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Monday, February 07, 2011

Middle School Art…

“YOU are going to sub for 8th grade ART?”
Friends who know me are well aware that I know very little about art or how to “teach” it. They were curious why I took the assignment. Short answer: “Because they called me.”

“What are you going to do?”
I won’t know until I get there. Like all subbing assignments, I don’t really know what’s waiting for me until I get to the classroom to read and figure out what’s on the lesson plan before the first period students hit the door.

“What if there isn’t a lesson plan?”
I’m screwed! Fortunately, that didn’t happen today.

Lesson plan:
  1. Take roll
  2. Show video of a famous artist I’ve never heard of.
  3. Pass out worksheets about the famous artist I’ve never heard of and have them complete it in class.
  4. …and repeat (for the next 4 periods)
In the middle of those “working” intervals, I got a 50 minute “planning period” which didn’t have any planning, followed immediately by a 10 minute “break period”. Add to that, a half hour lunch around noon and my day is complete.

Of course it helps if the students are mature enough not to explode into all out party mode when a substitute is in for the regular teacher. So far I’ve lucked out three times in a row for this year.

…I just jinxed myself, didn’t I

4 comments:

Boffa said...

I like your blog. I've followed your lead by writing about my sub experiences. The only difference is I plan to teach fulltime one day. http://boffasworld.blogspot.com/

Boffa said...

I've had art class once. The students were to make snowflake snowmen.

The kindergarteners made winterwonderlands which consisted of tiny bits of shredded paper which made a mess.

Liz A. said...

No, you didn't. Many of them met you in elementary school, so you are familiar and they know they won't get away with any shenanigans. Plus, you're an experienced sub who knows how to deal with the craziness.

Veronica said...

I like subbing for art and music, even though I'm incapable of doing much in either area. Not once have I ever had an art or music teacher not leave me lesson plans or something "easy" for me to just pass out and monitor while students work. Art and music are kind of awesome!