It's finally one of the finest days of the holidays around my house; the first day of Christmas break. This year there is only one teacher in our house celebrating the time away from the students. I, however, am a substitute (this year) and wish I had these next two weeks to work.
Now we have sixteen days to plan on our own. I have a feeling that we can't really deal with planning time off for this period of time. Every weekend we know that we are going to have 2 days to do what we want, so we plan accordingly. We have small trips planned and if we are going to eat out, we usually know about it and plan where to do so. If we go out of town, we leave Friday night and return Sunday evening. Planning for weekends are easy because they happen every week, therefore we are not surprised by them. Summer release is the opposite. However, there is so much time that we don't have to plan every day or even every week, and all that needs to be done can be done and we can find time to enjoy ourselves or travel.
In juxtaposition, Winter break combines the common weekend with the much-celebrated Summer release. Winter break seems that it will be long enough that, so far, we have made few (if any) plans. I know that we have Christmas eve and Christmas day locked up. We have friends coming in from Colorado and I don't really have firm plans with them, although we are going to spend some time together. Other than that, the world is our oyster. Yet, I am sure that the first of the year is going to come and go and I am going to find that I didn't do one thing or the other or I am going to wish that I had done this or that. Although two weeks may seem a long time to mere mortals, to us teachers it is but a blink of an eye. And, YES, I am comfortable in the knowledge that individuals who have chosen a profession outside the realm of healthcare or education are going to be working while I am fretting over how to spend my two weeks off. I only have two weeks, I don't have time to feel sorry for them.
As a substitute teacher, I am in a great position, as far as being unemployed goes. There aren't many other professions where a person can lose a job and think, "hey, I'll just fill in for people who do the job for which I am trained when they are sick". Not to mention the fact that since our daycare has given us the option of sending our two year old son for half time. That means that I only have to work 3 days per week. On top of all of that awesomeness, I am picking up some invaluable bits of information.
I think the most important lesson that I have learned so far is the value of coffee. I need and love coffee. I have purchased a thermos and faithfully fill it and take it and empty it in every classroom I work. I have always been fond of coffee, but until I was not a regular staff member, and thus, uncomfortable with taking coffee from the "staff" room, I did not realize how much I need it during the day. Perhaps in the future, I will set up a coffee creation station in my classroom and make it available to substitute teachers.
Another thing I have learned is that it is best to just relax. It is easy to fill the role of a teacher and be insistent that students do what is on the notes left by the classroom teacher. The students expect certain things from a substitute, namely leniency. It is best if I give it to them. Particularly at the high school level I have found that if I tell students what is expected of them and when it is expected to be turned in, they will either do it, or they won't. It really is that simple.
Students know what happens when they don't turn in or do the work that is assigned to them. There are thousands of books written about how to teach our students quality lessons of value. I think a good way to do that is to show them what it means to be responsible. All high school students know that if they don't do or turn in the work, they don't get credit. The same is true of any college classroom and/or place of employment. When I show students that I understand that they know (or should know) what it is to be responsible, for the most part, they do what needs to be done.
I hope that recording my thoughts here will help me become a better educator. Does it hold any value for anybody other than me? We'll see.
