Being a TOC is always an adventure in written communication. The art of interpretation should never be underestimated. What seems simple may not be. What may be implied may be completely incorrect. And as a teacher friend reminded me... to "assume" means to make an "ass" out of "u" and "me".
Here's the story.
I received an email from S (the teacher I'm in for) relating to today's lessons a few nights ago. In the email, she attached the lesson plans for today. I've been in for her a few times previously, and since it was a requested day, she typically sends me the notes for the day ahead of time.
They were in a Word document, so I opened it up and perused the events for the day... on the left-hand side of the document, there were directions for the Dynamics 8 class (low English ability) that she teaches. I assumed that, since they were on the left hand side of the page, that I was going to teach that class first. Normally there's a piece of paper laying out the blocks for me, but since I know S and I've been in for her before, I guess the office staff didn't think it was a big deal. On the right hand side of the page were the directions for her AP Lit class (obviously in the afternoon in the second block).
Now, last time I was in, the Dynamics kids were only in the room for 1/2 the block (meaning the class was linear). On this school's schedule, the linear block would flipflop time schedules with another linear block. Last time, I taught the Dynamics kids in the first half and had a prep in the second. There was another teacher in for a Socials class, so I had to find somewhere else to work... yay for prep time. Again, I assumed that I'd likely teach the Dynamics class in the second half of the block.
So, first thing this morning, I was sitting in the room getting organized and a number of older students came in. Since I was kicked out of the room last time when another class entered, and since the Dynamics class is linear and only had 1/2 the block in the class with me, I assumed (in my infinite wisdom) that I needed to vacate the class and went to the staff room to work on the marking. I relaxed, drank some coffee, talked with another English teacher and marked some assignments.
I had to pick up some other books from her shelves so I could keep marking, so I went back to her room. I walked in and it was pretty empty (strange, since there was a full SS class in there last time). The first student that saw me asked, "Are you our sub?" Startled, I asked what class it was. The young lad responded by saying, "This is Ms. G's AP Lit Class."
As shocked as I was, I tried to explain the situation (i.e. the total miscommunication) as best as I could and ran back to the staff room to get my materials. Upon returning, I took a, "So, who was here at the beginning of class" attendance and got them working on their assignment. Apologizing profusely, I asked all the students to come back at the end of the block to let me know they were here. I also went on a spy mission with a couple of the students to figure out who was there after break and who checked in and then went missing again. It was espionage at it's most brutal, and our mission only returned satisfactory results.
I really only had a couple of students that were completely MIA, but needless to say it was an adventurous morning. It's kinda disheartening that something so ridiculous has already happened, particularly since it's only Wednesday! I can only hope that the rest of the day/week goes better. Hope ya'll are doing better than I! And remember, never assume... anything...
T
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