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Saturday, April 4, 2009

I forgot to tell you this!

Yesterday when I was subbing, you need to keep several things in mind, before I give you the IMPORTANT information. Yesterday there were 8 subs in the middle school and I was one of them. It was a very important Friday, the Friday before Spring Break. In a middle school. In a middle school where the administration doesn't believe in having an organized fun day, a field day, watching movies or playing games- it was to be academics as usual.

Yes we were supposed to pretend it was not going to be INSANE on the FRIDAY before SPRING BREAK in a MIDDLE SCHOOL with EIGHT SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS filling in. Oh yeah- totally a normal day-- yeah, right and pigs fly!

So on this normal Fridaybeforespringbreakinamiddleschoolwith8subs (where we will teach and have no fun!) the administration for reasons only known to them scheduled a tornado drill. In addition to all the other chaos of the day that I have mentioned, we had to have a tornado drill, which involves herding like cattle your upstairs students downstairs and to their assigned location, which is oh so easy to KNOW when you're a sub- NOT!!

Also on this Fridaybeforespringbreakinamiddleschoolwith8subs (where we will teach and have no fun!) we had a FIRE DRILL during 7th period. This involves herding kids like cattle from the upstairs of my room to the outside courtyard, in the RAIN, through the MUD, to stand shivering in the RAIN and MUD while waiting to be let in. DURING THE LAST PERIOD OF THE DAY!?! Are they mad? Fucking nuts? Insane? Just plain crazy? I hadn't even gotten all the way through attendance yet so I had no idea who my class even was, let alone if they all made it out of the building and were standing in huddled masses together. During the last period of the day! Squirrelly doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm not sure I can go there.

Oh and did I also mention that on this Fridaybeforespringbreakinamiddleschoolwith8sub (where we will teach and have no fun!) we had 2 periods where the 8th graders were going on a FIELD TRIP!!! On a school bus. To see a guy dressed up like Abe Lincoln give a talk? (The guy was good, but it was over the heads of my 8th graders that I was in charge of). As if subbing in a classroom with doors and walls isn't hard enough, I had to take my 4th hour kids and get them on the SAME bus, do a head count, and then make sure they all went in,sat, behaved, and made it back to the school in one piece.

All on the Friday before Spring Break in a middle school with 8 subs....

Working in a comedy of errors,
Maggie

3 comments:

Curley said...

If you could do all that on the same day, in all that mess, you really are a teacher. Or a good cattle hearder.

Curley said...

Oh wait, I forgot, you've done both.

Maggie said...

Curley- i think herding cows was easier...