Sept. 24, 2009
After my first bad high school experience in the gen. ed. math class, I knew I had to go back the next day as a special ed. teaching sub and possibly face some of the kids from the day before that had made my life so very difficult. I had processed what I could do better next time and I was ready for the next day.
I arrived, (trying not to sweat) and I was asked to first cover a homeroom/beginning of a 9th grade science class during a teacher's IEP meeting, prior to starting my day as a special ed. teacher. I got to talk to the science teacher before she left for her meeting. She had a lesson plan (if not written down) and a seating chart. Good times!
Before the kids got there, I bounced back down to the first floor (from the third floor) to find my classroom. The teacher I am subbing for doesn't have a classroom. She floats. It turns out, I'm team teaching an English class with a regular ed. English teacher in her classroom. (Yay) and she has the plans and is teaching for the day (Woohoo) so I get to observe her and how she handles the kids (Yahoo!).
The kids really didn't seem to respect their female English teacher (talking back, eye rolling) etc. It's general education again! 10th grade this time? They were starting A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It was fun to be able to sit back and observe rather than having to teach. I got to see how another English teacher introduced a new book, and thought about how I would do it differently. I also got to observe more telling behavior of general education students. They definitely need to be involved/engaged right away and they really whine about taking notes.
Today was my reprieve from yesterday.
Lessons learned:
Teachers in neighboring classrooms can be valuable resources
Kids will do things when your back is turned
Don't allow them to write questionable answers on the board
Don't put paperclips or other things within arms reach where they can steal them
Don't put up with disrespect (students speaking after you've told them not to do something)
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