New school, same old nonsense. Today I substituted at another school. This school was smaller than the other schools. There were only 3rd, 4th , and 5th grades. I was the substitute science teacher. However, since I did not have any science materials, I did my usually math worksheet lesson. I try to have the students do some kind of academic exercise for the first half of the class, then the second half, I have the students work on a word search puzzle. The first class was a 5th grade class, and relatively speaking, they were okay. Since it was first period, the students came directly to the classroom. The second 5th grade class is when the problems (and the usually aggravation came). The teacher brought her class to the room with no pencil… Nothing! These kids were basically the same as the other students mentioned in previous e-mails. Since they had no pencil, they used that as an excuse to go wild. I was angry and annoyed being put in that situation. The class was so wild and out of control that I had to call security to come. However, the principal came instead. At first, I was happy to have the principal come to the classroom. Unfortunately, the students reacted as if she was nothing more than another teacher. The principal said that she would return with pencils for the students.

The next class was a 3rd grade class. And yes, they also arrived without pencils. However, the class was much smaller, and therefore much easier to manage.

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December 5, 2005

It has been a while sorry. Again, I was planning to do a day by day report, unfortunately, I let the days pile up. I also let the e-mails pile up.

Highlights from the past week:

11-28-05Monday I was substituting for a science teacher. The morning experience was given above. After lunch, I was given a 4th grade class for two periods, to say that that 4th grade class was wild would be an understatement. The assistant principal warned me that this class was “a bit difficult”. It took about 20 minutes (with the help of the reading teacher to get them calm and focused. After the reading teacher left the classroom, I was able to keep the class under control for about the next 45 minutes. I’d used the threat of asking the homeroom teacher to allow me to dismiss the class, meaning that I would be dismissing that class late. Then, about 20 minutes before the end of the double period was to end, the 4th grade class’ homeroom teacher arrived. I made a big show of letting the class know that I meant business. I walked over to the homeroom teacher and loudly asked her if she minded if I dismissed her class. She said no. The one thing I had to control the class, I had lost, right then and there. Then, the homeroom teacher announced that the class had to stop my lesson, because they had to pack up to leave. I was annoyed that I had lost the one ounce of power that I’d had. However, I was relived that she was taking her wild class… or so I thought.

It turned out, she was taking her class a few students at a time to get their things and then return to me until the end of the final period. Do I need to tell you what happens when a wild class is told that it is time to go home.

They go wild!!!

What little control I’d had was lost. And the situation was magnified by a homeroom teacher dismissing what I was doing as not important. I had wild kids following the homeroom teacher, wild kids in the hall, and wild kids in the classroom. I was suspose to be controlling them…I think. The homeroom teacher was no help at all. I understand what she’d wanted to do, but it was (in my opinion) a total disregard for me as a teacher, a colleague, or as a person. I felt as if I was just something to keep her kids occupied. With a class that wild, I understood that she wanted to minimize the wild behavior, by taking a small group at a time; however, she should have let me know the plan, so that we could have work together.

Calling out “table one” (and groups of kids not knowing if table one was her group of table ones, the table one group in the class at that moment, or just kids wanting any excuse to go wild), was (in my opinion) an opportunity to watch chaos rein, I felt like a dope with my back against the wall. I had had enough, I told the whole class to stand and follow the homeroom teacher. I then proceeded to clean the classroom.

11-29-05 Period 6, I had a 5th grade class. They were wild and out of control. Behavior usually reserved for the 6th grade. However, since this school had no 6th grade, this class was more than willing to pick up the mantel of chaos. Nothing I did or said had any impact. At the end, the homeroom teacher gave me the home phone numbers of the most disruptive students. Calling the homes of those students was a total waste of time.

One mother seemed annoyed that I was calling her.
Another mother seemed confused as to which son I was referring to.
A father seemed to not have cared less.

11-30-05 I had a return visit from the 4th grade class mentioned above. This time, I had the class right before lunch. I let them know that if they took my time, then I would take theirs. The behavior was much, much (relatively speaking), much better. I was so happy! I used the wildest student as an example. I made him eat is lunch last. I stayed in the lunch room to make sure that he ate his lunch last. He was defiant right to the end. But in the end, I won. The battle, not the war.

12-1-05 Another return visit from the same 4th grade class mention in the two previous entries. Again, I had them right before their lunch period. This time I was so cocky; I thought that I’d had the means of control. I went to the homeroom teacher to remind her to have the students bring pencils. And I offered to take her class to lunch. She needed no convincing to the benefits of having someone else take some of the control for her wild class. She also asked for a favor. At that moment, I knew the answer should have been no, but I wanted to be nice.

Instead of doing my lesson, the homeroom teacher wanted me to let her students bring their writing folders to continue with a writing project. I agreed. I asked for details about the project (and what I needed to do), she said the students all knew what they had to do.

In the substitute classroom, I quickly reminded the students about my rule – take from me and I take from you. Take my time, and I’ll take your lunch time.

In the beginning everything seemed to be working. But as the period went on the class became louder and louder. The writing project seemed to be everything but writing. They needed scissors; they needed glue; they needed tape. They did this. They did that. They talked, and they played. They seemed to be doing everything, but write.

By the time I’d realized that I was not in control, it was too late. Like sharks in the water, they smelled blood.

No matter what I did, or said. Nothing worked. They continued to get wild and out of control. To save time (I am typing this way past my bedtime), I’ll just jump ahead. I could not control the class, so I would not let anyone leave. I knew eventually someone would come. Eventually the principal came. I was shocked that her presence had little more effect than another teacher stepping into the room. I quickly pointed out the 4 good kids who did not deserve to be punished. The principal told me to take them down to lunch, while she stayed with the wild ones. No sooner was I in the lunch room, and turn around to return to the classroom, the principal had started sending down the other students because “they were quiet”. The punishment for the 3 or 4 wildest of the bunch, they had (or got to) eat lunch in the principal’s office.

Sorry, I have to end this. It is now very, very late. In a few hours I have to get up and return to this school to work. I did not want to procrastinate with my blog entries another day.

Finally, here in New York, we had our first snow fall of this year. There is supposed to be another heavy snow fall on Tuesday. I also wanted to write about a problem I’d had with a big internet mail order company, but it is late. I’ll write more at another time. Ja mata…

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