Substitute Teaching

(image credit: funnywallphotos.com) Today is my first day substitute teaching. It is for a math teacher at the high school I went to. Some things have changed...when I was here no one had laptops in the classroom. Now everyone has them and teachers have to use them for attendance! The security is tighter as well. All substitutes have to wear a lanyard and card. Students need hall passes, even though the kids that left my class to 'go get breakfast' didn't have a pass because our classroom didn't have one. When I was in school, if you didn't have class, you could just leave the campus. Now you are forced to be in a study hall. I was so nervous this morning to be in charge of kids that I almost cried. I think I worked myself up to much, worrying about if the kids were gonna be super crazy or if I'd get embarrassed. After I got over the initial shock ....red face and sweats...it was ok. It's true that they will listen to you. I forgot that at that age most of us really respect authority figures. Then you get into the real world and jerks will be jerks...they don't care. So in a way it is easier being a substitute than a stranger in the real world. At least you have some authority when your in the classroom.