Youth Lament

I am learning I just need a job where I work no more than four days a week.  And that's why subbing was perfect for me.  I could take a day off if I wanted. If for example I was tired, or it wasn't light out when my alarm went off (like everyday this week)  - I had no accountability.

Now I have accountability.

Now I can't study Korean while a boring movie I just watched for the last six periods is playing in the background.

Now I can't do craft projects during my free periods - because I have zero free periods.

Still from a stop motion movie I'll probably never finish because I am an adult with a full time job.

Hmmm.  So this means all the fun things that make my little life interesting actually have to be done at home, where I am just too tired to do them.  Which means they don't get done.  Instead I just sit online and read craft blogs and get ideas for projects I'll never have the energy or gumption to start.  Then I get stressed out about how fast my life is passing by and how I never get to do things I plan on doing.  Then I go into quarter life crisis panic mode, moan with frustration, throw things, cry and complain about being an adult.

In general, pretty much.

Jack is lazy and has no accountability. 
He is also spoiled. 
Why can't I be a cat?

Here is a picture of Jack being lazy.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job as a teacher aide (waiting tables doesn't hold a candle to it of course) and I enjoy helping my kids, AND my position gives me a greater sense of purpose and fills me with feelings of self worth... but I really just want some time to start a project I'll never finish.

Job Update

So I've been teaching this class for three weeks now, and one of the brats children stole my phone today.  Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

I also found out that I don't qualify for long term sub pay, so I had to fight negotiate break down in tears to get compensated for my extra hours.  Tears versus bureaucratic system: tears win!

Was it embarrassing?  Of course.   Could I help it?  Probably not.

Andrea versus emotions:  Emotions always win!

 

It was a long day.

Maybe I'm an Adult Now...

So I have a meeting tomorrow.  An actual work meeting about important things.

Actually, I had a meeting today too, for which I had no prior notice.  I went in and said actual important and relevant things, and maybe even looked a little on top of my job.  I think I am awesome.

In truth, I have no idea what tomorrow's meeting will actually be about, so I'm probably unprepared for it despite the fact that I spent the last hour trying to figure out how and what to prepare...

Back in the day when I worked in *cough* restaurants, a meeting meant sitting in a room filled with people you didn't like and listening to managers talk at you while you payed absolutely no attention.  Still tired from getting home from your night shift at two in the morning, you would be sitting there at eight wearing yesterday's re - ironed uniform excited to start your morning shift after the meeting.  It was usually pretty awesome. 

This is a little more awesome though.

Actual Responsibility at Work = No Time to do Silly Things Like Blog

I've been away from this blog for a while...

YAY!  My sub assignment turned into a long term gig...so I have a lot more responsibility.  I never had a job with responsibility before (no joke).  Now I take work home with me, which sucks, but in truth I actually kinda don't mind all the grading papers, editing essays, and making up tests and such.  It's all new to me so the novelty hasn't worn off, I suppose.  And I get to make decisions!  Actual decisions that effect people!  And I don't have to ask anybody if the decision is ok - I can just decide something, and do it - like I have some sort of authority or expertise or power or something!  I also stay after school a lot to plan and help kids who need it, so I end up getting stuck in bad traffic heading back to Chicago... I actually kinda do mind that.

Some things:

Starting a garden in an old row boat my friend found in the alley.

Planting flowers.

Planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains.

Continually spelling Smoky Mountains as Smokey Mountains, because that's how Smokey the Bear spells his name and I can't get it out of my head.

Crazy Stuff I'll Do for (Almost) Free: Substitute Teaching Edition

I picked up a sub job last week for Monday through Wednesday.  Monday through Wednesday turned into Monday through Friday.  This has now extended into two weeks, and will possibly extend through the end of the year.

I picked up a Middle School Resource Cross Categorical teaching position, and am co teaching a Language Arts class.

Basically, I am in charge of helping the supported education kids who are mixed into a regular education classroom.  By law, the amount of supported ed kids in a regular ed classroom is not to exceed 30%.  In all of my classes we are pushing 50%.  This is ridiculous and against the law.

Needless to say, I have A LOT of work to do.

If this job gets extended through the end of the year, then my pay increases substantially.  This would be great because I am already doing so much more than would usually be requested of a sub: grading papers, meeting with other teachers about students, and also making up alternate tests.  Additionally, I have been given a lot more responsibilities with this position.  More on that later...

No Sub Plans? No Problem!

Today I was teaching a first grade class and there were no sub plans.  Zip.  Nada.  5 - 5 = 0.

So... I had to make do by scrapping together what little information I had:  yesterday's schedule on the board and a practically empty lesson plan book.  Luckily my students were really helpful and I'm good at getting information out of them without letting on how clueless I actually am.   Plus I am also the best substitute teacher in the entire world (see this post.)

I had to make do here and there (I couldn't get the smart board working because I had no idea how to connect it to the computer - technology: not my forte) and so I pulled out some good old fashioned flashcards I keep which have famous landmarks on them, and went through those...

I had a kid call the house in which the president lives The White Castle.  I can see how this might be confusing.

I held up a card with Mount Rushmore on it, and several kids started shouting "Oh The Flintstones, The Flintstones!"   Although this is quite a clever assertion, I fail to see the resemblance:

Well, I had a lot of fun today, to say the least!

Should Have Worn Something Else Today...

No, actually, I am not dressed for Wacky Tacky Spirit Day.

But thank you for assuming so! 

- While subbing at my Alma mater, Bolingbrook High School, and talking to an old teacher of mine who had no clue who I was... for the record I think I looked very nice - and nothing like the people wearing wigs and underwear on the outside of their pants.

Because I am Pretty Cool...Apparently.

