Since it is Worldwide Day of the Teacher, I thought I would recount a teaching story for this one. I felt pretty out of place the one day I substituted at an elementary school when I was exploring the teaching profession. I was living in Mammoth Lakes, California and had done some substitute teaching at the middle school and thought I would give the elementary school a go, so I accepted a job for a 2nd grade class, showed up early and at first it went pretty well. By the end of the day, I could not find my car fast enough.
At first everything was going pretty well….or so I thought. I followed the lesson plan and the students were very nice, working quietly, but then…..I made some colossal error such as giving them the wrong worksheets. They started to realize that I did not know the routine as well as their teacher….questions were asked, confusion and fear spread until everyone was completely freaked out. I heard many call out, “That’s not how our teacher does it!”. I started to freak out myself.
I managed to calm down a bit by lunchtime, but it was obvious, it was going to be a rough afternoon, unless something miraculous happened. Thankfully, it was physical education in the afternoon, so the kids were easier to manage, but it was super intense for a while, certainly more than I was ready for at that age.
The bell rang at the end of the day and I was in my car five minutes later realizing that elementary school was not going to be my forever home as a teacher!
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