While I Was Out

 

The sunset view leaving the hospital last night

Those who have been reading this blog know I’ve been struggling in many ways with my learners. Having to be out these past couple of days has been challenging for me, and apparently for them as well.

Yesterday the emails started arriving. I certain substitute guest teacher, whose reputation precedes him, took over my classes. And took over he did! This guy, whom I don’t know personally, has a history of sending kids out of the room for typing too loudly on their Chromebooks. Imagine what happened when he met my 5th period—29 kids, mostly immature boys.

All names have been changed to initials in the following correspondence. The first one came from C.

>>Hello Mrs Sadler the sub was very disrespectful and even threatened to send out people for no reason . And would not let us get snacks or let us ask questions . he would try to send people out for saying here and not listen when trying to tell him something  he almost sent J. out for for know reason .  And some like L. and A. almost got sent out for nothing  . and isolated us for not knowing what to do next . And said that all the people that he sent down on the are part of the 2.67 present that will not make it . And already had a threatened to send people out at the beginning cause of pass times . So I just wanted to bring this to your attention .<<

Okay, I admit…I giggled. These kids do their best to run roughshod over me and, well, although I don’t care for some of the harshness that Mr D. Is displaying, I decided I might be able to bend to my advantage. Here is my response to C.

>>I'm sorry to hear this, C. The fact of the matter is I cannot control what happens when I'm not there. And students have to abide by the rules of the adult in the room. It was like that when I was in school back in the dark ages, and it's the same now.

You know I'm always there when I can be. Unfortunately, my husband was admitted to the hospital and they are trying to get to the bottom of what is causing his breathing issues. We can both remember these are just a couple of days out of our lives when things haven't gone great, and appreciate each other more when we are together again.

Have a nice weekend, and never be afraid to share your concerns. Ms. S. 🌻<<

Then 7th period, and a girl from that class decided to sound the alarm:

>>You are gone, and we have a sub named ¨Mr.D.¨. You assigned a partner work assignment but Mr. D. has been telling us we are not allowed to have a partner and CLEARLY not following your instructions. He also let the students go straight to the time-out room. He allowed S. and L. to go straight to the time-out because they wanted to. This was at the beginning of class before anything.. so if all of us did not finish, it's due to Mr.D. not following your clear instructions.<<

I got a kick out of the fact that they are mad the substitute guest teacher isn’t following my instructions. Where have I heard that before? 🤔  My response to her:

>> I am so sorry, D. All I can say is you have to follow whatever rules the adult in the room requires. You can just exchange computers for the partner part. 

I think they are getting down to the bottom of my husband's health issues (he's in the hospital ), so I hope I can return soon.  Meanwhile, do your best and have a nice weekend. Ms.S. 🌻<<

And finally, another boy from 5th decided to write. He gave himself time to calm down before writing and it shows in his message:

>>HI Mrs.Sadler, I am writing this email to talk to you about the sub. The sub threatened to kick multiple people out for absolutely no reason. He didn't let us raise our hand to ask questions and even if we whisper he would get mad. He kicked out multiple people for no reason. It was hard to get any work done due to these reasons. I believe the name of the sub was Mr. D. Thank You!<<

My response:

>>Dear S.

I am sorry this happened in class today. I wish I could be there, but my husband is in the hospital and I need to be here.

A couple of others have written similar emails. I will  tell you what I told them—the adult in the room is in charge and that means following their rules. It agonizes me to know how you all are feeling, but when I’m not there I have no control on what someone else does. I know you understand this. 

On another note, you wrote a very clear email stating the problem, and I commend you on that.

Have a nice weekend. I hope to see you soon. 

Ms Sadler 🌻<<

The bottom line is I do hate that they’ve been put under this stress, because I’d really prefer they were able to get the work done.  I took it as a good sign that a few of them knew they could reach out to me, even though there isn’t a damn thing I can do! The substitutes guest teachers are now supplied by Kelly Services in our district, so who knows who will be showing up in our classrooms? I still would rather have them than my colleagues having to cover during their planning, like many did on Thursday. On the other hand, it was a reminder to me how much I love the little buggers and I look forward to my return. Hopefully, that feeling won’t be short-lived. 😂