5/6 Combo

I have a love hate relationship with subbing students while their teacher is still in the classroom. I feel like I step on toes if I am teaching while the teacher is still in there or like I am taking up space if she/he is teaching. At the same time, though, I like seeing how the teacher interacts with their students because it helps me get a feel for how I should work with students and what they are used to.

Today I subbed for a fifth grade/ sixth grade combo class. They are a fun group of kids. Every time I work with them math gets pretty crazy. I really have to gear up and put my thinking cap on for them. I drown with questions from both grade levels and math is totally not my thing. Thank goodness for answer keys because I can work backwards and figure out how to complete the problem.

After I was there for a little while today I took the students to the library. When I attended that school, the library was where the teacher's lounge currently is and now the library is where a first grade class used to be. I remember that class because in sixth grade one of my classmates, Steven, fell into the pool and drown right before the mailman found him and tried to save him. Steven's little brother was in that first grade classroom. I used to go in every day during lunch and help the teacher organize and grade. I think that year I realized that I wanted to help kids when I grew up. Up until a couple years ago I wanted to be a counselor, but with the budget cuts, I chose teaching (I know, like that is any better.). One day I hope to get my counseling credential and I know it has a lot to do with me wanting to help families like Steven's.

It is crazy the things I remember from that year. I had just moved to my town and switched schools. I didn't know who the boy in my class really was, but I remember seeing the pain in his mother's eyes after he died. I wrote a story about a magical kite who went up in the sky and didn't want anyone to be sad for him. When my classmate's mom read the story she brought me a pink guardian angel statue and gave me a hug. I still have that statue. I hope I can one day put it in my daughter's room as a sort of guardian angel.