Friday, March 21, 2025
I subbed in the same room today as I did yesterday. A girl came in for the last class of the day and said, “You are my favorite sub. I wish you were my real teacher.”
I said thank you, that was very nice to hear, but I bet her regular teacher was pretty great.
She shrugged.
We started class, I reviewed a little bit, and then they took a quiz.
It was almost the end of the hour before everyone was finished. I gave them free time for that last five minutes. Happily for me, they gathered in groups of friends and chatted – no one ran at all. (Phew)
I heard the girl telling her friends I was the best sub while I was across the room picking up stuff off the floor (three novels, two reading logs, a science vocabulary list, and a planner). She was standing right by the teacher’s desk when I returned with my bounty.
“So, why am I your favorite sub?” I did not expect the very extensive answer.
“You are very kind, even to the talking boys in the back. You didn’t yell at them, you made them feel good about math and listen to you instead of talking. You are so caring. You really wanted us to do good on the quiz and you were trying so hard to get us to learn what we needed to know for the quiz. I only met you yesterday and I feel like you really care about me and how I feel and how I do. And you are so funny. I never laughed so much in math before. I never laughed so much in any class before.”
I told her no one had ever given me such a nice compliment as the bell rang. I was really touched. (Let’s face it, she really had me at funny.) She stopped on her way out and wrote on the board under my name – the potd.
I know I shouldn’t write all the time about how people are nice to me, but this felt so good.
We went to the Phipps theater tonight. They did not have any odd signs in the lobby. We saw Silent Sky about Henrietta Leavitt, an astronomer from the early 20th century who helped figure out how to judge distances in space – leading to our understanding (the beginning of our understanding) of how big the universe is. It was very educational. She was from Wisconsin, but did most of her work at Harvard. Men were not very accommodating in letting her do work – she persisted.
The exhibit in the gallery was interesting. This piece filled one wall.
My students used to cheer when I told them you would be subbing for me. I would politely ask them not to cheer while I was standing right there. You are amazing!!!
As always seems to be the case, I’m right there with Louise. And there’s not a THING wrong with sharing this kind of stuff – it makes ALL of us feel good. Let’s face it – you have had your share of pretty lousy days. It’s encouraging to everybody to hear that there are still (and I’m serious about this) discerning, caring, and articulate young folks out there – who actually “see” people and who “get it.” Plus it’s obvious that somebody is “getting it right” at home for that little girl. There’s still hope – thanks for sharing it.