First time to substitute (Subbing #1)

I substituted at Tusky Valley Middle School in 8th grade English/Language Arts today. It was my first substituting since 2011.

I was actually called by the secretary later in the day when I already had other plans. I still work at Digital Dish, but this was a day off for me. The secretary was fine with me getting there late that day and I was glad to start something new.

The really fun part of this first assignment was finding the building. From cross country, soccer, and applying for a teaching position, I knew where the high school was. The sign said high school and middle school, so I went into the main entrance and asked how I get to the middle school. The secretary told me something like it was "to the back" or something. I walked down the hall and checked all the rooms, thinking it was at the back of the building I was in. Finally, there was an office for a guidance secretary and, not wanting to completely embarrass myself with the main secretary, I asked her where the middle school was. There is actually another, newer building behind the high school that I would have to drive to! Oops.

Beyond the late start, my first subbing job was fairly standard, for better or for worse. There were chatty students throughout the day. I also had to do recess duty during lunch periods. The lunches and recesses here were a first for me. Well, this whole school is a first for me. The building actually housed fifth grade through eighth grade, not just seventh and eighth. The lunch periods are 40 minutes long and divided into 20 minutes portions. One grade eats lunch while another grade plays in the gym. After 20 minutes, each group/grade lines up or sits on the bleachers, then switch between lunch and recess.

For the most part, nothing significant happened that I can remember, but a nice day overall. It was better than my current full-time job, but I obviously either need to improve my classroom management skills or I need to relax my expectations.