On the road to brass band

Monday, April 15, 2024

I decided Keith deserved a steak dinner after all of his hard work lately, so we went to Wiederholt’s Supper Club on the way to brass band tonight. Delicious.

I went to work (math at a school I don’t go to often) buoyed by Friday’s success, but keeping reality in mind. I checked in and there was a note on my schedule to go to room 109 during my prep period. It’s great getting a leisure prep period, but I have no problem filling a hole in the schedule as opposed to having a regular teacher have to work through their prep. I do like some recognition that I am being asked to do extra though (please say “we need you to cover blahblahblah during third hour.” I say “okay”, you say “thanks”, and it is so good). I also really like a little information (like what am I teaching is something to know before I scurry through the halls during a four-minute passing time to arrive at my new classroom).

So, I asked, “What happens in 109? What will I be teaching?” The office manager gave me a very withering look. I actually felt bad for asking, but I couldn’t very well run away at that point. She flipped through several folders, looked some papers, and said, “She should have paras.”

I was just standing there, wondering if I should pretend that was an answer to my question, when she flipped over a paper and said, “It’s a Strategies class.” Okay, I knew what to expect. I started to move away, but, no, I could not leave well enough alone. I asked another, apparently unparalleledly-stupid question. “So, I go straight from now (7:30) until 12:34. Who would I call if I need a restroom break in those five hours?” (Everyone has heard about teachers never getting to use the bathroom, but honestly, it is rare for me to pull a schedule that is longer than 4 hours without a break. At schools where I know people, I usually know when people have a break to pop in, and it is also really rare that I just can’t wait. But for some reason, today I really thought I should check out the procedure.) The woman looked at me like I had three heads. “What?” I said it again. She took a deep breath and said, “Well,” she pressed her lips together hard and took another deep breath, and glared at me. “You can go during passing time.”

I was NOT trying to be difficult, but since I started it, I was in. “I know I can’t leave my classroom unattended, so should I have the kids stay in the hall and lock the door until I get back?”

Full eye roll. Deep exhale.

“Find another teacher to cover for you.”

I thought, “How? What? Just go down the hall asking? I suppose.”

I said, as brightly as possible , “Okay. Thanks!”

I went to my classroom and read the plans. I had four algebra classes copying notes (20 fill-in-the-blank words and numbers) and doing 10 problems. With a calculator. An example of the problems: Here is a geometric sequence. What are the next 3 terms. 5 25 125 ___ ____ ____

Uh oh. That is ten minutes of work for an entire class. That is the worst. And it was the worst. The kids weren’t interested in sitting down, much less doing the simple assignment. It was loud, no matter what I tried, and six people didn’t do the notes and didn’t receive the worksheet. They said they didn’t care. A lot of people asked to work in the hall or in the library. That legitimately seemed like what they usually do, but I had no information about it and wasn’t going to send them roaming around the school. They were not easily rebuffed.

Second hour I started off much stronger. It didn’t help. Ten minutes into class, a man came in and said he worked with EL students. Yay! Back up! Or not. He took the key for the assignment and left. He returned after 20 minutes, returned the key, sat down at the table, and got out his computer. It was only 9:45, but I thought after my ridiculous question earlier, I would take advantage of another teacher in the room. I told him I was going to quickly use the restroom since he was there. He gave me a thumbs up. I scurried there and back. I came in and a girl asked me to sign her planner so she could use the bathroom. I looked at EL guy and asked if anyone else had left. There is a one-at-a-time rule. He replied, “Some people left, but I don’t know where they went.”

What?

Apparently, four students got up and left and he did not intercede. It took several minutes of questioning to figure that out. I never actually figured out who had left. He said he’d go look for them. I said I would call the office – who were they? He didn’t know. He left. I was busy breaking up an argument, then another, then finding a new packet for someone who figured out after 45 minutes of class that he didn’t have a packet. EL man (found out later he is not a teacher, but an EL paraprofessional) came back and said they had a pass and it was fine. I didn’t write a pass. He didn’t write a pass. But the hour was almost over and I gave up.

Third hour in room 109 was nice.

I spent most of 4th hour with the phrase ‘living hell’ running through my head.

Fifth hour a miracle occurred. Most of the kids just did the assignment. Some people who really didn’t understand asked for help and we worked together.

Sixth hour started like a tornado, but they had a quiz (polynomials) that took the whole hour. It was quiet!!!!!! They took the quiz. Phew!