Substitute Teaching: Day 1

Day 1: Thursday, December 18, 2008
I've been living back in my hometown for 6 months now, trying to figure things out. I've been thinking a lot about becoming a teacher and my first step towards it was to become a substitute teacher at my old high school. Finally, on December 18, 2008, I had my first subbing 'gig'.
I received the phone call from the automated system around 10pm the night before and I couldn't wait to see what it would be like. I gathered the teacher's class schedule, my sub parking pass, and a book to read during any down time I had. At first, it was strange to walk those familiar halls and not recognize a soul... Until I ran into a couple of my old teachers. I visited with my Art, Spanish, and English teachers from my freshman year at high school. They could hardly believe that enough time had passed for me to be out of college and back at the high school as a teacher.
The teacher I was subbing for teaches Geography, which was one of my favorite classes. And, oddly enough, they were on Latin America that week. My first class was the worst, in terms of awkwardness, but I learned the most from it. I made a note of my mistakes in attempting to govern the class for future use. First of all, if the lesson plan states that the students should be working quietly and individually in their seats, you should relay that to the students right away.
Some of the students would try to tell me that the teacher lets them sit and work together, even at the front of the room. Others would try listening to their iPods or chatting with their neighbor.
But, as the day went on, I started to get the hang of it.
At lunch time, I went through the same line in the cafeteria as the students, only to find that there was a special buffet (of real food) for faculty that day in the lounge. As I sat there, alone, eating my rubbery hamburger, some faculty members from another table invited me to sit with them. One of them was apparently the Assistant Principal, who introduced himself as 'Joe', a janitor, until a teacher called him out on it. Strangely, I felt like I was a kid in school again, getting a joke pulled on me. I guess you could say I didn't feel very welcomed on my first day as a sub.
Thankfully,though, I had a better experience while on hall duty. A Student Aide passed by a couple of times and we struck up a conversation about how it was my first day. She was very friendly and made me feel better about being there.
On the lesson plan, the teacher seemed to warn me about his 8th period class: That if they misbehave, I was to issue them a warning, and if they did it a second time, I was to let the teacher know to give them a detention upon his return. Mind you, this was the Thursday before Winter Break, and there was talk of a snow day the following day. At the beginning of the period, the students could not sit still and all they wanted to do was talk. Thankfully, the weekly school newspapers were delivered to the classroom about 15 minutes in, and one student gathered them up and distributed them to nearly everyone. They were happy to read the the newspaper instead of study for an upcoming quiz, and they were no trouble at all, as the lesson plan seemed to imply.
One of the funnier parts of the day was during one class, a girl asked me what my first name was. (My name "Miss LastName" was on the board behind me.) They started going around the room guessing random names. I eventually got them to study with the promise of if they were good all period, I might tell them my first name at the end of class. Several students asked for a pass to go to the bathroom over the course of the period, and I initialed it. So, of course, when they started up the guessing game at the end of the period again, someone remembered having seen the letter "J" and they went wild. They eventually guessed it, and I was glad to have entertained them (relatively quietly) for a few more minutes of class.
My first thoughts after the completion of my first day as a substitute teacher were positive ones. Although it was challenging to manage a room of about 30 high school students, it was fun, and I looked forward to my next chance.