This took me a few hours to transcribe but lasted all of ten minutes. Enjoy!
Chris: You said you subbed for what, a year and a half?
Jennifer: A year and a half, yes.
C: And why did you do that?
J: I started subbing because right after I graduated from school I went to, I like went away for a year to be a nanny and I came back and I like really missed working with kids cause when I was a nanny I was working there . My mom’s a teacher, my stepmom’s a teacher , my grandfather was a principal so like I love the classroom so much and so … I just like working with like, little kids so I started working in an elementary school.
00:37 Chris: And uhm, can you tell me your thoughts about substitute teaching?
J: For me it was … like for me it was like a personal thing because it brought me closer to what I really love so it wasn’t like a bad like, experience/ a bad thing but like a start for me – the teacher implications are like the…. How do you want….?
01: 05 C: Well just, kind of to you personally. What did it mean and uhm, how do you feel about your experiences towards the institution in general?
J: Oh ok then. Substitute teaching, is really important because like my mom and other teachers like, need a break and I don’t think that it’s right to like, put kids in somebody else’s classroom and kind of like disrupt their day.
C: Throw off their…
J: Yeah because they already have like twenty to thirty kids and so I don’t, I don’t really feel like that – I do see how it’s a problem whenever uhm … I do see that it kinda disrupts their education when their teacher is gone for that one day. But also I think that it, it can enhance their education because they get to see like somebody else and they get to see how they’re going to interact with that person and that also like gives them a kind of like a vacation for a day maybe and I think that’s kind of important because whenever they get there it’s like totally like ‘Oh my god I have a sub!’ like, you know what I mean? So it’s kind of exciting for them too. So I think actually it’s a good thing.
And it’s like to also gives people who like wanna be a teacher to try out teaching it gives them like a little experience in the classroom to see … As far as substitute teaching on an educational level I don’t know like how much the children learn or don’t learn from it because … I know like when I substitute taught
I did follow the lesson plan and like I was with some classes for more than one day where like I would have four day assignments and like I love like, I really wanted to make sure they did learn so like if we covered Math the very next day I would like, say I came in I would make sure that if they missed a problem like, I would like ‘Do you know why you missed this?’ or ‘Can we can go over this?’ and so I would try to follow the teacher’s lesson plan.
C: Cool. What were the teacher lesson plans usually like? Where they like, complex or were they fairly simple? Maybe some mix?
J: I… Usually about 80% of the time like, they were like very clear, very thorough, like by the hour. They, usually they were great, I mean always broken down. A lot of the teacher’s classrooms, they had it written on the chalkboard even what we were gonna do. And so uhm… some of the teachers like, if it was a… if they realized they weren’t gonna be there they would just have notes for the subs. That was usually like, the most chaotic day and a lot of time they like the principal would come down and make sure that there were notes there and that I had a clear understanding and ah, sometimes a few teachers would help but I didn’t find that very often.
C: Teachers didn’t usually help you?
03:41 J: No, not like other teachers like in the same discipline. Usually it was like the principal the made sure it was ok or that I just followed, you know, the sub folder you know that they have for off days and usually those days were kinda the worst. But when the teacher knew they were gonna be gone it was usually pretty clear cut.
C: Why do you think the teachers didn’t help you?
J: I don’t know. I did not really understand that cause they didn’t – they just seemed busy so much with their own day that they were just knida like, ‘Hi,’ and you know, ‘I’m just next door if you need anything…’ but they didn’t actually come in and like… on the child’s education level at all. They weren’t even concerned about that. They just... I don’t know why they didn’t want to help.
C: I guess as long as it wasn’t spilling over into their classroom it was ok.
J: Yeah
C: Uhm, how would you describe the experience of substituting to someone who hasn’t done it?
