Pencil Drama

I never knew (until subbing now) that there could be so many problems with pencils.

"My pencil broke."

"My pencil doesn't have an eraser."

"My pencil won't sharpen."

"Can I use the sharpener?"

"Will you sharpen my pencil?"

"I can't find my pencil."

"He stole my pencil."

Today, I think I will count how many times I get a comment about a pencil. Although it's a short day, I think it will be a sufficiently annoying number.

On the positive side, the principal came into the class today to thank me for being there. She said, "Did you get hired on with the district for the next school year?" I replied, "I'm not even going for my teaching certificate. I'm just in between college and grad school." She looked surprised and said, "You're a natural." I guess she didn't see me getting frustrated yesterday. It's lovely being a sub, because you don't get stuck with a hard class for a whole year. You can look at the clock and say, "Only two more hours to go. Ever."

I tell myself that being a professor will be different, because the students have learned discipline by then, and they actually want to be there enough to pay tuition (unless their parents are making them . . .)