So it all started last night with a simple phone call asking me to sub today in a 1st grade classroom. I gladly accepted the job! This morning as I got to the school's office, I was handed not one, but two sets of keys--to two separate classrooms. In my mind I was thinking "What the hell?!?!?!" but I politely said... "Why are there two sets of keys?" The secretary replied simply that the teacher i was subbing for was the specialist for the entire 1st grade. Again in my mind I'm thinking "What the hell?!?!?!" but I politely said "OK! well point me in the direction!" As I arrived into the first classroom (the art room) I realized that this was her 'home' room, as it held all of her papers, filing cabinets and computer. I looked around for the sub plans... nothing. I didn't panic, as the secretary told me that I was going to be out in the portable (her other classroom) today but just to swing by the main room to check. So I went out the door and headed over the the portable. Once I got in, I noticed that again... no sub plans. This time panic was beginning to set in. Not only was I a sub for Music/Art/Dance/PE/whatever else this lady did, but there were absolutely no lesson plans!!! Talk about an adrenaline rush. "OK think Sabrina...THINK!!!" I ran back over to the secretary to check and make sure that the sub plans weren't e-mailed in, and they weren't. I ran into some 1st grade teachers (mind you, these were the teachers of the students I was supposed to have later on that day) and asked them if they knew where I could find the lesson plans, or if they had been e-mailed to one of them, or what the heck I should do if I couldn't find them. Luckily, they sensed my panic and jumped into action to help me. We tracked down the lesson plans (which in reality were no help at all) and I returned to my portable to try and prepare for the day. Here is what I ended up doing today:
Morning: x5 first grade classes... ABC Yoga. (I totally made this up on the fly, but since it worked, I wrote it down and used it all morning) I had the students go through the alphabet from A all the way to Z by doing different poses or imitating different animals. We had a lot of fun!
Lunch: Made copies and cut out 125 squares.... talk about tedious work.
Afternoon: PE. The teacher left me mini-cones and two beach balls. (Again thinking to myself "What the hell?!?!? I don't know what to do with cones and beach balls!!") We ran some relays- starting with running, moving on to skipping and hopping on one foot and ending with the good ol' fashioned crab walk. Then we spread out within the cones and played my version of "hot potato" with the beach balls. I joined in and we all had so much fun playing that we almost forgot that it was time to go home!
Overall Conclusion About My Day: The morning began as a nightmare and I envisioned a good cry session at the end of the work day once I arrived back in the safety of my own home. But I found out that I really can do it, and I let it go, acted goofy and we had a blast! (and no tears once I arrived home)
As I was leaving, I stopped by and thanked the 1st grade teachers for all of their help today (I honestly, genuinely appreciated it). And we had a good laugh about the situation. They also ALL asked for my sub information because they said that the kids came back to their rooms and would not stop talking about me and they fun that they had. They said that was a good thing because normally they come back and say things like "that sub was weird!" but instead they talked about the games they played and the "fun sub" they had! (Go Me!!!)
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