A Sub Job Awaits

Our summer was exciting with travel and company, but I was ready for a bit of down time. That was not to be had. On Monday of this week, I got a call from a teacher at Ridgewood saying I'd been approved for her leave, starting next week! Jeff left the next evening, and I took Wednesday to do nothing at all. Thursday I met Julie at school to get the classroom set up, and today we all met to plan the first two weeks of school and review classroom policies and procedures. We discussed the overview of the 12 weeks I'll be there; amazingly, my head didn't explode. I've learned to take things one day at a time as a sub... I start Monday for inservice week, and school starts with students the following Tuesday. No rest for the weary!

I'm actually subbing for two teachers who job-share. Julie will spend inservice week and the opening week of school sharing the day with me. After that, I'll have the classroom to myself for a month. Then, Julie and I will job-share the remaining 5-6 weeks until Damiana comes back. The beauty of the shared weeks is that I'll work 2 1/2 days, leaving 2 full days to pick up other jobs - or not - as I so choose.

Honestly, as tough as teaching jobs are to find these days, I'm happy for whatever is offered to me. Fifth grade is not my favorite (I think I like third the best), but these students are the ones I taught in third grade, so I'm excited to see them again. This is the team I worked with for six weeks last year, so I have a bit of a handle on their curriculum and management routines. It should be a flawless transition for me, the students, the teachers I'm subbing for and working with, and the parents, since we all know each other so well.

I must say that I'm very grateful to the staff at Ridgewood for taking such good care of me. I was an aide there for a year and a half, then, having jumped through the necessary hoops for licensure in Oregon, taught there as a temporary teacher for a year until the economy started to go sour. Since then, permanent jobs have been scarce, but they've kept me busy with sub jobs both long and short, and I worked more last year than most subs I've talked to. I do feel lucky to be working from day one this year, when so many subs are still wondering if they'll get any calls in the month of September. I'll take the rest of the year as it comes...