"HI-HO, HI-HO... Where did the year go?"

I can’t believe how fast a year can pass! I have received my final cheque from EI, and my maternity leave is officially over. I did make arrangements with my school division to NOT return to my contract teaching position this year. Can you imagine jumping into junior high to teach just as spring fever hits??? No, thank you. Rather, I have opted to ease back into work by getting some hours in as a substitute teacher. The plan is to return to regular teaching in the fall, hopefully just at 50%, though. I don’t think I could handle being away from my little guy everyday.

Substitute teaching is a funny job. I know that everyone gets their own image in their mind when they think of their own experience with substitute teachers. I can remember how my friends and I treated substitute teachers when I was in school. It’s like we thought it was a “free day”. Kids would switch names and desks. You thought you could get away with so much more.

I really like the episode of Glee called, “The Substitute”. I tried to put a little clip from it on here, but copyright is pretty strict and I couldn’t do it. Anyway, Gwyneth Paltrow plays the substitute teacher, Holly Holiday and she claims to be the “cure for the common classroom”. Basically, she is the cool substitute teacher, and who doesn’t want to be that?

My first day back teaching was in a grade 1 classroom. Now, let me tell you, grade 1 teachers are pretty much superheroes in my mind. The amount of activities and lessons they can pack into a school day is incredible! I enjoyed my day with them very much, but one thing is for sure, at the end of the day, I was tired! A bonus is all of the hugs you receive. I’m not used to that. Most grade 7 and 8 students don’t hug their teacher too often. I realized though, that I am not a regular grade 1 teacher. I can enjoy the odd day with the little rug rats, but I think my patience may run thin with all of the shoes to tie, zippers to zip, messes to clean, and tattlers to satisfy.

I have also now subbed a few days in high school as well. This is night and day different from grade 1. No hugs. Well, that’s not entirely true. All of the high school classes I’ve subbed for so far are students that I have taught before. So, I actually have received a few hugs. I have had to reacquaint myself with some topics that I had left on a shelf for a long time: Mean/Median/Mode, Arial Stems, Measurement conversions, Box and Whisker Plots, etc. Fun stuff. J

It has been fun to be back in the classroom, but I sure do miss my Jett. I am incredibly blessed to have parents and in-laws who are willing and even excited to provide childcare, so that does make it easier to leave him. The other day, though, he clung to me when I went to drop him off. It’s like he knew that I was leaving him. It tore at my heart a little bit. Ahhh, mommy guilt. The huge smile he gives when I come to pick him up, though; it makes up for it. His little feet move so quickly to get to me and I can swoop him up as he grabs for my face and neck. I sure do love that boy.