Day 3: I had work!

I finally had my first real day of "supply" (Canadians, read "substitute") teaching. They didn't REALLY have work for me, but since they are paying me anyway, TimePlan sent me into a school that doesn't take advantage of their services, free of charge. No pressure now... I only had to act as ambassador and woo them into using TimePlan.

I spent the day bouncing around from class to class, giving the teachers a chance to do some planning. Discovery #1: Classroom management is really hard when you don't know kids names (and good luck with THAT when you have a new class every hour). Discovery #2: Apparently I sound Welsh (uhuh.....)

It seemed like a really nice school. The kids seem like normal kids, and the staff is friendly. A lot of the routines are alien to me. For example, at the end of the day you take your class outside and line them up, releasing the children one by one into the care of their parents. Back in Canada, the bell rings and the kids run for the door.

Teachers also rule with an iron fist here. One of the students was trying to coach me in how to yell at the class. Antonio (my latest housemate) shared a similar story; at recess, his students told him to put on a stern face, jab his finger in the air violently, and to shout "DETENTION!". Homework is also not to be started in class, but is to be done solely at home, with little direction from the teacher. And I think I mentioned yesterday that children are singled out and publicly humiliated, especially the energetic and immature boys. The above paragraph is full of strict no-no's in the Canadian system. I have no idea if this is widespread British philosophy, or simply local practice. I'm told that I'll get a class that completely destroys me, because they've been trained into this system and it's the only thing that's effective, that I'll go home and cry that night, and then get with the program. I sure hope not.

Back to my day... After lunch I had the "bad" class of the school: a Year 5 class. They had it all planned out... when I started with the register they did the age-old name switch. As if their giggling and male/female names didn't instantly give it away. I think that they were disappointed when I didn't react. This was followed by a general fist-fight: one kid got punched in the stomach, another hit over the head with a book, two girls started crying and of course a girl drew blood with her nails. I'm a little surprised that we got any work done that hour. Felt like my first year teaching with that crazy 4/5 split I had.

At the end of the day I dutifully thanked the deputy headmaster for having me into his school. He asked me if I'd consider covering a maternity leave starting in December. I know he knows about the fight (I sent to the office for help breaking it up, and had referenced it in our chat), but maybe he hadn't quite thought his offer through. It wasn't an official offer. I hadn't had any intention of taking an extended position. But by December I might be sick of supply teaching and be ready for my own class. The other major advantage is that it's just around the corner... I would save a killing in bus fare, and soooooo much travel time. It's literally a 10 minute walk from my front door.