J: If they’ve never subbed before… I would just… I would describe it honestly, for me, it was fun because I loved it so much I would… I would start my day at 8(am) and look up at the clock and it would already be 3(pm) and it was like, ‘Oh my god you guys, it’s already time to go home.’ Like for me it was pure fun. But that’s like teaching for me, I like, it’s like a totally different situation for me in the classroom. But I like, if you’ve never subbed before I would like, just tell you to make sure that you really like children and if you do it’s really going to be, for me, a fun environment. Just make sure you have a lot of patience and just like follow what the teacher’s say and uhm, cause you know the kids will try to test you. They think it’s funny that, you know when they do I would just give them advice that just get really quiet and just kinda let them feel you out and see you know, what you’re going to be like. I always walked in the classroom like, cause I was back-in-the-day really sweet and caring, but I never walked in like that. I was always really quiet so they could see what was gonna happen, to kinda see who they were and then, uhm… I would say be really stern with them. Don’t let them kinda overrun you cause they are gonna try and see how much they can get away with cause it is kinda a fun day for them.
C: Yeah. Now you worked with pretty little kids right?
J: Yeah. Elementary.
C: Ok
J: Early Elementary. I did go to Middle School but I didn’t enjoy it as much, so I didn’t take those assignments.
05:52 C: How come you didn’t enjoy that?
J: I didn’t enjoy it because it’s not the kids at that level, my mom she teaches Middle School. I like that level, but as a sub I did not like that level at all because you walk in and it was a completely dry, you changed classes hour by hour, the kids came in and they didn’t care they just sat there, they stared at you, they didn’t wanna work/ I mean… there was no teaching, like there was no teaching involved for me. And I never went to High School.
C: Ok. Uhm. You already talked about some of the cons. What are some of the pros and cons of subbing in general?
J: Cons like…uh
C: Well just the good and bad things about substituting on any level.
J: I think the good thing about subbing is that it teaches you if you want to be in the teaching profession. It teaches you, uhm, it teaches you to see how like other teachers their classrooms. It shows you how like, children relate to each other when they’re stuck with a stranger. I think that’s really important cause like when that does happen kids find like, the form a lot of bonds where it’s kinda like, well not really you verses them, but they kinda stick together like a class and I found that really fascinating. And the cons of subbing, I felt like… the pay is not very good (laughing). Uhm, I feel like that like, when you get in the upper grades, for me, the con was I didn’t enjoy it at all. I didn’t feel like the kids were learning. I didn’t feel like I had a place there, maybe cause I just don’t relate like on that level. And some of the cons were that if you tell people you’re a sub like are like, ‘ohhh…’ ya know?
C: Not a lot of respect?
07:27 J: Not a lot of respect for subs, I guess.
C: What’s one of your better days that you can think of?
J: One time my mom was gone and I was subbing for her cause she just kinda let me have the run of it and she was an art teacher and so she do whatever you want and it was in a Middle School setting and I like took the kids like, outside and we uhm, and I taught them. We were drawing trees and I like related that to a lesson of like how we all look at the same tree but we all, all of our trees are different and that’s the problem with society that we all look at the same thing but we all come up with like a completely different answer for that thing we are looking at. And it really made me feel like that I…really love it. It was one of the days I really really had fun, in general like that.
08:14 C: Ok, what about bad? Did you have a bad day?
J: Yes! My first day of subbing was really bad.
C: First day ever?
J: Yes (laughing). It was like, a very low SES [socio-economic status] school and uhm, the kids had not had a teacher yet. It was at the beginning of the year. It was like a couple weeks into the school year. And it was a very rowdy rowdy school. And the principal introduced me to the class. They didn’t care. They didn’t, there was no lesson plan or, I guess there were books or something but it was completely ridiculous there was nothing for us to do. We were supposed to like, go to lunch and at one point when we did line up to go somewhere like, my kids were extremely rowdy and one of the teachers walked by and she was like, ‘You guys are animals! Stand there and be quiet!’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god, do people really talk to people like this here?’ And then at the end of the day they were literally throwing chairs. The principal had to come down three or four times and she, I don’t know. She just didn’t have any respect for the situation and I just really didn’t know how to deal with it. It was like a third to fourth grade class. I was expecting something like, something a lot more like, I don’t know… like valid or something…
C: Like, structured…
J: Yeah like structured.
C: The principal didn’t treat you well?
J: She disrespectful towards me. She asked me to even come back. I mean she didn’t like, help me with the situation at all. She was just like, she just had a nonchalant attitude toward it. Like, she knew the kids were going to be bad, that it was going to be a bad day and she was just like, ‘Here you go.’ Like, just kind of throwing you out. I mean, she didn’t really go over lesson plans. She didn’t really care. I felt like, at all.
