It annoys me no end to be sent off to work at this late date in my life. It turns out that I am very BAD at balancing work and home.
But at least I have kept more or less current and am doing all right in the brutal world of substitute teaching.
Because I try to follow the plan, keep order (mostly) and don't leave a mess, I get called every day, which is flattering, in its way.
I don't take work some days because MOUNTAINS of laundry threaten our existence....
The students recognize me when they see me now, and know there's no sleeping in the class today, haha.
I don't take incomplete work " 'close enough' is only good when throwing hand grenades", I say, "this needs to be corrected."
I urge them to finish the classwork, "understanding is the important thing, its more important than filling in blanks on the paper"
The other day, a student who has seen me before said
"are you going to make EVERY kid in this school learn?"
I paused.
"Yes," I said, "I guess I am"
It takes tremendous and sustained effort to teach.
But the students reward you with funny remarks, interesting situations and comments like this one, and in the next posting "What we arent"
The picture is of Michael in Lima, Peru last year. His mom was making him learn.
