My first assignment for substitute teaching was at El Cerrito Middle School. Wasn’t sure what grade (7th or 8th) or which subject. I just knew the teacher was out at an AVID Conference today and tomorrow.
Last night, I showered, blow dried my hair and had everything laid out for the morning. I went to bed at 10 pm so that I would be well rested. HA! That didn’t work. I had trouble falling asleep. I think I was anxious. Then when I did finally fall asleep, I woke up often. I remember seeing the clock at 12:30, 1:15, 3:00, 4:15, and then the alarm went of at 5:15. BOO!!! I was so tired. Thank God for D4 Extreme Thermal Shock, my fat burner and the caffeine in it for keeping me awake on my drive.
Leaving the house at 6:30 was difficult, but we all managed to leave on time. The kids even got up a little earlier to leave earlier. I dropped them at my girlfriend, Elizabeth’s and I am so proud of myself.I didn’t have a single tear. (I held them back. I love being a MOM and it was very hard to leave them despite the fact that I drop them at school every single day) I was able to stay positive the whole drive too!! I was quite proud of myself!
The drive went well. Much less traffic than I expected. In fact, I allowed for traffic and ended up being 20 minutes early to the school site. Once in my classroom, I checked the lesson plans (great things to do) and went to the room to my right to introduce myself and see where the closest bathrooms were. Once back in my room, I noticed a woman I recognized walk by. I peeked my head out and called her name. Turns out the teacher to my left was the mom of one of my husband’s varsity volleyball players at the high school. My nerves quickly settled. She reassured me that the students were pretty good and said that I could send any unruly ones to her if need be (and thank goodness I didn’t have any bad ones). She also came in and spoke to the first two classes of the day and assured them that if they misbehaved, she would double the punishment handed down by the teacher. That kept them inline!
Lunch was a welcome break from the day. I sat with the lady I knew and she told me about her kids (her daughter was also a player for my hubby years before). Today was also collaboration day so there was no 5th period and I got an extra 45 minutes added to lunch. That was nice too!
The best part of my day was making it home in time to chat with my daughter for about 20 minutes before she had to leave for dance. I was worried that she’d be gone before I got home and that made me sad.
All in all the day went really well. I am looking forward to going back tomorrow! I also found out I really like the junior high age. That is the level I want to teach!! So onto a single subject credential for me!!
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