Being a substitute

Being a substitute teacher is the best on the job training I’ve ever received. I get called the night before or first thing in the morning with my assignment. I drive to work and majority of the time, I enjoy myself. The best part is the students. They make me laugh. They challenge me. They make me see that the world is wonderfully filled with imperfections. Some of the bad things are cold receptions from other teachers, poorly planned lessons that I have to administer, unqualified teachers, and dealing with crying parents.

Yesterday, I had a bad encounter with another teacher. The teacher stopped me in the hallway as I transfer my primary students from the library to the gym. She needed to see the new student. She asked for an assessment of his language ability. It was his first day. I thought he did a great job introducing himself to the class and answering other students’ questions. He showed no problems with spelling and following Math instructions. I told her all of these in the hallway. My words didn’t convince her. She turned around and started talking to him so slowly and loudly but without lowering her vocabulary. The way she spoke, I thought she developed speech problem. In the span of 30 seconds she labeled him as needing full language support and asked that he is to report every morning for ESL. Poor kid, he’s going to be so bored. I hope his regular teacher and his parents advocate for him.