a good day in behavior class

Today was one of my best subbing days ever! And it was in a behavior class, of all things! (For those of you not in the know about special education and its myriad permutations, "behavior class" is a support classroom that some schools have for children with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.) Admittedly, the very sound of working in a "behavior class" is pretty intimidating, and the labels the kids have make it even more so. The thought of spending a day with adolescents with behavioral disorders is usually not high on most sub's list of preferred assignments, but this year, I'm all about being more open-minded, trying new things, and broadening my repertoire of experiences.

This year, I told myself that I will try pretty much anything that's not completely out of my league (totally unfamiliar content areas like higher math, or things like campus supervisor/security, school secretary, or school nurse--all positions that require either specialized training or specialized licenses). This of course includes a long list of things that I used to find really intimidating when they came up in the past: specialized autism programs and social communication and behavior programs. I've learned that as a mere sub, you aren't expected to know everything about these areas, so taking one of these assignments is not half as intimidating as it sounds at first. This is my third school year of doing this, and one thing that I've learned is that as long as you can go with the flow, relate with kids, resolve to do no harm, and can keep an open mind (and a cool head), you won't ever end up in any situations that you can't handle. And if you do, there's usually support from someone else. Usually, people are just so happy that you've volunteered to be there (not many people choose to be--because of the labels) that they are beyond helpful and nice. And when they're not, it's just one day of your life, and you know not to go back to that school ever again.

When I picked up this job, I had no idea what grade level I was facing, or even where the school was. The only concern I had at the time was getting paying work lined up for the next day. It turns out I've worked at the school (a middle school) before, and I realized that as I pulled into the drive, but it was back in my bus-riding days. Driving there from my end of town was tricky, and took awhile because I kept getting lost. Mapquest directions didn't help so much for this location, but I did make it on time and that's all that really matters. I got a bit of flak from the office staff about my headscarf (umm yeah, I'm the original gangsta around here), but nobody else seemed to care. I know they have a lot of rules about this kind of stuff, but come on, what gangster would be caught dead dressed like a teacher with a flowered headscarf? A lot of kids think adults are ridiculous, and some of the time, I'll admit I have to agree with them.

One thing I love about this school as that it's a PBIS school, and that makes life so much easier. I did my student teaching in a PBIS school, and that makes discipline so much easier. The kids in these schools tend to be a lot more courteous and cooperative and it makes life so much more pleasant. As I recalled, from before, the kids at this school were very polite and helpful, and this was true even of the kids in the behavior classroom.

I had a great day. Most of the kids in the program spend the majority of their day in mainstream classrooms, so I got to do a lot of different things throughout the day (including go spend time in a number of science and math classrooms). I was pleased to see that in most of them, the students truly were having a mainstream classroom experience--they weren't isolated, but rather participated fully in the class, and interacted normally with peers around them. There are some really cool things going on in this school, and some of the teachers I saw were very engaging and had well-functioning classrooms. The lead teacher was extremely good at his job, and I really enjoyed watching him interact with the kids and talk them down from defiant episodes. He clearly has cultivated a good relationship with his students, is very effective at what he does, and has an amazingly organized and effective program. At one point, he had to leave me alone in the room to go to the office (don't panic, I hold a teaching license), which at first had me worried--but needlessly so. The kids knew exactly what to do, and did it on their own--my presence was a mere legal formality. Basically, it was a fun day for me, and I had a lot of opportunities to do all of those things that make teaching fun for me.

I guess what I learned today was that the old saying is true: you can't judge a book by its cover, or kids by their labels. It's good to be open-minded when you're out there subbing. Sometimes the AP English class at the IB school will give you a much harder time than a classroom with a group of kids with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders (at least the members latter group are receiving help and support with their issues). It also means that later on if/when I ever get my own classroom, and an IEP comes across my desk with "EBD", I won't panic. It's not the end of the world.

People ask me all the time why I am willing to do so much subbing "out of area"--most other people don't, after all. I'll admit that some of the considerations are purely economic (a simple equation where work equals pay), but that's not the only reason. Although these subbing assignments may sometimes seem like they have nothing to do with my licensure area (language arts), they do teach me a lot about kids, acceptance, and being more effective in my work as a whole. As Forrest Gump says, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get," and I feel that this is especially true in teaching.