My 4 Jobs

At the end of Tuesday, January 22, Hans remarked that I had 4 jobs! I asked the boy to explain and he did very well.

He reminded me that, on that day, I did an interview for the March issue of the magazine; then, I did half a day of supply teaching and came home to do two tutoring sessions and finally cooked some dinner for the family.

Yes, he was right!

I am a content coordinator for a local magazine. I am an occasional teacher. I am a private tutor and I am also a domestic worker. Most days, I do 2 out of the 4 jobs listed and some days, I do 3 or all 4. This has only been true for about a month now.

And the boy who made note of the changes in my daily schedule has also been the one who has been most supportive!

I used to wake Hans up at 7:30 am and now, on his own, he wakes up by 7 am. He eats his breakfast without a fuss and is ready by 8 am. That is when I leave for my new job as well, if I have a school assigned. Prior to that, I would have to keep reminding the boy to eat his breakfast within a reasonable amount of time, go to the washroom, brush his teeth, change his clothes and make sure to have his bag ready with everything. He would be struggling to get out of the door by 8:20 am. There were days I would be upset with him for possibly being late for school.

Since I got my 4th job, the boy has ensured that I am on time for work and that he is not a cause for any concern for me. He has literally been my sunshine.

The other consistent rays of sunshine have been my new friend Kay (from the paternal ancestral land), Craigley and ASid. And exactly in that order! Craigley is the father of my children and obviously, he has little choice in the matter. However, Kay has been great with pickups and drop offs with Hans. Even ASid has chipped in, in his own way!

Hans has been worried for me from Day 1. He has warned me about kids misbehaving and treating supply teachers unkindly. He knows because his own class has a history of getting into trouble with supply teachers. There are some unruly and rude kids in his class. On one occasion, they collectively made a supply teacher cry; not in front of them, but in the privacy of the Principal's office. This person swore to never come back to Hans' school ever!

So, I am aware of the perils of my new job! But as Craigley said many times in the last few weeks, "As long as you leave a classroom with all students alive, you have done your job!"

Yes, my 4th job currently seems like glorified babysitting; however, it is not that bad all the time. I have had some amazing moments. After a miserable half day in one classroom where I felt like I failed all the students, a quiet little girl from that classroom told me very quietly, "I like you. You are a good teacher." Apparently, that is how that classroom is on a daily basis. I decided to not take it too personally!

So, these days, my 4 jobs keep me super busy. I really do not have time to reflect or over think. I can't afford to! In fact, one of the side effects has been increased efficiency. I seem to do more in a day than before. The biggest downside is that I don't spend as much time with my friends. But then, they have been understanding about it.

Overall, I consider myself lucky. And as mentioned in the previous post, I come home and I am thankful for the kids I have! And just so I am very clear on this, being a parent has always been a source of joy for me and NEVER felt like a job!
 

Half way there!

On February 13, I completed 12.5 days towards my mandatory basic minimum of 25 supply teaching days. It felt really good. Some people wondered if I "cashed in some favours"?! I did not. I got assigned jobs by an automated system that called me at random times of the day and I also used my good sense to choose some jobs online when available.

I believe strongly in giving credit where it's due; however, I give way too much credit to anyone and everyone. Moving forward, I want to acknowledge the fact that no matter what the advice is, it really wouldn't make any difference if I don't act upon it or do something about it! Eventually, where I end up depends on the choices I make on my way there!

I believe I made good choices.

I have been at a few schools in the last 3 to 4 weeks, and each time I have come back home, I have been thankful for my own kids. The main concern I have is for the lack of respect that students seem to display in the classrooms - for learning and for teachers! Maybe because I am a supply teacher, the lack of respect is part of the package; still, why does it have to be?!

My best experiences have been in Special Education despite a pinch or a punch here and there! My most hopeful have been in Kindergarten classrooms. Currently, Grade 8 students are my least favourite lot. I do not entirely blame them; they are on the cusp of adolescence and they know not what they do!

In spite of the varied experiences in a short time, I am glad I chose to be a teacher. I don't care if I am in a classroom for 50 minutes or for the whole day, I want to teach. I don't care if the students don't show any respect for me, I want to leave them with something to think about.

I will not let a bunch of kids disillusion me.

There is this one school I swore I would never go back to! The other day, I saw a supply teaching job for that school online and kept wishing someone would sign up for it and it would go away. Then, the system called me and assigned me that job! I hated my helplessness to decline. I somehow managed to cheer myself and show up for this job the next day. After all, it was only a day's commitment!

I believe I did more than survive. I got to learn that in spite of not wanting to be at this school, I was strangely happy to be there. And I am going back to this school for a third time on Tuesday. It is for half a day. It will round up my number of days to 13. For some, that is an unlucky number. For me, it is a number that I have never feared and it is sweet that I get to it at a school that I feared so much until recently!

I feel good. 

Also, as of yesterday, it has been 7 years since my first blog post of "Hello World!".
 

It is not THAT bad!!

In the previous post, I talked about my first few experiences as a supply teacher. There was very little positive content in that post! I'd like to balance that out with this post.

I believe, with any new job, there is a period of adjustment. The first few days are naturally overwhelming. It helps when there is a stable work location with a standard schedule. With supply teaching, one needs to adapt to a new location and a new set of expectations every single day. That is the challenging and the frustrating part that I dwelt on!

Then my incredible friends from around the world read the post (which I requested them to read) and as usual, they were supportive and real with their feedback. So, here is the other side of my new job!

Last week, I focused on my work and not on the location or the schedule. 

Tuesday, I was with the same Grade 4 students for almost the entire school day. It felt “normal” for a change, but I ended up sending 2 students to the office which I swore I would rarely do. Given the circumstances, it wasn’t a bad call! I needed to remove the obstacles to learning even if for a few minutes!

Wednesday, I had to do "prep payback" and was in 5 different classrooms for that school day. It was all Primary classes. I was in 2 French Immersion and 2 English track classrooms, and finished with a Kindergarten classroom for the last 2 periods. I got to remember some French and teach some poetry. I also got to sing and got a hug from the most "notorious" kinder I was warned about!

Finally, on Friday, I was at an inner city Middle School. I met a teacher who runs the pizza lunch program there and who is trying to start a Robotics program for students at that school. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time! He is a good guy who has a long way to go! 

And I realize that I have a long way to go as well before I can make a difference of any sort. I need to look at the positive experiences and keep the goal in mind. One day, I will have a classroom of my own and I will feel at home. Meanwhile, I get to be a guest and drop by many different classrooms and visit with many students. Each visit is a learning opportunity. It is not a bad gig at all!

What the heck was I complaining about?!