The most interesting thing about the word lumber is what happens to it when you add a P to the front. It's a whole new word! And the "b" becomes silent! That's weird.

I had my first substitute teaching job yesterday. It was for a bilingual class of 1st graders at a La Habra school. I was a little worried about the bilingual part at first, but it turned out that most of them spoke English quite well, so that wasn't an issue. There were a few issues, though:

1. I had trouble finding the school, so I didn't get there until 15 minutes before class was supposed to start, leaving me very little time to look over the plans that the teacher left for me (but she DID leave plans, and very detailed ones too, so I was very thankful for that)

2. It rained. Soooo, recess was inside. And the kids were antsy.

3. I didn't know the kids names. And this will be true for every substitute job I have. But it makes classroom management more difficult.

4. It seemed like every few minutes somebody needed to use the bathroom! Sometimes it was like, "Hey, didn't you just use the bathroom half an hour ago?" But I didn't want to be a bathroom Nazi. I mean, they're only 1st graders, and maybe they really had to go. And you don't want to risk that, ya know? I think I'll work up some kind of system, though, so it doesn't happen quite that way again. I'm thinking about making or buying some kind of tokens that I can take with me. Each kid would get a few at the beginning of the day, and they'd have to pay one to use the restroom, or something. I could also take one away or reward another depending on behavior. And then at the end of the day, they could turn them in for...stickers...or a pencil...or something. I haven't figured it all out yet, but I think it'll be good to have a system of my own. The teachers all have their own systems, but it's weird to come in and try to work in a system that you're not familiar with.

5. This one kid cried and didn't want to get on his bus to go home, saying his mom was going to drive him in the car that day. But the buses were ready to go, and his mom still wasn't there. Another teacher came up and I explained the situation to her, and she took him by the hand and said she'd take care of it for me. That was nice. I hope it worked out ok!

Overall, I think I liked it! The kids were good, and the lessons were fun and well-received. Oh, and one little girl asked me if I'd be back the next day. I told her that she'd have her regular teacher then and she said, "Oh, but I wanted to bring you a flower!" That was cute.

The exciting thing about subbing is that you get a call at 6:20 in the morning if there's a job for you that day. I hope my roommates don't start hating me.