I want to be the sub every time this teacher is out. I subbed for him a couple of times last year, and he always has meticulous plans that involve me doing very little. On more than one occasion, it has meant the guidance counselor coming to talk to several of the classes for the entire period.

Nothing is worse than subbing when there are no (or poor) plans. It is chaos.

While I’m on the subject, the thing that probably bugs me the most about substitute teaching is how utterly solitary it is. People are usually nice, yes, but you’re constantly the new kid in school. Especially at lunch. And even in a school where you sub frequently.

See, you get your lunch when the teacher has his lunch. Since you’re always a different teacher, it’s always a different lunch. Every day in the lunchroom, new people. And as in any workplace, lunchroom groups bond and form. Teachers talk about people you don’t know and things you’re not a part of. And as nice as they are to you, you’re never part of the group. And you do this day after day after day. Sometimes I read a book, but I don’t want to appear aloof…after all, you want these people to know and like you. You want to be on their minds when they need a sub. You want them to tell administrators how much they like you, should a full-time job become available. It’s exhausting.

Blah.

I’m nearing completion of The Unbearable Lightness of Being…I would venture to guess that I will be finished with it today. I am enjoying it, although I’m enjoying the social/political stuff more than the sex stuff. (Yes, yes…the sex stuff is a *metaphor* for the political stuff. I get it. But it’s depressing.)

I was stuffed so full of food yesterday that I thought I was going to explode. Lunch at Rand’s parents’ house (yummy chicken marinaded in this mojito sauce from the Dinosaur. I miss that place…plus like a million side dishes), and dinner at Rand’s friend Chris’s. Chris made a Santa-Fe style chicken stew, and the chicken was simply heavenly. Served over perfectly prepared Basmati rice. My favorite part of the meal, quite possibly, was the little slices of bread with a garlic/parsley/walnut pesto spread. I would have eaten the whole tray, had there been room in my stomach. 😉 Chris has promised me the recipe, and I understand it’s waiting in my (uncheckable) email as I type.

Chris and his wife have a new baby girl, who was utterly adorable. Even more adorable was the sight of Rand holding her and softly singing “Don’t Worry Baby” to her. (somewhere, far off in the distance, erin-go-blog hears the faint ticking of a clock…heehee…) I got to hold her for a bit myself and she fell asleep on my shoulder, gnawing contentedly on my t-shirt.

Awww…

Working again today. I left this morning without my purse, which is kind of annoying considering that my phone is in it. grr. At least I don’t need any money.

Also, while I am able to get online at this school (I can’t at all of them) they do block all web-based email. So no communication with the outside world for me until after 2:15.

I had a good weekend, which I will elaborate on more later. 🙂

Hey, everyone…I’m working today! And Monday! Woohoo!

What I love about pre-planned absences is that they’re so…planned. Four sections of English 12, going to the library today for instruction and then to work on either a paper or a reading assignment, and they’re meeting with a guidance counselor on Monday.

One section of English 9, taking an essay test both days.

I do have a Mass Media class with no plans, apparently. That should be interesting. And one study hall…study halls can be horribly painful with middle school students, but high school kids usually aren’t too bad.

This room is horribly hot, and I can’t seem to get the windows open. Blah.

Yesterday…

Ups:

Finding three skirts and a top on the clearance racks at Kaufmanns THEN finding out if I use my Kaufmann’s charge, I get an extra 20% off. Total for all items, with tax, $23. Woohoo!

Downs:

Seeing the front page headline on the Buffalo News: Brown Trounces Gaughan.

Trounces? I have to wonder about the selection of the word “trounces”. It was as if there was glee in it. Bah.

No subbing work yet, which doesn’t really surprise me…it is, after all, only the second week of school. But how much longer can I do this? I wonder if maybe it was foolish of me to leave the stupid temp job.

But there is some (possible) good news on the job front…that college position I applied for (writing lecturer) is still open. They sent me a letter letting me know that they had to push back the hiring date untill January, and to get back to them with a statement/references if I was still interested. So who knows…

And here’s a little tidbit for anyone who’s not donated to Katrina relief yet…The Onion is matching donations made through their website up to $100,000.

Read more here.

On my way to the community college, I pass a fire hall-type place which has a sign out front that reads “Congratulations Jeff and Gina!”

Anyone who went to high school with me will know why that’s amusing. And it reminds me of a story.

When I was dating J, he was good friends with this guy Jeff. Jeff was dating Gina, a girl I’ve known practically since birth. Jeff and Gina are pretty much the reason I started dating J at all. Gee, I should thank them. *cough*

Anyway, this isn’t a story about how completely messed up my relationship was, or how dreadful those years of my life were. I don’t have all day. 😉 No, this is a funny story.

One day, I was at Gina’s, and I saw a piece of paper stuck to the refrigerator with a magnet. On it, scrawled in Jeff’s handwriting, was this:

It’s like having a dream
Where nobody has a heart
It’s like having it all
And watching it fall apart
And I would wait till the end
Of time for you
And do it again, it’s true
I can’t measure my love
There’s nothing to compare it to

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s a poem Jeff wrote for me.”

