Tuesday, February 23, 2010

#23- There is a reason why it's called RETIREMENT!


Warning- I am going to vent a little on this post today...stepping away from my boys for a moment, because quite frankly, they did nothing blog-worthy today. We did go on a field trip to the see a play about Harriet Tubman and they were great. They acted so well-behaved (compared to the little animals that sat down from us who were either hitting each other , playing rock paper scissors or getting up and changing seats--all during the performance.). I was so proud of our entire 3rd grade..they rocked at behaving in public. My boys are SO GETTING a treat tomorrow!!

Now on to aforementioned venting. Okay, so you have taught 20+ years and you decide to retire. WAY TO GO sister....you have earned it. Sell your house, buy a condo at the beach, read that stack of books you been accumulating for the last 10 years. Go on a cruise, take up knitting, get a puppy...but PLEASE don't become a substitute teacher..I BEG YOU!! Back the truck up..right, No she didn't just say that!! Yes, I did.

First of all, the kids are way different than when you started teaching 20+ years ago...and you are no spring chicken, so you know you can't honestly say you can keep up with the youth of today. Everything has changed. We do grades on computers now...the kids don;t write on stone tablets....Promethean what? You are just torturing yourself, the kids and the other teachers who have to A) answer your ridiculous questions B) Hear about how the kids have changed (see above) since you were in the classroom C) Hear how long you taught BEFORE you retired (we get it, you taught George Washington, okay!)

Now before all you retired teachers out there start flaming me, let me just add, it is not all retired teachers turned substitutes that I have a problem with...just a few (and my Grove Peeps probably know who this is aimed at!). There are a few great ones and I try to utilize their services whenever I need a sub...its the other group of you I am talking about.

"Why the anger, Mrs. B?", you ask. Today, one of the other teachers on my grade level was out and called in a sub...well not just any sub, we'll call her the notorious Ms. D (her name rhymes with cure-em). On a good day Ms. D is a train-wreck! And today was no exception. In fact, a field trip day is probably the last day you want to have Ms. D as a sub. We were having a team meeting before the field trip and Ms. D barges in and starts ranting about name tags...c'mon, how hard is it to figure out name tags? Then she walks out of the room. We all just sat there shaking our heads. Fortunately, our principal had the best idea- switch teachers for the field trip. So Ms. D stayed behind with a small group of students and one of our resource teachers came on the field trip with us. But, no, the fun doesn't stop there. When we returned, the infamous Ms. D. decided to be a one-woman welcoming committee in the main hallway as we headed back to our classrooms, all the while firing off random questions that everyone pretended not to hear.

Yes, Ms. D needs to hand in her chalk and erasers and head for the nearest Active Adult community. Her glory days are behind her and that is where we would all like them to stay!!

2 comments:

tSeaJake said...

Okay, 1)Thanks for clarifying the sub so I don't get paranoid that it's me. lol 2)I'm DYING laughing right now and can only say that as bad as it is working with her as a sub, can you imagine working with her while she was employed two doors down?? I can tell you... it was NO different even though she was full-time! Sad, but true... ask McCauley! Oh, thanks PB for the laughs! I'm loving your blog!

K.B. said...

Amen. I actually had the wonderful opportunity to 5th grade TEAM-TEACH with Ms. D. You ain't lyin' when you say train wreck!