There should be support groups for people in my line of work. We would meet once a week, Fridays to be exact, and they would give out stickers for members who share stories and medals for perfect attendance. I can see it now, the first time a member attended a meeting. They'd nervously stand up because they were in front of adults, something that makes us all nervous and say, 'Hi, my name is Ms. Smith and I am a substitute teacher'. Then, they'd burst into tears as the veteran memebers gave them a standing ovation.
Yes folks, I am (GASP!) a substitute teacher. I wasn't always this way. I used to be an actual teacher, complete with my own classroom and actual students to teach. It was glorious! I taught a split 5/6 class and also taught science to grade 3/4's. I LOVED my job, every part of it. I loved the planning, I loved teaching, I loved the kids, I loved my staff, hell, I even loved supervision! I am a self proclaimed geek. One of those people who love being in school so much that I attended it myself for 20 years (Kindergarten - 12 and then 7 years of University to obtain a BA and a BEd.) and then chose to stay in a classroom to teach others. Well, that was the plan anyway...
After my husband and I brought the most adorable, sweet, heart wrenchingly lovable, crappy sleeper into the world we wanted to be closer to home (we lived across the country) and my husband wanted a better career. So I resigned from my teaching position and we moved back across the country to live in an area North of 'home'. It was incredibly hard to leave my 'kids' and my school behind, but I was on maternity leave so the full force of what I was doing had not kicked in yet. But wait, it would...and it would hit hard!
Fast forward to September, when the new school year started, and I became a dreaded substitute teacher! I am one of those people who come in and out of children`s lives one random day at a time and not ONE person gives a shit that I am even there. When I say that I fell hard from my imaginary`pedastal`, I mean I fell HARD! I went from entering a school with kids excitedly yelling, `Mrs. L!`, to entering a school where kids yelled, `We got a substitute!`and proceeded to be utterly disrespectful. I`ve had students say, `She`s not a REAL teacher, she`s a substitute`, with pure disgust in their voices, as if I were crap on their shoe (and that was a grade 3 kid!!), and I`ve had kids outright defy me or refuse to do anything for the day.
Now I get that it`s a game...Ruin the Substitute`s Day. Good for you. My issue is how out of control the kids are here where I teach. I am actually afraid to send MY kid to school here once he is old enough for fear that he may act like that someday. (Note to self: research home schooling). The kids here, I have been told, are spoiled and have everything handed to them. If there is something new out, they get it. If they wreck it, they get a new one. There seems to be absolutely no consequences for bad behaviour and I fear for the `real` world once these kids are unleashed into it.
I must digress and say that they are not all bad and there are aspects of my newfound career that I love. I don`t have to plan, mark, deal with parents, or create report cards. Here`s what I do get, though. I get to be Mommy more often than I thought I would to the most adorable, sweet, heart wrenchingly lovable, finally-learned-to-like-sleep sleeper that you`ve ever laid eyes on. I guess my shiny new pedastal will be in the mail soon...it should be about 12 more years before I`m knocked off that one.
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