{"id":5887,"date":"2022-09-04T08:26:49","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T12:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5887"},"modified":"2023-06-11T11:46:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T15:46:09","slug":"a-day-in-the-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/09\/04\/a-day-in-the-life\/","title":{"rendered":"A Day in the Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here’s this week’s addition to the “Sunday Story” series. No politics here, just a story about sub teaching in the local high school.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My First Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was MY first day of school on Friday.  I always struggle as a substitute teacher, when to \u201cbreak the ice\u201d and get started once again.  No one wants to \u201csub\u201d the first week of school:  the kids don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing, and neither do you.  That\u2019s all about just \u201changing on\u201d.  After thirty-five and a half years of teaching and \u201cDean of Students-ing\u201d, I really don\u2019t need that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now it\u2019s been three weeks.  If I\u2019m going back into a school, the longer I wait the harder it gets.  There\u2019s a Social Studies teacher looking for a sub, on a Friday.  If I don\u2019t take that job, I guess I\u2019m just not subbing anymore.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here I am.  The hardest part of subbing is like any first day of work \u2013 your life schedule is completely upside down.  Instead of the dogs waking me, it\u2019s the alarm waking us all.  Lou and CeCe were so sleepy, they weren\u2019t even interested in food.  And it was still dark.  CeCe, the puppy, doesn\u2019t really like the dark much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we managed to get going, get breakfast (dogs and me), and down three cups of coffee (just me).  I felt awake and alert.  But that still didn’t prepare me for the \u201cshock\u201d.  Jenn and  are retired. I might not talk to anyone until Jenn gets up (I\u2019m the early riser, Jenn\u2019s the night owl). So walking into a school of 1300 kids, and conversing with old friends and staff members at 7:10 am, is a jolt.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a sub, you\u2019re at the \u201cservice\u201d of the front office.  My Social Studies teacher had a first period conference.  That meant he didn’t have a class.  But subs don\u2019t get conference periods, and so I was assigned to cover for the choir teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empty Rooms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Watkins Memorial High School is a big, almost-brand-new building that opened last year.  My social studies teacher\u2019s room is on the second floor of one wing at the extreme end of the hallway.  The choir room, on the other hand, is on the first floor at the extreme end of another wing.  To get there \u2013 well \u2013 \u201cyou can\u2019t get there from here\u201d, at least not directly.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I arrived at the Choir Room, a full minute after the bell (buzz, tone, sound?) rang.  And no one was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve lost classes before, but it was back in the 1970\u2019s.  In those days we had a lot more teachers than classrooms, and I had no seniority at all.  So I was a \u201cfloater\u201d, moving from room to room throughout the day.  Seven of us were crammed in a big storage closet for our teacher office.  We called it the \u201cLooney Bin\u201d, and while we had some fun, not much work got done in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stolen Class<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Back then, I was racing from my class at the new end of that old building (now scheduled for demolition) to my next class in the \u201cold\u201d wing.  And I was late, maybe three minutes late.  My freshmen decided that was a good time to \u201cdisappear\u201d.  I came in the door to an empty classroom, and I panicked.  How could I explain to Mr. Nix, the intimidating principal from Alabama, that I lost my class?  He would give me that stare, and drawl \u201c\u2026well, Mr. Dahlman, part of your job duties is to NOT LOSE YOUR CLASS!!  Other teachers don\u2019t lose their classes.  What if everyone lost their class.  GO AND FIND YOUR STUDENTS!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decided to skip the preliminaries, and just find the kids.  The question is, where do thirty-six kids go?  They can\u2019t leave \u2013 their freshmen.  And they can\u2019t keep their mouths shut either, so I should be able to track them by noise.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went out in the hallway, and stalked the neighboring classrooms.  Two doors down was one of my \u201cLooney Bin\u201d compatriots.  Her class was oddly quiet.  Odd, because her students were always rambunctious, the walls throbbing with activity.  But when I approached \u2013 \u201cshhh\u201d, followed by silence.  I stuck my head in the door \u2013 and the room exploded with freshmen laughter.  No good being mad, my comrade had \u201cstolen\u201d my freshmen.  Not a lot of work got done that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lost Class<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So here I am, forty-four years later, a low ranking substitute.  And I\u2019ve lost a class again. Where would the choir go  — assuming they weren\u2019t hiding in five different rehearsal rooms \u2013 or stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then I realized.  As I was rushing down the stairs and through the halls, the Alma Mater was being sung on the PA system.  I thought it was the 2010 version we used for years at games and assemblies.  But when I saw a herd headed down the hall towards me, I realized:   they performed on the PA live \u2013 the choir was here.  I was the one lost, not them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subbing choir at Watkins Memorial High School is a pleasure.  The kids know what they need to do, and they sing.  Listening to forty-five minutes of rehearsal was good for the soul of this retired (old) social studies teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bell (sound, tone, buzzer?) rang again, and it\u2019s another adventure back to my social studies class.  Lucky for me, one of the choir kids is headed that way, and shows me a shorter route.  He can\u2019t take me there though, his girlfriend needs a minute at the top of the stairs.  He still makes it to class before I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Events<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The next class are juniors in government.  That\u2019s where I started, forty-four years ago, though back then government was a senior class we called \u201cPOD\u201d (principles of democracy, or, as my classes called it, \u201cProblems of Dahlman\u201d).  And they\u2019re doing current events.  The teacher has it all set for them, find articles on the Chromebooks, write an essay about the issue.  There\u2019s no teaching involved for this substitute.  At least, there\u2019s not supposed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a question.  And all it takes for me, is one.  The question is, what\u2019s happening that involves government.  If you\u2019ve read \u201cOur America\u201d at all, you know I\u2019ve got a lot to say about a whole lot of issues and events in America.  But a classroom in this era isn\u2019t the time or place for deep political discussions.   And they don\u2019t know anything about me.  No time to establish the rapport and trust it takes to have a \u201creal\u201d classroom discussion.  So I answered the question briefly, and sent them to their Chromebooks to work on the assignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, it was an uneventful day.  Sure there were the kids who wouldn\u2019t pay attention, but not many.  I did exercise the only real form of discipline I have as a sub (short of declaring a full-blown emergency and calling the my friend and successor, the current Dean of Students).  I wrote down two names for the regular teacher.  I\u2019m good with misbehavior, after all, I am \u201cjust\u201d a sub.  But I struggle with disrespect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey Rickenbacker<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But all-in-all a good day at Watkins Memorial.  I got a minute to see old friends, remembered how quiet this new building is, and got a surprise when a kid yelled \u201cDAHLMAN\u201d down the hall.  After all, it\u2019s been eight years since I taught, and five years since I\u2019ve coached.  The very few kids who know me might remember the \u201cZoom\u201d classes I held as a long-term sub during Covid.  But even that was over two years ago, and I was just a badly lit figure droning on about history as dogs interrupted on the small screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and then there\u2019s the \u201cRickenbacker\u201d kids.  They remember me from subbing history class last year.  I  explained why Eddie Rickenbacker was particularly important to Columbus, Ohio (born here, and buried here).  And when they saw his picture, they somehow linked him to me.  They don\u2019t know my name. I’m just the sub who they thought looked like Eddie Rickenbacker \u2013 thus \u201cHey Rickenbacker” in the hallway, and even in Kroger\u2019s from time to time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes a second, but I usually answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunday Story Series<\/h5>\n\n\n\n