Rest Among the Trees Wangari

Yesterday, someone who I have never met but has impacted my life, passed away. Wangari Maathai, who wrote "Trees of Peace" was someone I constantly used as an example to many children. I have read this children's picture book to my own children, my Girl Scout girls, and the 4th grade class I interned in last year. Every time I read the book, my eyes tear up because I am amazed how one woman could change a village, a country, a continent, the world.

When I had heard on NPR about her passing, I immediately emailed my troop telling them about it. I had one little gal email me back, asking if we could use some of our cookie money to purchase and plant a tree... somewhere. It made me feel good that this little gal understood!

Today, I was the sub for the school I had interned in and in the class there were some of my old students from the year before. One of the boys saw me and exclaimed, "Mrs. White! Remember that book you read to us about the lady with the trees and then how we planted seeds in cups? Well, she died! My mom told me! Ain't that sad? She was a good person, wasn't she Mrs. White?"
This was maybe not the same reaction as my scout girl had, but I was happy that this boy remembered her and the work that she did.

Click here: for a previous post I had made last year about Wangari's book.


Click here: for the NPR article:

Sub Bag

So, I have created a "sub bag". This bag holds things that I hope I never have to use but am prepared to use. It basically is a bag that is filled with items I can use in the classroom, in case the teacher who is out, does not leave me any plans.

I actually have 3 bags. One is for K-1, one for 2-3, and the last for 4-5. In each bag is at least 2 books that I could read to the class. Books that have been my favorites for years and ones that I could easily attach a writing lesson to. I have games, like Soduko, and a few other math related games. I have lots of classroom management ideas that are printed out, laminated and stuffed in each bag. Such things as writing a riddle on the board for them to figure out, a paper airplane competition where they get to fly their airplane across the room if the day ends on a high note. I have even thought of telling the kids I would show them a magic trick and how to do it at the end of the day if they behave. Will I ever use all these bells and whistles? Who knows! But I keep reading blogs and talking with fellow substitute teachers about the horrors of being a sub. I just want to be prepared.

Oh, and I also have a whistle (just in case things get REALLY out of hand), some snacks for me (for when I'm not able to make it to the lunchroom because I am frantically trying to figure out what to teach in the next half of the day), Tylenol (for that headache), cough drops (for all the talking or voice raising I need to do), water, a notebook to make notes about what I like in the teacher's room to use in the future for my own classroom, and my business cards.

I'll keep you updated on if I ever need to use the sub bag!

Technology!

I had to post this. Saw this cute YouTube video on the ABC Nightly News with Dianne Sawyer. It's an elderly couple trying to figure out their new computer. All they want to do is take a picture of themselves, but instead it was recording, unbeknownst to them!

Getting Organized

So, as I sit and wait for the phone to ring and read blogs, I begin to think about how to get my name out on the "teacher preferred" sub lists. Who knew that marketing myself for a sub job would be so intense. With the economy and more and more teachers getting laid off, the sub lists continue to grow. In one district I was lucky to get on because I know a lot of teachers that my own children had. The other district I am on because I interned in their district. Lucky stuff since both districts have a waiting list of over 200 teachers just for the sub list!

Now I need to market myself. It began with sending casual emails to my own children's teachers and to the teachers I met at the school I interned for. Just a "quick note to inform you I am on the district sub list. Plus, please keep me in mind if you need an extra hand in your classroom. I am more than happy to volunteer! Hope your year is off to a great start!" is what they all began as.

Now I have made business cards to hand out when I visit. A bright colored design with all my contact info so that they can contact me anytime of day! I also had magnets (of my business card) and stationary made! My thought process is that when I leave, I'll stick a magnet on their file cabinet and leave them a personal "thank-you" note.

Again I sit and wait!

Feeling Like a Teenager Again....

I haven't written since March when I was an intern for a 4th grade class. I made it through that and am now looking for a job????

Actually, no. I had made the decision last spring that I needed to re-group myself and my family. Having gone back to college in my 40s and taking on an overload of classes for a little under 5 years, I was burnt! I needed a tiny break. This plus my own children were making huge leaps in their own schooling (one entering middle school and the other mid-high) that I was feeling I wanted to be available to them. So... subbing sounded like a great option for me. Not to mention there are no jobs to apply to!

But now I feel like a teenager.. waiting for the phone to ring.. do they want me today.. will it ring today with a sub job? I'm torn about this. Part of me feels that I am not doing a great job keeping up my new teacher skills that I paid so much for. Yet, at the same time, I am enjoying the quiet house and my family is enjoying homemade meals that have made a comeback.

So, I sit and wait and wonder while I read blogs from teachers and smell the pie I have cooking in the oven.