C: And you went back??
J: No, no, no! (laughs)
C: Oh, not to that school. And you teach now, right?
J: I don’t teach now, no.
09:55 C: You don’t teach yet…ok. Are you not subbing anymore?
J: No, I have worked at AT&T for a long time.
C: Ok, so you got a job that…
J: Yeah, my dad was like, ‘Get a real job. This is ridiculous.’ (laughs)
C: Was it the pay? The hours?
J: It was the pay.
C: Ah, the pay.
J: Yeah, I just couldn’t do it.
C: You make more money now.
J: Yeah.
C: Ok. I think that covers everything. I think we’re good.
End Interview
Moderator: Mods
I understand, really I do, that people use place holders in speech, and that that isn't necessarily a sign of stupidity. however, that was just a freaking lot of "likes", and the rest of her sentiments were kind of lame.
christ. that hurt to read. and it will make me look at my speech patterns and attempt to purge them of placeholders, nervousness, and stupid.
christ. that hurt to read. and it will make me look at my speech patterns and attempt to purge them of placeholders, nervousness, and stupid.
Threading the Gerbil since 1982
back in HS I was part of a leadership group (but not student council) acting as a psuedo-recuiter for the magnet program I was in at my school... we were given some speech instruction and one of the thing they strongly suggested was to remove verbal pauses (uh, um, etc) with a brief silence instead to present a more confident presence... much like Gideon said... a
you would think that I would have overcome any fear of public speaking from those 2 years of visiting other schools and doing speech/presentations but either my fear was stronger or it was not fear at all but are REALLY REALLY strong dislike for the activity... or boththoughtful pause is far more appropriate than oral flatulence
That which is not dead can eternal lie and with strange eons even death may die
My Color is Blue
I value Knowledge, logic, and deceit. I love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At my best, I am brilliant and progressive. At my worst, I am treacherous and cold. My symbol is a water droplet. My enemies are green and red.
My Color is Blue
I value Knowledge, logic, and deceit. I love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At my best, I am brilliant and progressive. At my worst, I am treacherous and cold. My symbol is a water droplet. My enemies are green and red.
well I just fried my brain trying to call up information I have not really used in 5 years or so... just took 7 Autocad proficiency exams as required to show my abilities for a prospective employer... it was not timed but each question had a time taken counter, that I could not see but employer will, to prevent researching answers... luckily I knew most of what was needed and the questions helped me remember more via info given in previous questions.. and anything I did lookup I blamed on work interference (which was maybe half to a quarter true)... I am glad Haley did not have to take those, the complaints would have lasted till next month... 
That which is not dead can eternal lie and with strange eons even death may die
My Color is Blue
I value Knowledge, logic, and deceit. I love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At my best, I am brilliant and progressive. At my worst, I am treacherous and cold. My symbol is a water droplet. My enemies are green and red.
My Color is Blue
I value Knowledge, logic, and deceit. I love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At my best, I am brilliant and progressive. At my worst, I am treacherous and cold. My symbol is a water droplet. My enemies are green and red.
Speaking of interview, I have a job interview at Bishop McGuinnes High School tomorrow at 1pm. Not so sure I want the job now, as I have prospects at the school I am subbing at, but hell. Not turning it down. I am hoping my relative ambivalence will get me somewhere. I couldn't be less nervous. Not even wearing a tie...
its really easy to not wear a tie when the shirt you are wearing does not have the collar for it
That which is not dead can eternal lie and with strange eons even death may die
My Color is Blue
I value Knowledge, logic, and deceit. I love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At my best, I am brilliant and progressive. At my worst, I am treacherous and cold. My symbol is a water droplet. My enemies are green and red.
My Color is Blue
I value Knowledge, logic, and deceit. I love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At my best, I am brilliant and progressive. At my worst, I am treacherous and cold. My symbol is a water droplet. My enemies are green and red.
Hells, still n osure thing. Plus, I need a summer job. We can quit together come August. We'll likely want to at that point anyways. And hey, you should be a special ed aid. Most just sit there and don't do shit. At least the ones in the mild/moderate classes (kiddos diagnosed with a learning disability, sometimes just adhd - kids they are trying to mainstream). Get paid fairly well I think.
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Guardiankrillin
- Lost Knight
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