for my student teaching placement. Especially after meeting kids that could give my practicum kids a run for their money. They're all amazing, but crappy circumstances and teachers that had given up on them made them give up too. The sub they had on Tuesday WALKED OUT during lunch. Said it wasn't worth the money to stay. I can't even imagine...
One of the office ladies mentioned that the teacher will probably be out next week too. The kids don't have school on Monday for a Hawaiian holiday, and I have Tuesday and Wednesday off from the coffee bean. I told the vice principal that I would love to come back next week, and left my contact information with the secretary. I really hope they call! :)
I love that. It was absolutely awful, but I would gladly go back. To work with these kids. To teach them how to respect one another, and me, and to teach them to think something of themselves. The kids earned 20 minutes of extra recess today, but ended up wasting nearly half of it because I can't get them to transition out of the classroom to save my life. Why they wanted to waste their own free time, I'm not sure, but they really like to run back in the classroom and hide. *shrugs* It was a great couple of days, and the teacher in me has re-emerged. :)
For even more fantastic news, check out my fat blog: http://www.kayleenisgoingtobethin. blogspot.com
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