Difficult Day

I had a really difficult day today.  The job I took said it was third grade, which is the youngest grade I usually sub for.  But it turned out to be a second grade.  OK, I can deal with second grade for a day, I thought. 

Wrong.

This was one of the most difficult classes I have had all year.  It wasn't that large - only 24 students and one was absent, but about one-third of the class had huge problems in focusing on their work.  And about two-thirds of the class could best focus on which rules the other kids were breaking and which rules they could get away with breaking because I was a sub.  Talk about tattling.  Sigh. 

The morning wasn't terrible - they started out with a "social studies" assignment, drawing food groups on plates.  Indoor recess was not great, and then came their literacy block.  They were supposed to write a summary of a book they read yesterday, then move on to a list of activities (spelling, read to self, computer work, read to partner, read to teacher).  They all insisted that they had read the book yesterday and we went over how to write a summary.  Only half of the class wasn't listening - they were busy trying to kick their neighbors.  And by the time they got to their seats to start writing, most of them couldn't remember anything about the story they insisted they knew.  Fifteen minutes later, they were finally settling down to writing, and then some students started finishing - everyone was distracted again. 

The afternoon was worse.  I was supposed to teach a math lesson to a smaller group, when the better math students left for a different math class.  Only this group of about a dozen couldn't focus on anything.  Even more of a disaster.  One kid kept putting his hat on as an ammo belt.  Another kid kept putting his shirt over his head like a hoodie.  One girl kept moving around and annoying everyone, then complained that they were "mean to her".  One boy who was supposed to sit next to me to work, insisted on sitting by himself.  A girl who was supposed to sit next to me got NOTHING done, unless I was working with her directly.  And on and on.  I finally had to send Mr Shirt Over His Head Distracting Everyone to the office.  Another gigantic sigh.

Then came library.  I was relieved to see that the library teacher also had trouble getting them to settle down and pay attention - even for a short time.  And finally computers.  Over half of the class had trouble logging on (and I had no passwords to help them).  Some finally managed to do so, but 8 students never could log on. 

Back to class to get ready for dismissal.  Little Miss Get Everyone Angry at Her is hitting people, because they said something unkind about her sister.  They, of course, insist that they didn't say that.  Little Miss Get Everyone Angry at Her then gets mad at me, because I tried to do something fun for dismissal.  Sigh. 

Never again.  Their regular teacher is a saint.