¡Que mundo pequeño!

This was an odd week of subbing. Well, to be more specific, one assignment was pretty odd, in a good way. It all started out pretty normal, however, with a high school science job. Since it was the first day back for these students after spring vacation, I thought it was a pretty good idea to show videos. The teacher thought so, too, and so I got to watch videos on special relativity (I get it now!) and plate techtonics. Tuesday, the WASL was back, so I spent the first half of the day at another local high school watching students take the test, then I taught some math the rest of the day.

Wednesday is when it all got very interesting. I got a late call to fill in for a Spanish teacher at the third high school in the district. I filled in for her last month — during the last session of the WASL, in fact — so I gladly took the job. I hadn't made the connection last time, but this time around I thought her name sounded familiar. When she came in for a few minutes, before school started, to catch me up on what was going on, I finally made the connection: She was one of my Spanish teachers when I was in high school! Mundo pequeño, ¿no? Since it had been mumble, mumble years since I'd been in her class, she didn't remember me, and I didn't expect her to, but she was still tickled at the connection. "You're now my favorite sub," she told me. When I told her classes, they were also surprised and impressed. I ended up subbing for her for two days, both with the WASL at the start, so it was pretty easy and laid back, thanks to the short classes. Thursday was odd, however, in that after the WASL, I had a period off, as she doesn't teach first period. Then I taught one class, then had the next off, as that was her prep period. Then I had one last class, as this school has an optional seventh period. So it was a long day, but I only taught two classes. Go fig. One fun activity that some classes did was used to study the names of body parts in Spanish. She had preprinted sheets of the names of parts, and the classes broke up into groups of three. Two of them got to cut up the names and tape them to the third, in the right place. I could tell when things were wrapping up when I couldn't see the models' faces any more! Some of the words — those for stomach, bladder, kidney, blood, and bone come to mind — were particularly puzzling, for all of us, but it was definitely an unusual way to learn vocabulary.

The week wrapped up on Friday with junior high English. Because they were also taking the WASL all week, they were getting a break by watching some movies. It made for a nice way to end the week for me as well.

So far this week, I'm back in my element, with two junior high math jobs lined up, both teachers I've subbed for before. Nothing else yet, but something is sure to come up. However, I also seem to have caught yet another cold. which is not going to make me happy. But I've also done what I could to keep the next few weekends clear, so perhaps I can get some rest and fill in some applications before long.