Superintendent to Substitute

As part of a staff fundraiser raffle to support the “Kids Against Hunger” event I agreed to “do the winner’s job” for a day. The raffle winner was 4th grade teacher, Mary Jane Tramontin, and on Friday, I stepped in as a substitute teacher.

It was an eventful day, starting  strong with the good daily oral language activity.  Snack time went well, except for the mess (I bribed them by bringing popcorn – big mistake).  The math lesson was a struggle as I learned quickly that simply repeating my explanation of adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers was not going to work.  I also learned that not breaking up a 50-minute lesson at the 4th grade level is a recipe for distraction.  My transitions were not smooth, however the students did a great job of helping me with rules and expectations.

I especially enjoyed the  “book buddies”  activity when we walked to Woodland Meadows to read with a kindergarten Class.  It was great to see the excitement of both the 4th graders as well as the kindergarteners.

The experience provided me a new perspective, particularly when we went into lockdown across the district.  Managing twenty seven students was very different than dealing with media calls and district-wide communication – but equally challenging.  There were many benefits from the experience, but the one thing I know is that I should do this at least once a year to be reminded of the challenges in the classroom.