... of substitute teaching, in a Kindergarten class up on the north side of town. I took the assignment on Thursday, knowing I did not have anything of importance on my calendar for today, and hoping to gradually accumulate the necessary minimum of work days to stay in the good graces of the school district. Why, I cannot say, though I know I should put some thought into that. Now I can said say I'm nearly halfway to the goal of twenty. Whoopee....
I know I should expect, as the para-professional, supporting the teacher, that I will have lunch room duty for about thirty minutes in addition to maintaining a semblance of order with the assigned class while they are eating. That equals an hour of time in a chaotic cafeteria with kids who could not possibly care about actually eating while they are temporarily reprieved from learning. They are loud, unruly, sloppy, messy, indifferent to the food choices they actually made when they entered the classroom at 8 a.m.
Did I say Loud? It was pandemonium. As soon as I got into the lunchroom with those two dozen five year olds, I remembered that particular locale as the place I once got the start of a headache it took me the rest of the day to loose. I asked another of the adults assigned to police the students if it is always that awful, she reported that one day recently it took five teachers to get the noise level under control. That's not normal, folks!
As a result of the chronic, but fairly mild, pain in my hand, I conveniently had drugs in my pocket to abate the symptoms of the impending problem. I was taking OTC meds before I ever left the room where the chaos ensued. And after that short but beneficial nap when I got home, am feeling none of the symptoms that followed me home the last time I was in that situation.
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