Another Day in Paradise

Students working on computers sounds like a wonderful idea. They are supposed to be doing research on a topic of their choice. Now I have to not only deal with making sure no one hurts others but I also have to worry about them shredding computers, which this class has done before! My day has so far been in a constant state of being in the eye of the storm. Inside I feel calm and empty but around me the tornado it tearing up and destroying everything in its path. Now today not only will I work in my own personal hell but I also have another job to go to tonight. I can not make a living by subbing or by waitressing alone so I do both. This makes my day a total of about 14-15 hours of work in a day. Welcome to my paradise…

Being a Sub

Now substitutes are necessary in a school system. In the current system that I am in there is a pool of 800 substitutes with only 300 of them currently active taking at least one sub job a week. The disparity in those two numbers might be staggering but paints a perfect picture of what are school systems are like. There is not a person alive that truly strives to feel like they are nothing and get treated worse than trash by both students and administration. Every school that I have been in so far this year as a sub there has not been much support from the office. As an administrator you should be expecting some issues from classes where there is a sub and make accommodations to stop by and check on them. This is after all your school not mine. To be disrespected, cussed at and made to suffer by students and administration it is a wonder that anyone can get a substitute. If a teacher ever fall sick or needs to go to a conference how in the world do you expect another adult to want to come into your room to help you out by covering it!? I mean the money is ok but it is still not great. Currently I get paid 90 dollars for an 8 hour day or 11.25 an hour. While that is above minimum wage that does not account for the verbal accosting and abuse that a substitute suffers every day. $11.25 and hour to ensure the safety of over 150 kids, ensure they get whatever work done they are supposed to and maintain some semblance of order. Trust me it is not an easy task, you don’t know the kids names, they lie to you about their names, will refuse to Narc on their classmates, you can’t touch them, you can’t cuss at them and there is no support from other teachers OR the office! It is truly a near impossible task…