257.366

My photo today is nothing special, just the globe in my classroom.

As I was editing it, I was thinking back to earlier this week, when I subbed for a first grade class at a low socio-economic school in my district. (Ainsley is a first grader, so of course I compared them to her all day). It was kind of a culture shock and a nice reminder that I like my middle schoolers, and that I love my school and my colleagues.

At one point, a boy in this classroom kicked off both of his shoes and they flew up high, almost to the ceiling (which was high and vaulted). While I was supposed to be doing quiet reading centers with the kids, he got up and refused to listen, ran around and started hitting and pushing kids while they sat nicely and quietly at their desks, and then started opening cupboards and pulling stuff out right and left. I was kind of in shock…

I eventually called the secretary and she answered the phone, “Are you calling about Tony?” I had to physically restrain him while I waited for the VP to come collect him and take him to the office. Their attitude was, “Oh, this happens every day.”

It was angry that no one bothered to mention this to me, and I won’t be going back to that school any time soon… a little professional courtesy would have been nice. All I could think was that they thought I was a “just a sub,” as opposed to an actual fellow teacher in the school district, and they had a very callous attitude about the whole thing. It made me very sad for everyone in this situation, but especially substitute teachers. What a crappy job that is if you do it to actually make ends meet…

I don’t know why I felt compelled to share all of that :) It’s been a weird week with that experience, and then going to my own classroom (I still share a teaching position as a ‘half-time’ teacher, even though I’ve requested to be full time for several years now…) My own students this year are just wonderful. I have a couple who need a little straightening out, but most days I leave my school and think “I love those kids!”

Anyway, here’s the photo that evoked all this randomness…

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