I’m a substitute teacher.
I secretly always wanted to be a school teacher. I played it every single time I played school when I was a little girl.
God led me down a different path, and I still get to teach, but not in a public school system. I digress.
This substitute teaching gig gets me in the school that my boys attend. I can see how the school works and meet the amazing people who teach and serve there.
I love being a substitute teacher.
I get to see the kids my kids talk about and see how my own kids behave in a school system. I think EVERY parent should sub or volunteer in the school; your eyes would be opened to so many things that you just may not realize.
I’ve subbed in my 4th grader’s class and he was less than impressed with my 4th grade teaching abilities and he told me his friends thought I was alright. I’m hoping I have another opportunity to show my “Riz” in his class again.
I’ve been able to sub in some nontraditional classes and also help kids when they are in their age-grade class with inclusion. I have met the sweetest and most challenging kids and been able to build trust with them and that has been the most rewarding. I have also been able to work with my son’s teachers from 3rd grade. They are phenomenal and teach me so much when I am in their class.
Last week, I was subbing in a class. My sweet student had a meltdown in class due to a misunderstanding. He was on the floor, melting into the ground. The principal was called down to the room. I was trying to help the situation, talking to him and trying to figure out what happened and how I could de-escalate the situation when she walked in.
She walked in and lay on the floor.
She talked to him and explained how sometimes adults forget things and sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to. She listened to him and figured out why he was so upset. She provided a solution for him and within the next few minutes, they were on their way out the door to make the situation all that he thought it should be.
I watched the whole situation and as she left, I began crying. I glanced at the teacher I was helping and said, “Did you see that? She got on the floor with him.”
The principal of our elementary school got down on the floor on her hands and knees and looked like she was melting on the floor just like the student. She had the sweetest conversation with him and then they searched on her phone for the exact coloring page that he was supposed to have that day for therapy, got up, and went and printed out the page for him.
I saw him an hour or so later and he was thrilled to show me the paper and told me that the principal had listened to him and printed out the picture.
So much happens in the school each day, so many things you hear about and so many things that go unnoticed or criticized.
I will never forget what I saw and the gentleness and humbleness that was steeped in that conversation. The untold stories of elementary school, and the amazing staff that makes it all happen, I got to see with my very eyes.
I love being a substitute teacher and am so blessed to see the school from a different angle, lying on the floor.
Thank you, Principle G, you are a good egg.
