Occasionally I would take time away from my job at the Southside Mini Mart to actually use my teaching degree. I'm not a full-time teacher anywhere- mostly because I don't live anywhere full-time- so I substitute teach.
So far, I've subbed for band, shop, first grade, and preschool. Band is obviously my favorite because I've been trained to teach band. First grade was a long day because it was spur of the moment and because first graders are starting to learn to push the limits of authority. I will never sub for shop again if I can help it. We couldn't use the machines, so I had to try to tell a bunch of high school students that they needed to spend the hour sweeping. Even though I had promised I wouldn't, I actually broke out the perennial "'cause I said so."
Preschool was a lot of fun. Preschoolers still cry when they have to leave home for the day and they are usually just looking for someone to help them get through it. Most of the time, that's also what I'm looking for.
We ate apple slices with peanut butter and were covered in peanut butter. Then we painted and we were covered in paint. When we were cleaned up, we sat on a rug and read books together. The tooth brushing was a major accomplishment on the day.
I sat with a group of little boys at one point and we played with little plastic cows in a toy barn. We had a long conversation about agriculture that helped me to learn a lot about the "big" cows and "little" cows.
There was one little boy with a rat tail. He was wearing a T-shirt that said, "Save gas, fart in a jar."
Don't worry little man, I thought, someday you'll be in charge of your own appearance.
