Subs

Over the past month and a half, for 4 out of the past 6 days that I've been in the classroom, Mr. Tuttle has been out for Michigan Merit Examination related activities. As you might imagine, it's been quite a wild ride with a new substitute teacher every week. On the one hand, it is certainly much more chaotic in the classroom, but since the students spend the hour working on their assigned homework, I appreciate the chance to interact with them more.

Behavior incidents similar to the one I described the post titled "Boiling Point" have been much more common. There have been days when I come home fuming mad because a student blatantly disregards me when I've politely asked them to put away their cell phone 3 separate times; refuses to go back to their seat near the end of the period no matter how diplomatically I ask them; or will not stop making fun of another student. In one episode, three guys were teasing a tough girl who has her heart in the right place, but frequently can't control her outbursts. Now she typically hangs out with these guys, so I was letting her fend for herself, but they were just looking for a rise out of her. As she began to get more and more agitated, one of the more insidious boys kept asking her in a baby voice, "Do you need a tissue?" Finally she yelled, "Would you just lay off it!" Another one of the teasing boys asked from across the classroom, "Are you mad, [name]"? She ignored him, so he asked again. By now all the class had stopped working and was watching this unfold. Now I had a reason to step in and stop things without looking like I was just trying to protect this girl, so I said, "Look, you know she's mad, so stop asking." He then asked with a smile on his face, "Are you mad?" I responded, "Save your little altercation for another time, because the entire class is staring at you instead of getting their work done." Soon after the bell rang. It's these sorts of events that remind me of why high school can be hellish for some kids. Also I sometimes get the sense that students are just trying to get under my skin, just like they were doing to this girl, because they know that I have no power to send them to the office.

On the other side of the coin, while subs have been in the classroom I've gotten to know some kids much more recently. One girl, who I've had a rocky relationship with in the past, asked me if I wanted to read her English essay that I noticed on her desk. It was a pretty emotional piece with a description of her troubles on the basketball team and her father. She showed it to me because she was proud of it, but I felt lucky that she felt comfortable letting me read it. On another day, a student told me that he had fought with his Mom a few weeks ago, has not talked to her since, and now is living with his brother. In these instances, as well as others, they usually don't want to go too far into the details, but it's so much better knowing where each individual student is coming from. Also, the girl I talked about in my post titled "Imperfect Interactions", who said, "No, and if there was, I wouldn't ask you. I don't know you," has since asked me for help several times. It's nice to see a turn around like that, and often she knows exactly what she's doing, so I just end up confirming it for her. Once she said to herself as I was walking away, "See, I'm smart."