I got there, saw the plans, and the teacher came in to go over them and let me know about Andy. He was mentioned in the plans as having ASD and sometimes troubles with supply teachers. He was allowed to go to the office for breaks. The teacher said he's been doing really good lately and probably wouldn't need breaks. Oh, and he's been recently diagnosed with ODD.
Oh boy. I knew I had to start off nice (I always do LOL) and win him over. But before I even found out who he was, he was agitated. I also had several other kids to help or keep an eye on. Andy would not do silent reading and went to the office for a break.
I don't remember the order of the afternoon. There was a read aloud, following a video on YouTube. The kids had a hard time being quiet and there were some technical issues and they just weren't all that engaged. I wish I had the actual book and could have just read it. I did have a great kid helping with the projector/computer but he was still only in grade 3.
Then there was science. Since I had the computer hooked up and logged in, I took time during recess to find a video for the lesson. It was nice to actual "teach" something, though it seemed to be review. The kids needed to work on a package of handouts.
At some point, Andy found a basket of markers. He was putting a marker lid in his mouth, and then shooting it at classmates. Ick. I finally got that away from him. He did go to the office for another break at some point.
Then he found a basket of elastic bands. He was zinging them at classmates. The other kids were becoming agitated.
They needed to do group work to practice a drama presentation. Andy would not join his group. He was going around harassing kids...I think he was trying to flick a playing card at their face. I started with one group in the hall but after a few minutes I had kids running around the classroom and more groups in the hall than in the class--because they were trying to escape from Andy. I finally called the office and asked for someone to come get him. Someone came, and what a scene it must have looked like. They didn't seem pleased and didn't even talk to me. I don't know who it was.
Once Andy was gone, the class was great! And then they had gym and I had prep last period. I just wanted to put my head down and cry. This post no where near shows how chaotic the class felt. Kids who needed scribing, kids needed general help to stay on task, etc...all got basically ignored because I had to keep Andy from hurting others. My note was fairly long for a half day job.
The kids came back to get ready to go. I put my nice face back on and chatted with them, someone drew me a picture, they said they liked me. Andy needed some reminders to get ready but he was okay now. He was flicking the playing card and that was freaking some kids out, so I held it until they were gone, then I had him show me how to do it, cause he was really good. I wanted to show him that I wasn't all mean.
I got out to my truck, and was hemmed in by the bus loading. I could have ignored the one way sign and zipped out the entrance that was pretty close to me, but I figured I already had one black X next to my name, I didn't want another. I wasn't going to totally give up on the school, especially since it was fairly close to me.
Recently, a small LTO was listed for this school. I really toyed with the idea of applying, but with everything going on with my dad's health, I didn't really feel I should commit to anything.
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