How to be Cool in School

As a substitute teacher, I often am looking for ways to make the students in the class to like me (or perhaps to even begin to grasp the wonder of my greatness). The problem is that my main goal is always to maintain a disciplined class and follow the instructions left for me by the teacher. As you might think, these objectives butt heads with wanting to be the cool sub. After a month of being a sub, I hatched a plan that has brought me from being a sub that most kids like to being the:

“Best sub I have ever had in my life” -real student

Here is my ultimate get cool quick scheme: Almost every class I have at the elementary level (65% of all subbing I do is in elementary) has extra time in the day that the kids have nothing to do. This is due to the fact that you can't know exactly how long each lesson is going to take for a class, so teachers usually plan in some wiggle room. By the end of the day, I usually have anywhere from 5-20 minutes, so instead of just giving them extra time to read, I have started telling the class the story of my two times going through the gas chamber during Army training (the second time, I went in without a gas mask and did pushups). I can tell the story anywhere between five and 15 minutes, and it always gets an applause at the end and many hands raised to ask questions; though my favorite part of all is the look of awe on their faces, letting me know that they think I am one of the most interesting people they have ever met. In fact, a student told me several weeks ago,

“I'm not sure you are the best sub we have ever had, but you are definitely the most interesting.”-fifth grader

Many kids tell me everyday that I am the best substitute they have ever had, and some tell me that I am their favorite teacher period (I am actually surprised by that one, after only one day of having me). Students say hi to me in the hallways and outside the school. I have even had several kids in my own neighborhood say hi because they remembered me from school. My hope is that they like me because they can tell that I actually care about them, but I'll settle for being the awesome soldier if I have to.

“Not you again! You didn't let me chase after the ice cream truck!” -11^th grade boy said this to me today