Well, it's official, Miss Elder is Back in Action as a teacher. It has taken me some time due to waiting to hear back from Districts and honestly pure laziness. It has been so long since I have been in the classroom that I thought maybe I'd forget how to teach, if that's possible. Today I discovered I was wrong. It was like putting my feet right back into an old pair of shoes, that fit just right. Today I was reminded of my love for teaching.
The only full day position available today in the districts that I able to Substitute teach in was for 4th grade, which is definitely not my top pick. For those of you who know me, I've always wanted to be a Kindergarten teacher, for as long as I can remember. I love that age and I personally think it is my biggest strength considering some people would never teach Kindergarten. I debated taking the position but heard the Holy Spirit tell me to take it. So, I did. And, it went great!
On my way to work, I was praying in my car. As I prayed something like "God, you know 4th grade isn't my strength, so please help me today, give me wisdom as to how to teach, and ideas with discipline and classroom management", the Lord brought a couple of things to my mind. He reminded me of a game I was taught in college by a professor of mine who encouraged fun in the classroom. God reminded me to teach this game to the students, if time permits. He also brought to my attention a scripture. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 What a perfect opportunity to rely on Jesus to be my strength in an area of weakness.
I was scheduled to work from 7:30am-2:50pm. I didn't know if that meant school started at 730 or I was supposed to arrive at 730, so I woke up early and arrived at 645am. Most of the time I am late to everything, so with a profession, my goal has always been to leave really early and be early rather than be late. Well, that idea didn't work out as I planned today... but I learned a lesson. Ooops! The start time means that is when I am supposed to arrive, not when the first bell rings for the school. I walked into the school office and was given a key where I was headed off to find Room 22. I taught at Paul Ecke Central Elementary School today in Del Mar Union School District. The teacher was in the classroom to my surprise when I unlocked the door. She gave me the paper with the schedule for the day and informed me that the class is a 4-5 combo class, but she was taking the 5th graders on a field trip today. So, there would only be 18 4th graders. What a nice first day of Subbing! We met the kids outside on their line and I took roll. The 5th graders left for their field trip and the 4th graders came inside for the day.
I started off by introducing myself and asked the students what their teacher does to get their attention when they are talking or during transition times. I also asked them the classroom rules and told them that I expect the same respect from them that they give their teacher. They are a very sweet class and really enjoyed telling me how their day goes and helping me as I needed it throughout the day. They told me many times that I am the nicest sub they have had and all the other subs yell at them. It was so sweet. Lord knows I need the affirmation. :) I simply was myself throughout the whole day and had a really great time teaching them. I didn't even have to teach the entire day because after Language Arts in the morning, Recess, and Math, there was Music, Lunch, and Science (which was taught by another teacher) The day ended with writing down the homework and doing free-play on their ipads. Yes, I said ipads. Each student had their own ipad in the classroom.. I was amazed. I don't even have an ipad! Lol. But, I see the benefits of them. The students were able to take their Accelerated Reader Quizzes on them after they finished reading a book. This is something that normally must be done on a computer and most often there are only a few computers in each classroom. There was also a Math program on the ipad. I am sure there is plenty more, but that is all I was exposed to today. I also see how unfair it is to other schools that do not have the money or funds to raise in order to even have this amenity in their classroom. Especially having been to Africa and back, I've seen poverty for sure. I also see students potentially having an outlook that they need an ipad at home or that they are better than other kids because their school has ipads. That would be another downside to having ipads in the classroom.
And so, it was a great first day of Subbing. At the end of the day, a sweet little girl gave me a hug. Another sweet girl asked if I could be their sub again sometime, right in front of their teacher after she arrived back from the field trip. I look forward to Substitute Teaching more often. One thing that I thought I did great at was establishing a good rapport with the students. They respected me and I respected them. I think setting the standards at the very beginning of the day was helpful. Another thing was balancing being disciplined yet allowing the kids to be themselves and have fun. We did have time to play a game that I learned in college to teach students, and they seemed to really enjoy that! One thing I would do differently next time that I didn't do so well this time was keeping them in line walking through the halls and keeping them quiet during the process. At one point, half the kids went out one door and half out the other door and I realized this can't be good. Where did they go? After blaming some of the students for going different ways, I caught myself in action and recognized it was my responsibility, not theirs. And so, at the end of the day, I had one more chance to get the line straight. When we left science class, I asked the students to line up quietly. One little boy said "We don't usually line up, we just walk back together" and I said, "Ok, that's fine. But I'm responsible for all of you so I want to be sure we all walk back together". :) That's wasn't so difficult!
I'm thankful to be back in action as Miss. Elder! :) Stay tuned for more of my teaching adventures...
