Subbing thus far

Say what?  A blog post that is not backdated?  :)

School here started July 30th, so I put my job at the Coffee Bean on hold and dedicated myself to subbing full time.  Besides one sick day that I took off for myself, I've been able to sub every day that the kids have been in school.  I'm making plenty of money, too bad the checks are delayed a month!  :) come September 5th, I may be buying a new dress.  :)

Anyways, subbing has been great.  A bit on the dramatic side, but still a lot of fun.  A majority of the drama stems from the political BS that is teaching and unions (and parents),  but I've tried my hardest to steer clear and let everyone else figure it out.

I started out the school year in a third grade room.  The teacher was on some sort of administrative leave that was full of gossip and whispers.  The biggest problem was that the administration at my school was not sure when this teacher would return.  This was also the biggest problem the parents of my students were having.  They wanted a timeline, and some sort of preparation for their kids of when their beloved Mrs.Pieper would be leaving them...lol.  I sort of joke.  I did bond with the kids, and I feel that I built an excellent report with them.  And everytime I see them around school, I get lots of hugs.  :)

Starting out the year was super stressful for me at first--I was handed a boxed up classroom 3 days before school started and was told to "do my best." Oye!  The third grade team was fabulous though, and my grade level chair held my hand through the first week.  It was a really nice practice run at getting a classroom up and running!  And now I have tons of fabulous ideas for first week activities.

I also found that I actually really like third graders too!  I know I've always said I only wanted Kindergarten, but I can tell you after spending a week and a half in Kinder (which is also where I am now), there is definitively something to be admired about the level of independence that third graders possess.  Kinders, on the other hand, can't seem to make it from their cubby areas to the desks without losing a shoe.  :)

I did finalize all of my paperwork last week so I am now eligible to get a full time teaching job.  At least at the school I'm at now, there seemed to be a tendency on the part of the past administration to "promise" positions to long term subs, when really they were just saying whatever it took to get the position covered.  I definitely understand the want to be in the same classroom day after day, but it also adds the responsiblity of planning everything and spending time after school while still only making $159/day.  If I'm going to do the full time job of a teacher, I would love the full time job (and the medical benefits please!)

The past week and a half I've basically been a helper sub.  The other gal I'm working with in Kinder was waiting for her sub paper work to be processed, so she needed a "legal" presence in the room.  So she's basically been volunteer teaching for free, while I help when I can, but really spend most of the day playing in my iPad in the corner.  *shrugs* I can't complain.  Today is actually my last day, as  the other teacher's paperwork was finalized over lunch.

Next week I'm subbing the whole week for one of the other third grade teachers.  Then the week after that my sister and BFF Chris will be here, so I'll be taking most of the week off to hang out with them.  I did already take one Kinder position, but I figure they can come with me and play with the Kinders or they can go to the beach!  :)

I've still only subbed at the one school I was at last year, and I was hoping to be able to experience other schools and meet other principals.  I've still got many more months, so I'm not too worried!  And it's nice and convenient to have steady work at at school that is a three minute drive from my apartment, and that a lot of people already know who I am.  :)