A child of God educating other children.

Today went well. I got to school early and checked my teacher's email to find out that she was staying home sick and called in a sub. I wasn't surprised that she stayed home, she was a trooper yesterday coming even though she had the worst migrain. That's dedication.

So today we had a sub, which was interesting. Since I am teaching the whole day now, theres not much for the sub to do. Luckily my teacher has been pulling study groups from 2nd grade, so the sub was able to do that for half the day, but when she wasn't, she was in the classroom grading another teacher's papers.

A couple times when I was trying to tend to my students after I taught a lesson and it was their turn to do things and I needed to walk around and observe them... the sub wanted to chit chat. It was hard trying not to be rude to her and give my students the regular attention they need. Finally I interupted her and asked, "Will you help me walk around and monitor and see who needs help?" That was the best thing I could've done. I wanted to see if I could do the day on my own with my teacher not there at all, but it was an even bigger challenge having a sub I had to "entertain" for the day also. I guess if I can juggle both at once I did a good job.

I've also finally realized that I can be firm and loving. I've finally put my foot down and not let the kids walk all over me. We've all heard the saying, "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile." This is exactly what this class has done . . . it just took me 7 weeks to figure out how to find a balance. At least I can say I've learned/realized this and will hopefully remember it for when I get my own class.

Posted in: on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at at 6:40 PM