From Bust to Jackpot

As usual, I was in polar opposite classroom settings this week. The week began with me working at a special needs school. My class was composed of teenage boys who could barely read and write, one whose alter ego was Inspector Clousseau, and two of whom could not communicate verbally. One of the boys literally sat on the floor and chewed his socks for an hour. One had to be taken out several times by the aide to jump on a trampoline so he would stop yelling and hitting other students. I got through the day fine, but didn't feel like I had particularly accomplished much with the kids, and my fingers are crossed that I never have to go back. I have the patience to deal with that kind of environment on occasion, but I don't know how some people do it every day. 

Yesterday I subbed in a new school, and I felt like I had hit the jackpot of all classes. It was a year one and two class of children who were specifically picked for that class because they were motivated and independent learners. Before I even met the kids, the other teachers were telling me, "Oh, they're just lovely". And they were! They were brighter than many kids I have taught in years four, five, and six. They were relaxed and easy going even though there were quite a few changes in plan throughout the day, they had had good senses of humor, they could actually follow instructions, and they were actually helpful to me and to each other (as opposed to all the kids who try to pull the wool over my eyes and muck up). The worst thing a kid tried to do was take extra worksheets when he thought I wasn't looking. Kid, if you want to keep yourself occupied for hours on end, I will not stop you. The most disciplining I had to do all day was say, "Please sit down". 

Because these kids were so well-behaved, I was able to be really productive with them. I could actually help the kids that were trying really hard and still needed guidance. And, when they finished their work they already had books to read and projects to keep working on that they actually seemed to enjoy. 

The icing on the cake was the air conditioning. Not every class in this school had air conditioning, some (or even most, I'm not sure) had fans. There wasn't even AC in the teachers' lounge. This just also seemed like an added unfairness to the other teachers - not only do they not get to teach the class of angels all day, they also have to feel more uncomfortable on hot days. And it was in the 90's yesterday. 

I left the school with mountains of energy left, instead of running on fumes like I can sometimes feel towards the end of a normal work week. 

The odds are low that I will end up with that class again before the end of the year, but you never know. I suppose it's just nice to be in a class that is really thriving, and not just holding it together to finish out the year, like most. 

And so ends another week of subbing. Along the way we got third place at trivia, I won a frisbee game, and I lost a frisbee game. I suppose it all evens out in the end.