It seems to be my specialty or some strange luck that they call me into sub for the guided study or the special needs kids. I'm not sure if it's because I don't complain, won't say no or if that's just where they need a sub a lot of the time. It's probably the easiest subbing I do and then again it can also be the hardest.
There are fewer kids (typically between 3 and 10) and they may have bigger challenges in front of them but sometimes they are really sweet. It's true that they can be big pains and that sometimes I have to be very careful when I'm looking after them, but sometimes they are the most fun.
Somehow between the confusion and the fun I managed to make it through the day. I helped a girl with her spelling and tried to explain to a fifth grader what a message board was. I don't think she believed me. I had a heartbreaking moment when I helped a boy type up a story for a class that he had merely told but not written because he can't read. I actually know him from my days in church, but he was too young to remember me. It's so sad to me that kids reach fifth grade (or higher) and still cannot read.
I worked on holiday puzzles with other kids; we tried to see how many words we could make from the letters in "presents" and another from "holidays." I helped some kids search for an instance of truth in US History (and hopefully there's more than one) and watched two girls write a skit that reminded me of my own skit writing days.
I'm glad it's Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow, but mostly I'm glad I could spend the day with some pretty clever kids. They're a little strange sometimes and a little crazy, but they like to laugh and have fun and thankfully they let me share in a little piece of that with them today.
Tomorrow something about my hometown and or a bit about the holidays and the movie we watched today.
