Day 48: Classes of Fun Kids

Picking up substitute teaching jobs while I've been in Montana has been pretty great in enabling me to make some money with little to no commitment.  I am on the prospective sub-list until I request to be removed, so when I'm here I can pick up anything.

I've been apprehensive to pick up elementary classes because they require 1) Being with the same class all day and 2) Teaching a lot of different subjects.  Bonus reason: They are children and have the potential to be hard to control.  

I've picked up mostly High School English classes and music related classes in lieu of this, but today they called me to see if I could possibly sub a 5th grade class for the afternoon.  I agreed...

I went to the school and read the lesson plan complete with specific timeframes and instructions (for the most part) on what the kids were to be doing with their time. We began with DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) and then moved into class lessons.

I had introduced myself as "Miss Kim" as it seems appropriate enough in an elementary classroom. This provoked the following dialogue:

• Girl: Is your last name really Kim?
• Me: No, my last name is ________
• Boy: Oh.  Let's stick with Miss Kim.

That made me laugh, but there was more laughter to follow during the spelling test.  I would use the words in sentences as there were words like "through" and "already" which can be mistaken or "threw" and "all ready" (man, 5th grade is so tough!) so I would say, "The word is 'opinion' as in, I don't care about your opinion, mine is the only one that matters," and, "The word is 'necessary' - it will be necessary for you to be quiet while we continue the test." They thought these phrases were funny and would tell me if I came up with a good line, but I suppose my favorites were with the words "weird" and "forty."

• Me: The word is weird - as in something or someone is weird.
• Student: THAT'S ME, I'M WEIRD. *pointing to self proudly*
• Me: I guess that is Daniel... Daniel is weird.

• Me: The word is forty, as in I am not yet forty.
• Student 1: Our teacher is!!!
• Student 2: How old are you?!
• Student 3: She's twenty!
• Student 4: She's twenty-two!!
• Me: I am between twenty and thirty years old.
• *continue with guessing until they reach the appropriate number*

By the end of the class - which included the spelling test, reading assignment, reading practice, social studies, free time and "planners," I had heard "I LIKE her!" "You're a good teacher." And, "Will you please come sub for us all of the time!!" so many times that I was reminded of how great it is to work with kids occasionally.

They are a handful so I cannot imagine teaching them regularly, but it was fun for the day and so much better than my morning classes with High School Freshmen. (no offense to HS Freshmen...)