Sub Vision - Back to ‘Back to School…’

It is back to this time of the year, and, again, I am asking myself – do I truly want to do it? Am I really ready for another year of 5:30 phone calls, schools that refuse to deal with their actual problems, and a new generation of uninterested students?

A favorite school had called a week ago and asked me to start the school year until their new teacher completes his processing. I know better than rejecting a school that I like, so I agreed, but deep inside I questioned my sanity. I know what it means to start a new school year, been there done that… I had faced, in the past, fifty students being crowded in a classroom too small to contain them, let alone their desks… I had seen completely deficient rosters, with students checking in and out for weeks. I have had classroom assignment change on me several times during the first month, subjects switched, conference hour changed, or worse, taken away.

Obtaining teaching supplies is just as frustrating, and if you are new, especially in a big school, it may take months before you find out where to get what. So people like me – who hate a hassle, just go to the store and spend their own money, with a faint hope of one day discovering the right place for supplies or reimbursement...

Another big undertaking is books distribution. Once upon a time, not long ago, there was a textbook room where students would line up, and one by one be handed their books and sign a paper. No more. Teachers are now responsible for this function too (along with custodial, disciplinary, security, food distribution…).  This new duty includes bringing all the textbooks to the classroom (tens of books, each weighs many pounds), making sure that each is distributed and recorded on a special, bar-code numbers list. To say it is a tidies task is an understatement. Identifying the right label on the book (it always has several), finding the matching (small) numbers on the list, making sure students are writing their (real) name, distributing related workbooks, and later, handling exchanges, adds-on, drop outs.

Those blessed teachers, who are excitedly awaiting the start of a new year; their sacred energy already wasted on clerical burden, energy so needed for teaching...

Substitute Teaching: Good teacher or good Students?

I was called back to the same school about a month later, to replace the same teacher. I hoped to have a different group, since students meet only every other day, but it was the same group. I was nerves about seeing again the kid with the black eye. He was there, but seemed OK and more serious and subdued now…

I distributed the worksheets the teacher had left there, and only later realized that their title was ‘Chapter Test’. Since nothing in teacher’s notes mentioned a test I, first, ignored it, but after confirming with students I established test discipline…

During the test, students had asked me questions and it forced me to look at the test and try to solve it. Parts of it were easy enough, but others were more challenging. At one point, a female student had asked for help on a problem that I could not figure out immediately, and I was wondering how other students solved it.

Not much later, my special student ended his test. I did notice on the previous visit that he was very quick, and the first to complete a worksheet or a test. I checked his solution to the problem the female student had asked, but his answer did not seem right to me. He also left out another, longer and more involved, problem.

I started checking every test handed back to me to see who had solved those two problems correctly.  None of the answers to the two problems seemed to be correct, and only few students even attempted to solve them …

I had only three classes that day, and was curious to see how the second period will deal with those problems. They had the same test, and checking each one, I did not find correct answers to the tricky questions, and very few attempts all together …

The third period of the day was of honors students, a very crowded class that I remembered from my previous visit. Their test was in a separate pile but looking at it, I realized it was the same. Now I was really interested in how they will perform.

The difference between this class and the others was obvious from the start. They insisted on having a review before taking the test, so I did let them ask questions.

We spent about half the period on review, despite my advice to start the test to give them enough time. They wanted to be sure, a sign of motivation and ambition.

At last, I distributed the tests and waited, impatiently, to see the result. When the first test was handed back to me, I saw with delight that the answers were exactly right. I complemented the girl for being the first to answer correctly. Later, not to spoil her pride, I did not mention that every single test was absolutely correct too…

So… here we are - same school, same population, with the same teacher - the students in the more crowded class, on the last period of the day (and week), were just superior to students in the other two classes. They were more motivated to learn, it was quite clear, but they were also… how to say it… smarter!

Teacher’s fault? Teacher’s praise? Is she to be blamed for the failure of the first two classes or to be praised for the success of the third class?