Chaos. It is the fear of every substitute teacher to some extent. I have embraced it. I often have wondered over my even-keel self, disconcerted about how often I wasn't disconcerted, wondering if my constantly cold hands were really an indication that I had no heart. Having the emotional range of tofu in a classroom full of unruly children makes substitute teaching a little easier to stomach. However, having a classroom full of disrespectful children that you know you will be teaching again the next day does little for one's sense of hope.
I need not go into all of the antics of junior high school students and the school environment as a whole. You all have been there, and--try as you might--I daresay you haven't forgotten it. I have been so risky as to accept two consecutive days in a classroom in which I had ne'er taught in. For this pair of days, it was for a remedial reading class. I was personally asked to sub by the teacher, who had met me in passing during an AM gym duty. I accepted, and I found a few students that were quite "active" both days. One student which fell into this category was a 6th grade female, who tried to disguise her attitude in a false cloak of indifference.
I had issued intermittent reminders to her to be working after seeing her meander at her leisure to distract and chat with other students. After yet another reminder to get to her seat and get to work, she replied with a plunky, "Nah, girl."
Girl. Not "Miss S."
A student jumped on it, interjecting, "J---, you can't talk to her like that, she's a teacher."
"But she's a girl."
"She's a woman."
I love it when students do the arguing for me. I just gave a firm, "I don't mind if you forget my last name and just call me 'Miss S,' but 'girl' is an inappropriate way to address me." She shrugged it off, somewhere managing to call me girl a couple more times for good measure. She did not make it through the rest of the block of class. I sent her out--not for calling me 'girl,' but for kicking another student.
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