Questions about Subbing

So, I'm doing the paperwork to be a sub in the little island-ish town (OK, little for the Bay Area) that I live in and I have some questions:

1. If I needed to go to college and graduate in order to get into the credential program and needed to graduate from the credential program to get my credential, why on earth do I have to submit official transcripts as well as the credential? Shouldn't the credential be enough?

2. Fingerprinting is all online now. Shouldn't they just be able to save my fingerprints and be done with it forever? I've been fingerprinted more than most convicted felons.

3. Why on earth would they put the HR department in the place where the directions have to be:

"Go into the district office, walk through the adult school, turn right, go down the stairs, go out the door, then turn right and when you don't think you have anywhere else to go, there's the HR office in the corner by the fence."?

4. What do they do if you actually have TB when you take the test? And why is that the only disease tested for in any district ever?

5. Why is everyone at this district office nice and happy and smiley and at my old district, they were so.... not?

6. Why did I not start out in this district?

It was fun to see the change in demeanor from "Do you have a sub permit?" to "Oh, you're a credentialed teacher who wants to sub!?!" Guess I won't have to worry about getting jobs.

Comments

Mrs. Ogden said…

1. Ditto.
2. Double ditto.
3. Hilarious! And I thought it was bad in my district. In order to go on a leave of absence, have to walk around the main building and enter the moldy portable for beyond. I think it's older than me.
4. Hmm, what else should they test for?
5. Come on, you know the answer to that one!
6. Because you probably weren't able to get a job as a newbie there.
7. I say ask for the 30+ day jobs, for all the people on a leave of absence, especially if this district pays a higher per diem rate for this.

12:08 AM

A Loss

(I have been putting off finishing this blog post for months. You'll see why) Today, I was cleaning a bookshelf and I found the journal from one of my third-grade students, who I call Fred in my book , in 2001. I still had it because he didn't come to the last day of school to get his stuff this year and I guess it got put in a pile and somehow I've kept it with me. He didn't come to the last day of school, probably because his family was a mess: dad in prison, mom in an abusive relationship, all the kids (understandably) acting out violently. Fred was expelled from our school in second grade for hitting a teacher. Then he was expelled from the other school, I don't know why, at the end of second grade. He came back on the condition from the administration that he be in my class because I had him as a student in first grade and he listened to me and worked well with me. We had a really good relationship, although Fred was definitely not easy to have in class....

A New Prison, Part Two

Second very long part of the prison visit report. After we got all the paperwork filled out and went through the metal detector, we got visitation slips with the name of the inmate, and made our way over to the other building for visitation. This is not maximum security so thankfully you can just sit next to the inmates, and not be separated by glass or have to use a telephone to talk. First, you get a gate unlocked and go into a holding pen that is of course in direct sunlight (or rain if it's that season) and surrounded by fences topped with razor wire. You wait there until the gate at the other end is unlocked. This holding pen was a little bigger and less claustrophobic than the other prison (I do not have any claustrophobia and I came very close to a panic attack once at the other place) and they opened the other gate more quickly. Then you walk, again in blazing sunlight (or rain) to the visitation building. This one was less of a walk than the other pri...

A New Prison, Part 1

My former student, friend, and co-author was moved to a new prison during COVID. We (myself, Mitali, and his Abuela) have visited a couple of times via the video visit functionality they set up, but we've also been trying to visit in person, ever since in-person visits were allowed again. After four of them being canceled (sometimes we were told why, sometimes not), we finally got a visit. I was super nervous about this visit. (I felt better when Mitali mentioned that she was also, because she is an inherently positive and optimistic person!) I am not proud of this, but there was a large part of me that was hoping that the visit would be canceled, just like the previous four were. I felt a little better when someone I know messaged me privately to tell me that they had had very good experiences visiting a family member in that prison. But I still didn't sleep well at all that night, worrying about the guards, the many things that could go wrong, and the projected 111-degree hea...

Bronwyn Harris, Author

Search This Blog