I recently did a little substitute teaching to fill in the time while this real estate market (and the entire economy) begin to turn around. I am credentialed in California and taught 7th through 12th grades for several years but I left the field in 1978 (that's thirty years ago) to start a small business and so this temporary return was quite an experience. While it was always open season when a sub came for even my own childhood school, this recent sojourn wasn't anything like what the photo above (and perhaps common perception) suggest, and that's why I'm writing this.
The first difference I noticed was that there was no blackboard. Or chalk. Of course "black" boards predated even myself, referring to the 19th century when they were made from slate. They were green when I left teaching and somebody always got stuck banging the erasers out after school.
They are moving now from the erasable whiteboards to SmartBoards, an electronic screen with a ceiling-hung projector and wireless "chalk" (in several colors). You can draw and write just like you can on a regular "board" and to erase something you encircle it with your finger and tap the erase button from a drop-down window.
Fortunately most rooms still had the whiteboard off to the side where all I had to do was print my name. "Lessons" per se do not exist for the most part when you are subbing, at least nothing you want to chance turning your back to the class for. When I had full classrooms it was all about control. I developed a reasonably disquieting look when teaching and have a rather loud voice when needed so mostly it was just trying to keep the 20 odd souls peaceful enough that we could at least think about what the teacher had left for us to do.
Sometimes though I was covering a special ed teacher who would work with different individuals from different grades on different subjects. Usually it was only one or two children at a time and in a separate room isolated from the noise and distraction of a regular classroom. These were the teaching moments I (and probably most teachers) enjoy __ the chance to really reach out and help. Even if the child had behaviour problems it was easier to get him or her settled down and focused.
The thing that struck me though was how hard these teachers were working. You could see it in their eyes and their faces. They had that professional balance of control and learning, that kind of confidence that you can see the minute you walk into their classrooms. And behavior rules were everywhere: respect for one another, saying "thank you" and "please", and even holding doors for adults. This extended to volunteers, teacher's aides, and staff as well.
An enormous machine aimed solely at educating your children and helping them cope with this confusing world.
Did I mention how tiring this is? After only 5 or 6 hours of subbing I was utterly dead on my feet. Pop an asprin and take a nap after getting home. Yet some of these schools open at 7AM with before-school programs to accommodate early arrivals and some kids stay til 6PM waiting in special SAFE classrooms for their parents to get off work and pick them up. That's eleven hours, people. A very long day for kids, staff, and teachers alike.
So if you have kids in school give your teacher and her aide a hug next time you see them in the grocery store. Trust me, they deserve it, I've been there.
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