Last Thursday was my first full day on the job. I subbed for a first grade teacher. In my school, the first grade teachers rotate to each classroom. So instead of moving an entire class of kids every class period, just the teachers move to the next group of kids to teach. I subbed for each of the 4 first grade classes. It. Was. Crazy. It's obvious that these kids haven't been in a real classroom (a result of the Great Unpleasantness), so hard to get any of them to just sit long enough for me to explain the rules of the game we were about to play. One class in particular was just obsessed with throwing paper airplanes at each other. BUT! They were all so sweet. They were not being malicious. They wanted to make me happy, they just are still learning how to behave in school. When other teachers came in to check on me, the kids got excited for the teacher and listened to them very well. It was rough for sure, I nearly cried on the way home, but I am not giving up on this profession. That same day, I also subbed for a second class while the first graders were in specials. One of the second graders immediately look a liking to me and drew me a picture of a big cat/bunny and a little cat/bunny. I put it in my substitute binder to remind me that these kids are good.

On Friday, I did a half day subbing for the 5th grade science teacher. This was very exciting because my sister is in 5th grade, this was her teacher! Sadly, my sister had that class in the morning. But it was still cool to see her classmates. The first class was just 6 kids since most of them are in quarantine. That was cool because I mostly just chilled with the kids while they did their assignment. The next class period was a full house. But again, none of the kids were trying to be bad. It was just the last class before a week-long break and the assignment was just reviewing stuff they already learned. But they did get their work done, and even looked out for each other. At one point, one of the students was getting too overstimulated by the noise to get her work done. A few of the other students came to me to tell me, and then I told the class that I had been lenient with the noise, but I needed them to quiet down, and they (mostly) listened. The biggest 'problem student' (note the quotation marks) was a kid who clearly has ADHD or something similar. He was super sweet, he just couldn't sit still or focus well.

After those two days, I was definitely tired and overwhelmed. But that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to going back! My mom (who used to work with kids) assured me that it will only get better as the kids get to know me, as they continue to see me around the school, and as I learn what strategies work for me in the classroom. That definitely makes sense to me, I saw how the kids reacted to their teachers and the sweetness that lies beneath the wildness. I look forward to continuing to learn about these students, to become a familiar face in the school, and to one day teach them full time.