Getting to Know You (GtKY) Meme Day 4 and Miscellanea

[kungfuwaynewho]

Busy day today.  It's my last week doing this long-term subbing gig - the regular teacher comes back next Monday - so I have to start getting the room back in order and remember where I've put all the things and notes and such that I should have been organizing all along.  I'm not happy about this ending -  I really like knowing when and where I'm going to work each day, instead of waiting for a phone call I may or may not get at 5:30 in the morning, so I always have to be ready just in case.  Bah.

Came home and had to change my returning flight from Austin, which was fairly painless; my new flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning, which will not be painless.  But it was two hundred extra dollars to fly out the night before, which was not going to happen.  I still need to make my rental car reservation - the website was down last night, of course - and then my travel plans will be finished.

I started volunteering with my library's ESL class this summer; tonight was my second time teaching on my own.  Beginner's ESL just has one student right now.  She's from Ethiopia, and has a very, very limited vocabulary.  It can be quite a challenge to communicate with her, and we spent almost an hour today just going over what she did today.  But then you have great moments like when she remembered that after English class, she's planning to go home and eat ice cream, and she got really excited about the ice cream, and then we just talked for a little bit about ice cream.  I just have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone that moves to a country and is not able to speak the language - I would not be able to do it.  I would be too scared. 

Why do we love a person?  A family member, a friend, a romantic partner?  Why do we love our favorite food?  A holiday destination?  That old pair of shoes that everyone else hates?  Why do we love a TV show?  A movie?  A book?  Why do we love a holiday?  A certain smell?  A color?

We love the things that make us happy.

Comments

[jerusha]

My husband's best friend is a substitute teacher, among other things, and it is a thankless task. I like stability a lot, so I think I'd have a lot of trouble not knowing where I'm going to be every day.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

That is why another thing I did yesterday was fill out a job application.

[nhpw.livejournal.com]

6:30 flight? Ick. Is your flight home long enough to get a nap in?

I have a lot of friends who are teachers. I don't know why. I'm not one, but I seem to gravitate toward them, or they gravitate toward me, or something. Anyway - I admire all of you for what you do, because I sure as heck couldn't do it. Here's hoping a teacher in your district pops out a kid and gives you another long-term gig :)

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my sister has work that afternoon, and our original flight would have had her getting into KC about an hour after her shift ended. She just started a new job and already had to ask off for that weekend, and she didn't want to ask for another day off. It's not that big a deal; I hate sleeping on airplanes, so I might grab a nap when I get home. Usually I just prefer to power through a day, though.

I would love to teach at the university level. As a sub, I don't do much besides make sure the kids stay in the room and don't set anything on fire. Not much to admire here, heh.

[nhpw.livejournal.com]

As a sub, I don't do much besides make sure the kids stay in the room and don't set anything on fire. Not much to admire here, heh.

Ten years ago or so, I taught Sunday School. I did it for exactly one year, and here is what I learned: Children do not fear me, and for the most part they do not respect me. Those kids walked ALL OVER ME. You think this sub thing isn't a big deal, but really? If we traded places for a day, those kids would be running wild in the halls and maybe they WOULD start things on fire :p So, yes, I still find it admirable.

(Since that time, I was a Big Sister for a few years and learned that I'm pretty much OK in a one-to-one setting. My husband and I are thus of the opinion that it would be best to not let ourselves get outnumbered. I still really hope that the, "Because I'm the mom and I said so" logic works.)

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Ha! Yeah, you have to let them know who's boss. Since this is my third year subbing (why God why), most of the kids know me pretty well and know that I do not allow shenanigans. I always love it when some kid sees me in the hall, and waves and cries out "Miss P---!" and asks all excited if I'm subbing for their teacher today - and I'd sent them to the office a few weeks earlier. They have the shortest little attention spans, the dears.

Well, "Because I'm the teacher and I said so" seems to work pretty well, so the mom line should work, too. ;)