Goodness me...

Today was my first day substitute teaching...actually it was sort of an unexpected half-day; I got the call around 10:15, and seeing as how I was free, figured I should take it.

It wasn't exactly my favorite thing to do...the first class was great, sitting quietly and reading their books, but the second was very obviously aware of how temporary my authority over them was. They were loud the whole derned time, and since I didn't really know whether I could send anyone to the office without a form (I had been given no referral forms yet), I was kind of limited to loudly suggesting that they be quiet and read their books. That, incidentally, was the day's assignment, which in all fairness didn't make things easy on me...it's a purely discipline-based assignment, and I don't really do discipline well.

The last class, however, was OK...I got an hour off beforehand and got some encouragement (and referral forms) from the office staff, and then the class was pretty nice anyway. I even felt kind of smart sometimes, because they tried to pull some obvious tricks on me and I didn't play along (at least not every time...). Crafty little eleven-year-olds, you are no match...