So some students of mine wrote a poem.  A poem about moi.  A poem about how I am the best substitute teacher in the world. 

Have a read:

Subs

Subs oh Subs they're driving me crazy

They're mean

They're strict

They're only a bit nice

But you are not like those mean old bags

You are young and nice

Oh so precise, when it comes to being nice

You're sweet like ice cream

You are like a supreme sugar

You're the opposite of a booger

You're the nicest sub we've ever had

That's right.  I was a muse for a day.   And it's pretty good to hear that I am not a mean old bag or a booger.  Secretly I worried people thought that.

Did I mention there was an ostrich at work the other day?

I love my job (most days) because things like this actually happen.

I was taking my students to the lunch room when out of the corner of my eye I spied an ostrich in the gym.  I had to stop and say aloud "is that an ostrich?" then pinch myself and laugh, because ostrich sightings in elementary schools do not happen every day.

It was, in fact, a real live genuine ostrich ( ! ), and I came within two feet of it as I walked back from the lunchroom.  There it was with its trainer, strutting down the hall towards me. We most definitely had a moment of eye contact. 

Turns out we were having an assembly that day, and the ostrich wasn't the only animal I got to pet (yes - pet!).  There was also an oppossum (cutest thing I ever saw), an alligator, a hedgehog, a python, and a tarantula (which a 4th grader bravely held). 

To commemorate the fact that my job is awesome and I get to partake in such fun assemblies, I have compiled some fun ostrich facts.

(Source: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/ostrich-facts.htm)

Chicago Park District Classes: Super Affordable!

It's 11:00 A.M., and I have been checking the sub scheduler periodically since 5:15 A.M..  No jobs. I've been sitting alone with Jack the Cat as he continually meows at the door, waiting to be let out into the hallway of our apartment building so he can run up and down the stairs.

While dilly dallying on the computer, I started looking into places offering ASL courses.  I stumbled across the Chicago Park District website, which offers 8 weeks of classes for only $35!  Unfortunately the course is full, but I think I will call to check if there have been any cancellations. 

To my delight, I noticed they have a plethora of courses ranging from upholstery (how useful!) to auto repair (how practical!) to quilting (how fun!) - all for under fifty bucks.  For about $120 - $170, you can take pottery classes, offered at a much more reasonable price than some of the art studios in my neighborhood.  I'd like to do that over the summer.  They also offer adult swim lessons, figure skating lessons, knitting, sewing, photography, and stained glass classes!

Check it out here.  Online registration for the Spring session is closed, but you can still register for classes with openings by calling the park directly.   Registration for the Summer session begins in April.

Good Morning, Day Off!

So this morning was one of those mornings where I thought "I really don't want to get up and go to work.  I really just want to stay home and work on my blog."  I am now officially a nerd.

One of the challenges of being a substitute teacher is that it can be so easy to make excuses not to go to work.  Even excuses like "I have to clean today" sound like good ideas and much more fun than getting up at 5:00 or 6:00 to check the online sub scheduler for jobs, pressing 'refresh' a hundred million times waiting for a job to appear, and then hoping it isn't a job at one of "thooooose schools" where you really don't have fun working and the high schoolers tell you mean stuff like how much you look like Baxter from Arthur (sigh*).

So that is exactly what I thought this morning;  "I can't work today, my blog and the dishes piled up in the sink are much much more important."

On another note, here's another pretty picture of the amaryllis we grew in our apartment this January:

Whiteboards Just Don't Cut It

I wish I brought my camera more to work, because I never know what I'm going to see.  Every once in a while, I get to work in a classroom that is so beautifully filled with children's artwork and such an inviting and warm environment that I wish I could spend every day there.  Also, believe it or not, sometimes I get inspiration for projects I could incorporate into my own home.  I can't forgive myself for not being able to photograph the classroom I worked in recently with floor to ceiling windows covered in stained glass artwork.

I did walk into this classroom the other day though, and was pleasantly surprised to find a blackboard, dusty with chalk and (my favorite part) covered in little snowflakes.  I think it would be nice to have a little "idea chalkboard" in my own home near my work area.  As a teacher, nothing beats writing your name on the smooth slate to introduce yourself to a class (and it sure conjures up memories of grammar school when you wrote your name on the board for being naughty).  I remember kids used to love being picked to clean the erasures every week, with the big dusty vacuum-like machine, and wash the blackboard at the end of each day, making it smooth and shiny with straight sponge strokes. 

The Death of Christmas

Yesterday I took down my Christmas tree.  The poor pitiful future pile of mulch, stripped of all its Christmas glory, dripping pine needles and leaving my hands covered in sap signified the end of one of the nicest Christmas vacations I have had since I was a kid.  It was quite sad.

(  It is amazing how bad a Christmas tree can look after you have taken all the lights and decorations off of it.  )

This vacation was different from ones in the past in that I actually got to celebrate it- and it was awesome!  I have been working in restaurants (and before that, retail - equally less generous with holiday off time) and had become used to bargaining for which holiday I wanted off the most, playing politics with managers to try and get enough time to travel home in time for Christmas dinner (or Thanksgiving's, if that was the holiday I was able to procure).

No more!

I'm a substitute teacher, so I get the same vacation time as a little child!  And it's wonderful!

I utterly packed my vacation time to the brim.

And now it is time to go back to work.  I picked up a job using our online scheduling system called Subfinder at about 1:00 A.M. this morning, and would have canceled it today if I hadn't woken up past the cancellation deadline this morning.  The perk about being a sub is that I really can work whenever I want, but need to find the discipline  on mornings like these, after a two week long joyous vacation with snow and great food and travel and buffalo hunts to get back in the car and make the long early morning drive to a middle school in my hometown.