(When the line above appears in the Re: section of the note from the sub, you might want to grab a glass of wine before reading.)
Yes, I was out the other day for some kind of incredibly important training. I received the following email from the substitute, whom I know. Needs no other intro.
Dear Mrs. Smythe,
First, I want to say that I hope you had a great day at your training! Thanks for the great plans, and you were right- your para is amazing!
First, you have established a great routine with the children and we completed all the morning activities according to your plans. Everything went very smoothly. Well, until lunch.
I won’t bore you with the details of Frank’s antics at lunch, for I’m sure that your paraprofessional will fill you in with those. After lunch we went outside, and when we were out at recess Frank managed to find the only pieces of ice left on the playground and then he proceeded to eat them. They were filthy and disgusting. He refused to give me the remaining pieces, and ran circles around me before I convinced him to stop. We managed to get him inside with the rest of the class, and got him focused on listening to the story I was HOPING to read to the class.
That was when Stanley and Frank decided it would be fun to have a wrestling match on the carpet. While most of the class tried to ignore the show, there were several children shouting and watching in delight. (I’m sure you know who they are.) During this incredible WWIII wrestling match, Suzy decided it would be a great time to dump the entire tub of toys on the carpet in the kitchen area. (How she snuck in there I will never know.) I instructed her to clean it up, and returned to the situation at hand. (The wrestlers.) I got things taken care of, and when I checked on Suzy 20 minutes later NOTHING had been cleaned up. She was, however, having a great time laughing and hiding under the 4,000 toys that were covering the floor.
There were several other incidents, but I think you get the picture. An overwhelming majority of the class was beyond excellent today, so I don't want you to think it was just an awful day. But those four or five little ones sure made me wanna have 5 or 6 tall ones at the end of the day...
Thanks again -- ask me anytime. I love working in your room -- even when it's making me feel about 80 years older than I am --because it's always interesting, which keeps me on my toes, and the kids make it all worth it in the end.
I’ve decided that this is the year you deserve a GOLD MEDAL. Get a hold of me if you have any questions – but not tonight. I am having beverages – and plenty of them.
(check over here today. If you're not busy, of course.)
