Maybe I Should Teach First Grade

I subbed first grade on Friday. When I started the day, I was not feeling well, but by the end of the day I felt great! The kids really made me happy. They made me smile, laugh and really care. Two of them made me pictures (one in art and the other on his own time). There were some kids who were up and down a lot, and one little boy who is currently being tested for ADHD (so he was a bit antsy), but they were all sweet.

At the beginning of the day, there was one little girl who was really upset. She doesn’t do well with subs. Her teacher had been out all week, but the sub for Monday through Thursday was a regular sub, so she was OK. Friday was the first day these kids had seen me, so the little girl was quite upset. The ESL teacher who works with the teacher took the little girl aside and talked to her. When she came back in, she was doing a bit better, but was still upset. I went to talk to her a bit, and she cheered up. After lunch, she was upset again, but after I talked to her, she cheered up again. At the end of the day, she came over to me to say goodbye and hugged me! It was so cute. I guess she warmed up to me. I told the ESL teacher about this, and she was really pleased. She said that sometimes the little girl gets so upset on days when there is a sub that she has to go home. The ESL teacher also told me that some subs just ignore the little girl when she is upset. How awful! I do not think that people that callous should be teaching our children, even as a sub. On a similar note, when I told my husband about the little girl, he was really harsh. He commented that he thought she was going to have problems with a capital P! She is six years old. So she is shy. Lots of kids (and adults) are shy and don’t handle new situations well. She is still young and is learning how to deal with hard situations. I wonder if the subs who ignore this little girl are of the same ilk as my husband….