May 31, 2006

Today was the last day at the school that I’ve been subbing at for the last couple of months. Tomorrow, I return to one of the previous schools that I’ve written about in the past. Originally, I was worried about staying at this school for a long time, but as it turned out, I enjoyed my time there (relatively speaking). The school is about a 4 minute walk from the train station. For the last couple of days, I’ve had a very easy schedule. I was assigned to monitor various kindergarten classes while the regular teacher works on the end of the school year assessment test (ECLAS).

Tomorrow’s school is a bit more of a challenge. Relatively speaking, it is nicer than some of the other schools that I’ve taught at, but something tells me that the last 4 weeks will not be easy. Physically, the school is in the same neighborhood (also near the same train station, however, the school is about a 7 to 8 minute walk (up hill). Dismissal time is very chaotic; all of the classes in the building all are dismissed out of the same exit, at the same time.

So why return? I kind of promised that I would return when the long term assignment I accepted (see previous blog entries) was finished. Usually, I try to keep my word. I said usually, because I did not keep my word when I said that I would return to one of the other schools (also mentioned in previous blog entries). Although, I have to be honest, even though I said I would return, I was being polite (and trying to be as vague as possible); I really did not want to return to that school. Although the administration was very nice, I had the feeling that the administration let the kids run wild. This was the school when the principal was adamant about not have photos taken showing the kids going wild.

I kept telling myself that I would go back, but in the end, I didn’t. Why? I felt that there was just too much unnecessary stress. I should have been honest, and told them that I wasn’t coming back. They really were nice, and relatively speaking I did enjoy going to that school.

Shoebox update. It has been fairly quiet since that big argument. However, little by little, the couple seems to be falling back into old habits. Day by day the arguments are getting louder. The young lady (Screamer) seems less and less willing to “keep her voice down”. I suspect the boyfriend thinks that I was the one who called the police (I wasn’t); he no longer speaks to me. The couple of times that I’ve said hello, he hasn’t said anything. Oh, would you believe that the note, the pasta sauce, and the pizza box are all still around.

Well, it is very late. Lately, I’ve been using my rowing machine and that (along with the stress of “teaching” wild kids) has been making me more tired. When I return to my shoebox, I’ve been exercising before I eat dinner. After dinner, I usually fall asleep watching TV. I wake up about 2 or 3 in the morning, wash my dishes and shower, then return to sleep for an hour or two.