Day 1: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

the school is rather large. and by large i mean there are 3 flights with 3 different wings. and it's an elementary school. why so big?!!? trying to find the office was a feat, but somehow i managed. i signed in, got the info i needed, and headed to the classroom.

pretty typical room. this time however, it looked like I was going to be the only one the whole day. (most of the other assignments i've had before this were ones where the classroom teacher was out, but there was a aide there who primarily taught and i was there as a placeholder.) the teacher had come in before school and had left lessons for the day, which was great since i have no back up plans for subbing as of yet, having only started this subbing thing last week.

a really handsome guy came in and introduced himself and said if i needed anything to let him know. i was stressed reading the lesson and settling in, so i didn't ask where i could find him if i needed him. oh well. i'd figure it out.

the kids came. of course they were surprised i was there; most of the time they don't know beforehand (which i think is better). they settled in and the day started.

i could already tell who was going to be a pain - after doing this for as long as I have you can pick those kids out pretty quickly. by the 2nd hour i had already sent one down to the office (yes, one of the ones i thought was going to be an issue) for using inappropriate language. i didn't hear it, but 4 kids came up to tell me. so off to the office he went.

and that's when handsome guy walked in: "how is everything?"

"oh, i just sent M down to the office."

"well, i better get down there and meet him."

"um....why?"

"because as Principal that's kinda my job."

"......"

it must be a Principal thing: that's the second time in a week that the Principal introduced themselves and didn't tell me who they were. kinda annoying, but whatever.

brought them to lunch, then headed to the staff room to eat. i was the only one in there so i plopped myself down at a big table and started eating. one by one the teachers came in, heated their food or sat down - at any table but mine. i felt like i was back in elementary school, being the shunned kids. sometimes adults are no better than kids. i ate my food and disappeared to find my class.

the rest of the day was ok. we read for 45 minds (they read, i kept telling them to be quite), then brought them to gym. when i picked them up they were all kinda bouncing off the walls, yet we still had 45 mins of school left. by the end of it they were all kinda getting cranky, so i was happy when the day ended. even though they were only "eh" on the scale of "do you deserve to go out to an extra recess per your teachers suggestion if you were good?", i decided to bring them out anyway....and promptly walled 4 kids for acting badly.

and then it was over.

the best part?

the teacher called out again for tomorrow and guess who got the assignment?

the kids will be so thrilled....