Favorite Substitute Teaching Moments

I have decided to make a log of all my favorite subbing moments:


I was scheduled to spend about 2 weeks with a fifth grade class. It was my fourth day with the class, and the students had just arrived from lunch. They were settling down when I announced that they needed to pull out their Social Studies books. A usual annoyed groan came from the general population. Suddenly one of the "class-clowns" spoke up  and announced "Hey, I like history! It is fun to learn about!" The whole class seemed quite surprised; it didn't change the general mood towards our next lesson, but was a moment that made me smile from ear to ear.

In this same fifth grade class, there was quite the array of personalities. There was one boy, who was probably one of the smallest, sweetest, kids in the class. The end of the day always seemed to be hectic because students were coming from there specials right at the time of the dismissal. This young boy, however, would find we in the bustling crowd and quietly say "Thank you for teaching me."  He has said that to me every day that I have taught, and I believe he really means it.

I was returning the same fifth grade classroom about a month later. One of the boys was eating his lunch as he saw me returning.  By "eating his lunch", I mean stuffing his face with green beans. When he saw me, he excitedly exclaimed "Ms. McKinney, I forgot you were going to be here for the rest of the day!" While shouting, this young boy was spewing green beans out of his mouth. It was a very messy, but heart warming experience.

I was subbing for a second grade teacher who had many special needs students, and students with behavioral problems. There was one boy in particular that I was told about before the day even started. This boy was going through a medicine change, so his mood was very erratic. I was a little nervous throughout the day; almost waiting for a melt-down. But this kid was one of the sweetest boys. I could tell he was having trouble keeping it together, but he did a wonderful job. He did quietly ask me to hold his hand while the class did some independent work(this action seemed to help keep him grounded). At the end of the day when all the students were walking out the door, he circled back, gave me a hug, and whispered "Thank you Ms. M."

1/25/13 
I was submersed in the kindergarten world; I had been subbing kindergarten for about a week straight, which I was enjoying greatly. On this particular day I was with a wonderful class. Every student knew mine and their teacher's expectations, and strived to follow these. I was having a hard time picking just a few students to give school dollars to, because I felt every student deserved one that day. Then right after last recess my class was heading inside, behind another kindergarten class. The student in the back of this line is a marvelous, petite child who had recently come from Japan, so she didn't understand much English yet. This young girl had her snow-suit around her feet and was scuttling into the building while dragging her suit through slush and water. Before I could even get to her for aid,  my line leader silently held up the suit and walked behind. I watched this interaction all the way in to the building, and my kindergartner even offered to help take her suit off once they had reached the lockers. Needless to say this was one of the students who received a school dollar that day. 


1/30/13
I always love getting beautiful drawings and creations from kiddos. This one in particular is one of my favorites, mostly because of his wonderful way of sounding out and spelling my name. This kindergartner spent his entire free time coloring this rocket for me. He didn't have enough time to color in the entire thing, so he told me I could finish it.  It says "Michael, Mis Mucine" (for Ms. McKinney)

More to come...