I'm SO happy it's Friday and I get all next week off for Thanksgiving break.
I've only done it for four weeks, but I really, really hate subbing. I have a very Type A personality. I like routines, schedules, structure... basically everything substituting is not. I hate being thrown into a completely unknown situation every single day. I hate not knowing every night before I go to bed where I will be going the next day. I hate not knowing the kids, the staff, the schedule, the routines. I hate how a majority of teachers talk down to me, or just simply don't even acknowledge me, when I went to school just as long, if not longer, than them to be a teacher (I worked with one teacher for an ENTIRE day, and when I saw her in the hall a week later I smiled, waved, and said hi. Her response was to give me a blank stare and keep walking. I've seen her a few times since then and she just avoids eye contact. WTF?). I hate not having any co-workers. I hate when people get annoyed and angry if I accidentally brought the class to lunch TWO minutes early. Anytime the kids are going somewhere I have to find a kid who seems trustworthy to tell me where the cafeteria is, or where they go to recess, or P.E. Sometimes you get kids who think it's funny to tell you the wrong way or lie and say they can do things they can't, so you have to double check everything with the other kids to make sure they are telling you the truth... I hate that too.
Every teacher has a completely different way of doing every single thing. They line up differently, they go to the bathroom differently, they turn their papers in differently... Kids, especially the young ones, are very used to routines so even something as simple as not lining up in the right order completely throws things off and you have spend time getting the class back. This creates a very stressful and absolutely exhausting day.
So if you see me, please don't ask me how I like subbing because the answer will be I. hate. it.
But, on much happier note, I officially got word today that I start my job as a reading intervention teacher on Monday, December 6th! I'll finally have a real job that actually requires all of the hard work I put into my certification and degree. I am still going to sub once, maybe twice a week in order to keep my name out there and continue to meet new teachers and principals, but it's a lot more manageable than doing it as my only job.
Sorry for the rant, but this has been a particularly stressful week! :)