another day, not another dollar

I've definitely been writing in here more lately. You could attribute it to the fact that I've got way more time on my hands than during any point in the last year and a half. Now that I'm not currently involved with school, and not working to the extent that I would like, I've got time to do a lot more writing.

Today I woke up at 5 A.M. hoping to find something, anything, posted on subfinder, but no. It was dead as Walmart on Christmas day. Then for the briefest instant, there was a listing for a half-day job in a classroom that I just love working in, but it got snatched up quickly. I couldn't even get near it, and with all the other unemployed piranhas out there, I didn't even stand a chance...Hopefully this won't go on forever--I just signed on with another district, so hopefully my odds of not sitting at home everyday will at least double.

So with this unexpected time on my hands, on a Monday--no less, I'm going to take advantage of the fact that it's 7 A.M., I've been up for 2 hours already, and am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. If I had a job today, I'd be there, signed in, and trying to decipher the schedule and locate the classroom.

Thinking back to other sub jobs and student teaching, I've noticed that the kids that usually turn out to be my favorites, are usually the ones that are labeled as troublemakers. I was talking to someone the other day and this topic came up. Maybe my sympathy comes from the fact that I was no angel in my school days either. Maybe it's because I can relate to the urge to be a bit of a punk (although I was never the type to mess around with subs--I saved all that energy for my regular teachers).

Time after time, school after school, the "bad kids" usually end up being the ones I have the best luck with. This always amazes other people, and I'm always getting interesting comments from other teachers such as "they were so good for you today," or "usually they terrorize the other subs," or "he never cooperates with ANYBODY" . Even when I find them hopelessly immature, or completely goofy, the "bad kids" tend to be the most interesting. The "good kids" and the "smart kids" are usually not as much fun. If they aren't being an absolute pain in the butt, they're just not as much fun for me because they often don't need or want any help.

For me the whole point of teaching is helping kids get better at something, so I like being able to dig in, help, and watch the students start to "get it" and progress to doing it on their own. It's really gratifying to watch this process unfold, and almost every day has moments where I can see this happening right in front of me. When I get the ones who already know how to do everything, then I feel like all I'm doing is supervising or babysitting. Don't get me wrong, that's part of the job too, but I'm less interested in this aspect. This is why I love picking up remedial classes and ESL gigs. If they're there, it's because they need the most help. A lot of teachers avoid this kind of work because you get a lot of behavior problems when you're working with kids who have experienced a lot of failure, frustration with academics, and have low self-esteem and a lot of poor strategies for coping with the above. You do have to do a lot more work initially with trust building and cultivating relationships and all that, but it can be so gratifying in the end when it all comes together and the resistance drops and the learning starts to happen.

sigh.

Instead of spending the day with a new group of kiddos, I'll be staying home and cleaning the house...