Entries Tagged '9th Grade' ↓

It happened without warning–when they least expected it–on a bright Tuesday afternoon. It was a shock because the relationship had been so strong: the bonds so close. Yet, it was hard to deny that the warning signs had been there all along. Today, I witnessed an emotional breakup between seven girls.

Continue reading →

Finally, I’m back to substitute teaching again after a one-week “break”. School is a killer task! All the papers and test to do in a short period of time made me take a week off to finish my business. All is well and worth every minute of it!

So, I’m back at “NHS” with the same algebra class from a week ago. Kids are more chatty than I remember from last week, probably because I’m so familiar to them now and I’m too chill for them. Looking out on the landscape, I can see kids sleeping, making cootie catchers (old school!), boys trying to spit game on the girls, and, of course, students doing their assigned work.

I should follow in mrjohn’s lead and find different grade level and school to substitute because, honestly, it’s getting boring and dull for me. I need a change-of-pace assignment soon, like a first grade class, to get my “mojo” back. At the end of the day, this work puts money in my wallet and new stories to tell.

I got a job at “New High School” again, but this time, it’s for a different teacher. Back story: I’m ALWAYS at “NHS” subbing for the same 3-4 teachers at that school. I’m practically “Teacher 1b” to the regular teacher for those classes. I get to know the kids pretty well and know every names from these classes. I’m well-known at the “New High”. Anyways, I figure I try something new and meet more students at “New High”. Although I’m very popular with the kids, I don’t know all of them, so this is an opportunity to expand the circle.

I got a Math gig (Algebra to be precise) but I didn’t start until 9 since the teacher had prep in the morning. Grab a coffee and newspaper and read for an hour or so. Pretty relaxing. Even did a bit of homework myself since I’m going to school too.

The teacher’s class was pretty well-behaved for a freshmen class. I was suprised, since I had my fair share of 9th graders at different sites and for the most part, they are rowdy and rude but not these classes. Pretty happy and fortunate. “Warm-up” was a bit tricky for me to solve and I’m pretty good with math myself. Problem was this “The height of a triangle is 4 greater than twice the base. The area is 168 square inches. What is the base of the triangle?” Hint: A=b x h/2. I did it correctly but felt that the kids weren’t following along and was reluctant to accept my answer. So during lunch, I verified with a math teacher, MrMan, and our answers were similar.

Teenagers are conniving and liars! Situation happened at the end of the day that got me all worked up. One girl asked me to leave class early so she could practice for her play and I agreed to it if she gave me a note, and she did. Couple of kids heard it and tried on me and I wasn’t having any of it but they persisted and made a lame excuse to contrary, and I wasn’t buying it. These kids were the rowdiness of them all that day and, since they wanted out, I passed them over to security guards and they gave them a ‘tour’ of the campus for the rest of the day. Out of sight, out of mind!