“Really?” I said. “It sounds sort of familiar…”

Ah…very quickly, I figured out that Jeff had cribbed song lyrics and passed them off as his own. By cleverly not including the chorus

(If I could fly, I’d pick you up
I’d take you into the night
And show you love like you’ve never seen…)

he was able to temporarily get away with it. But then I came along with my brain for remembering even the crappiest of crappy song lyrics and ruined it all for him. 😉

And what the heck is up with this song, anyway? It should be illegal. The first line of the song is “She’s just sixteen years old, leave her alone they say.” And the singer is clearly an adult, not a seventeen-year-old. Creepy.

*shudder*

Did you?

Today is my last day at my temp job-hurrah! When I arrived this morning (late, of course�) there was a little cake at my desk that says �Thank You.� Aww�not that I�m sad to be leaving, but it�s nice to be appreciated.

I just hope it doesn�t take too long to start getting those sub calls. I was added to another list, at one of the schools where I interviewed. And while I didn�t get hired there, the principal (and the search committee) really seemed to like me. In this case, I would bet that they went with someone who had like thismuch more experience than me. So who knows, maybe I can build a relationship there.

So here�s one thing I like about teaching college�no classroom management. Here are things I never have to say to college students:

Please get back to your seat.
We do not talk while someone else is talking.
I�m counting to five.
We do not throw things in this classroom.
Your behavior was completely unacceptable.

Basically, I just get to teach, which is nice.

On the other hand, I realize that my only teaching experiences have been as a sub. No one respects the sub. Even the nicest, most well-behaved middle or high school student doesn�t think of the sub they way they do a �real� teacher. Maybe it would be different if I started a year off with my own class, with students who knew me as their teacher and not the sub.

Speaking of which, it occurs to me that I only have three more years to get a full-time job and apply for my permanent certification. Because not getting my permanent certification at this point would not be good.

A few more tidbits for your perusal:

Steve Calvanesco dropped out of the race for mayor. Of course Alan has the scoop. I heart Alan. 🙂

Thomas (Buffalo Bike Taxi) sends the following:

Friday, September 30, I will be riding my bike taxi all over Buffalo to collect donations for the Hurricane Katrina victims. I’ll be giving everything I collect to the Red Cross for their ongoing disaster relief efforts.

Please, do help him out!

Party for the Parks happens tonight. I�ll be there�along with Jen, Rand, and another friend of ours. Anyone else? 🙂 (this will be Rand�s first Jackdaw show�ooh�)

And a mini-rant:

Why, oh why, would anyone EVER have fake bulletholes painted on their nice, shiny SUV? WHY?

Speaking of SUVs, is it wrong to hate Hummer drivers on sight? Because I do. I mean, let�s face it. If you drive a Hummer, you are not a soccer mom who needs the space for kids/dogs/carting groceries. You�re just an asshole. (Okay, that�s not exactly what the story says�I get to editorialize a bit. It is a blog.)

Holy crap, I�m verbose today. This should have been like seven posts. Oh well. Deal with it. 🙂

First things first, a happy, happy birthday to my dear friend Stephanie! 🙂 If you can, do pop over there and wish her a happy day!

Went home over the weekend and spent some time with my family. That was good.

And my Labor Day? It was exceptionally labor-less. I slept in. And took a nap. 🙂

I also watched a bad movie…Along Came Polly. Do not watch this movie. Even if someone tells you there’s a really funny subplot involving Philip Seymour Hoffman in a community theater production of Jesus Christ Superstar. It’s not worth it. 😉 (“someone” in this case would be Rand’s brother…)

The only thing worth seeing in this movie is Hank Azaria’s upper body (Hank Azaria?? Who’da thought?), and you get that in the first ten minutes.

I had my third community college class last night. I don�t think they�re going to be bad. I am going to need some help with that student in my other class�the one who has the unidentified disorder. I just don�t know what to do. He�s really slow, and exceptionally socially deficient. This is a workshop class, which relies heavily on collaborative work, and I can tell that no one in the class is excited about working with him. Right now, the only solution I see is for me to devote a lot of time to him, which hardly seems fair to the rest of the class. ALL of the students who are in this class are there because they need lots of practice and individual attention. (The class only has 15 students, that�s the maximum) I can refer him to the writing center, I suppose, but that doesn�t solve the problem of what to do IN class. Anyone who has advice to offer, please send an email or leave a comment…

Hey folks…the new issue of Toasted Cheese is up! Check it out! 🙂

I’ve been avoiding talking about Katrina, like a lot of people I’ve been reading, because I simply don’t know what to say. It’s overwhelming in its horror. So instead, I give you what some of my favorite bloggers are saying.

First, Jen(nifer) has a list of various relief efforts.

Personally, I’d like to thank Wegmans for doing one of their “give at the register” things for this. I hesitated at first, but when I saw that the donations were going to the Red Cross, I was happy to offer a little something…

Second, an article at Slate, about journalistic outrage.

Third, Eden expresses her righteous indigation about the way this is being handled better than I ever could.

Fourth, Pesky’Apostrophe talks extensively about the tragedy AND a couple of fundraising efforts she’s involved in. I wanted to link to the specific posts, but I couldn’t get the page to load.

Fifth, more righteous indignation from Estephania.

And finally, there are several posts at [Your Agenda Here].

I wish I could do more. I want to give blood, but I am terrified. More on my horrible blood-giving story some other time.