Last Full Day of School

Wow. I have made it. I never thought that I would sub for an entire year and still be alive to write and tell people about it. I finally starting to hit my grove in January and it has been almost non-stop since then. I have had good days, bad days, excellent days, and the more horrible than hell days of subbing. But I survived.

I am an happier person, since I have started subbing. It is my degree and profession, so that burden of actually using the degree is off my shoulders. I have normal hours and weekends free to hang with friends, which is very important. I still believe that I would be a good, if not great, teacher if I am ever blessed with an full-time teaching gig (take that the person who said I should not be a teacher).

Today is the last "normal" full school day, either seniors are done today, or everyone else as finals next week. I subbed at the alternative high school for a teacher that I have subbed before. As the story goes, they do not like their normal teacher because (according to them) she treats them like they are in second grade. I have met her and she is nice. Today went okay. When it is the last full day of school, students have checked out before they even step foot onto the campus, so I knew I was not going to get anything productive out of them. It was true. The teacher, bless her heart, wanted them to work on a review for the final (that is on next Monday) for the entire 60 minutes, plus 30 minutes to work on a paper that is also due Monday. It really didn't happen, most of the kids were either already prepared (they get to use all their notes for the final) or are already failing and having to retake, so why even bother. I knew I was not going to win the battle. Instead we watched TBS/CNN and chatted. A few students in each class worked, so it wasn't a total loss. It would also be nice for a class of 9 students, for all of them to show up. It throws me off to have only 6 students in class. According to another teacher, this behavior is normal, and the teacher I am subbing for will not be shock with my notes.

I also finally had a decent and productive conversation with a teacher that I have subbed for a half of a dozen times since January, she was thrilled to finally met me and likewise. She is really cool and her name is also the same as mine. She told me that if I was still subbing in the Fall, I would be the first sub on her list. I thanked her.

Another class comes in. For some reason at the Alternative school, all the female students are trying to hook me up with the two single male teachers that are on campus. I have met one, not bad looking and he teaches English. We chatted once and he wrote my name down to sub (I was so flustered, I forgot to give him my sub info business card it has my email address on it).

After school I was invited to have a beer with the teachers from the school. I turned them down, because I am poor, moving and had not eaten anything the entire day. It would have been cool to hang out with the teachers. I promised myself, the next time I will say yes. It is all about connections, and this was a year that I made them. I have a handful of teachers that call me first, an office manager that loves me, and a social studies department that has me high on their list of "recommended subs."

I can do this. I will make it. I will survive.