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Substitute Diaries: One

by Emily Casella


Today, I was in fifth grade. For some background information, I am a substitute teacher for grades K-5 at an elementary school. Being in fifth grade can be kind of scary since I literally look like a 12-year-old myself, so I tend to kind of blend in with them. Even though fifth graders can be scary, this class I had today was amazing. They were so well-behaved and they gave me no problems at all. I actually enjoyed my time with this class and my day with them was pretty easy. When I have easy days like this, there are still some moments that make me laugh.


As I mentioned, I literally blend in with the fifth graders. Today, we went outside for a snack which meant we went out to the front of the school building. While coming back in, another teacher took the front of the line back inside, while I tailed in the back. While I was walking in, the woman sitting at the security desk kept looking at me. I have had many conversations with this woman. Once I realized she was looking at me a little weird, I waved to her. She finally had a moment of realization and started busting out laughing while saying “OH MY GOODNESS! Emily, I thought you were a new student! You blended in with those fifth graders so well I couldn’t even make you out!” So yes, I legitimately blend in with these fifth graders.


Later on in the day, I became friends with one of the fifth-grade boys who has some behavioral issues. I was glad that he enjoyed talking with me and was on his best behavior all day. He later asked me if I have ever babysat, which I have, so told him that. He then kept telling me he wanted me to be his babysitter. He even wrote down his “address” on a sticky note which said “Brick Building Apartments Floor 4 Room 35”. After handing me the sticky note, he looked at me and said, “Maybe you can come around sometime”. I don’t know what this child was thinking in his head when he said that, but I was actually dying of laughter under my mask.


At the end of the day, the kids had to write down one thing they did today that showed kindness. Before I get deeper into this, I had to read a book out loud to them that had some Spanish words in it, which I struggled with pronouncing. While I was going around to check off the thing they wrote about, one student wrote “I showed kindness when I was patient when Ms. Emily was trying to say the Spanish words in the book”. She really had to judge me that hard like that? I laughed about it and said yes, you were very patient and walked away to check others’ writing.


Overall, it was a great day and I had a lot of fun with this class. Some of the kids in that class asked me to visit the next day I work, which I will absolutely do, because of how awesome they were. If I were to rate this class, I would give them a solid 10/10. Well done little homies.


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