Subbing along...and a normal schedule

Kyle is no longer on funky shifts anymore!!! He started on Tuesday with a normal, first shift job. He had applied for another job within Micron to get off these insane 4 month shifts and had to wait almost a month to even hear anything about it. He finally got the word last week and they gave him the job. He goes into work now from about 7am-5pm (ish). The earlier he goes in, the earlier he can leave and vice versa. Today he went in super early because he woke up super early...we're talkin' 4am. He couldn't sleep. His body thinks this is a trick and all night he really didn't sleep well so he just got up around 4am and got ready for the day. Anyway, we're really happy that he's got a normal person shift and won't be a vampire any longer (although, I've got a soft place in my heart for vampires--i.e. Edward Cullen in the Twilight stories <3 ).


I'm still subbing. It's been slow but oh well. I've actually not minded that (although, less subbing=less extra money). I'm just so tired of this crap. I hate subbing. I hate being a slave to my phone (anticipating it ringing and whatnot) and a slave to the computer, constantly checking in online to see if there's a job waiting for me. I used to be compulsive and check all day, every day but now I don't care. It's almost as if I'm rebelling and not wanting to work. Maybe that's true. I'm tired of it all. I just want a constant job that gives me no choice of whether to get up for the day or not. When I was working last year, yeah, it hurt to get up early but I knew that I was having fun (most of the time) and there was a nice, constant paycheck coming for me at the end of the month. Now, my paychecks are a mere fraction of what I got--I think my effort in the subbing has lessened as well. I figure, what the heck. I don't care. I get paid peanuts now for a job well done. Why should I go above and beyond now? Most teachers don't even really care what goes on when they're not there--I know I didn't unless a major behavior problem constituted a write-up to the office. Other than that, I'd get back to my room the next day and just throw away the sub notes. I know in elementary school it's different though. Teacher has to know how far the kids got in the assignments and the progress that they made. That's a little different so I make sure to concentrate more on those assignments since I'm trapped in the classroom all day with the same kids. Gotta keep the sanity, ya know? ;) Anyway, it's just exhausting doing this day in, day out. Some substitutes do this as a retirement thing to keep them active. With as much as I've done subbing these past oh, 2.5 years or so, I don't think I'd do it again even when I'm gray. I might be willing to help out in classrooms and do the busy work but not subbing.

Don't I feel like a donkey's rear?

Yesterday I was subbing at an elementary school and the morning went a little rough because the kids were SO ACTIVE and talkative! They were being so rowdy when we had a guest speaker. I told them that I was disappointed in their behavior and that the rest of the day had better improve so that I don't have to keep writing "bad" notes to the teacher. They got better. As good as they could get, anyway. So, after library time, we had 10 minutes before lunch and it was their silent reading time. I told them as they entered the room, that they needed to continue reading silently until I called them to line up for lunch. THEY DID IT. So I was happy about that and took a mental note. During lunch, I took the little Way To Go Wagon rewards and filled them out to give to each student to show my appreciation. I decided I would give them to the students when they came in from lunch/recess. Well, after everyone came in, I gave them each one explaining why I was doing so. No sooner had I passed out most of the rewards, the people who monitor the playgrounds (school support personnel, SSP for now) came into the classroom and gave everyone a lecture about name calling and disrespect out on the playground. I felt like a donkey's rear because I had just given them a reward for respecting rules and whatnot. As the SSP were leaving, I asked the kids whether I needed to take back the rewards or not. I felt SO DUMB. But I rationalized that I was not rewarding playground behavior but the classroom behavior I had witnessed just before lunch. Ugh. I hate when stuff like that happens. Also, what's ironic is they had JUST had a lesson in the morning from the counselor about bullying and emotional safety and name calling. Guess some people weren't taking that advice to heart.