Adventures in supply teaching....

Tomorrow will mark the end of my first official week supply teaching. Its been a good week. I've been given a taste of what it will be like this year as I embarke into this new world of the unexpected. I started the week off teaching grade 6, then ventured into grade 1, today in grade 8 and tomorrow back to grade 6. The grade 1's were definetly the cutest so far...well except for the kid who threw up first thing when the bell rang!! A lovely way to start the day!! Actually, that day I also arrived to find out I had a Brock student teacher working with me, which was so weird to think about. She was older than I was and yet I was the teacher in charge. That was me exactly one year ago. Its amazing how much a year changes things....
Supply teaching is really strange to think about in a way. Here I am, this random teacher, who arrives at a school I have never been to, never met the teachers or the principal before. I just sign in at the office, sometimes not even talking to anyone, find the classroom, greet these kids I have never met before, and then take charge of their class. No one comes to check up on me, no one is evaluating me, I do my thing, teach some stuff, and then leave. Of course, that will change over the year as I get to know schools better and the teachers and students in them, but for now, thats how it is. As nervous as I was the first day, so far my conclusion is that I think I'm going to like this supply teaching thing. Its been great to find out that it will probably not be as last minute as I originally thought. Becuase of the how the automated system works, I am able to book teaching assignments quite a bit ahead of time and already know where I'll be going for almost the whole month of October. Of course things can change last minute, and there are a few spaces in there for last minute calls, but for the most part, I know what I'll be doing. I'm thankful for so many opportunities and am looking forward to teaching all different grades, gaining exposure to many different teaching styles and making connections at different schools. Bring on the adventures.....