An Awkward Position: The New Teacher

[Ishigreensa]

The Bradley Girl's School was a private school for girls.  One September Wednesday, a teacher suddenly quit her post there, and the Girls' school found it hard to find someone that would work there.  The school was kind of strict on the teachers because they were worried about the kids that went there.  Therefore, teachers had to be able to stay with their classes the whole day, even during lunch, and even when their kids go to specials, the new teacher would need to teach PE.  If the teachers had to use the bathroom, they had to call for assistance from the office, and then wait for someone to watch the class for them so they could do so, and so had to be able to hold it up to an hour at times.

The teachers were also responsible for taking their classes on learning but relaxation days at least once a month, sometimes, the trips continuing for two days, where the kids would come back to school and go home for the night, but then come to school only to be carted off where they were the day before....

The school had a lot of money for its programs because it was a charter school, and the charters were trying to see if kids might learn better through natural experiences rather than just being at one building all the time.

 

Susan Myers got tired of the substitutes seeming to leave the PE classes with no cohesion, and she was tired of the third graders getting a different substitute teacher every two or three days, so she finally did something she probably shouldn't have.  She reached out to her old friend who had been in the Army before.  If anyone knew about physical fitness, it would be an old Army grunt, right?

So Susan called her old friend, and she knew he was between employment at the moment anyway.

"Listen, ___________, I know you are looking for work, unless you found something?"

"You haven't?  Great.  I have a position that really needs filled badly.  If you just report to work on Monday, I'll fill you in on the details.  Please come to the Bradley Girls' School at six on Monday.  Normally, you don't need to be there until 7:30, but I need to fill you in on a lot of stuff before the students get there.  We can do a trial, and if you like the job, and it looks like the kids are doing better than with substitute after substitute, then you'll be hired full on with benefits?  Is that okay with you?"

It was nearing the middle October, and the class was supposed to have an upcoming trip to a candy factory and a little Halloween theme haunted house experience at the end of the month, and Susan really hoped to get the class used to one teacher before that, because third graders would likely need someone they trust if they got scared from the haunted house....

 

[GuardianWolves]

(a quick little flashback before the rp takes place)

"Warrior 0-1 - Archangel 2-0, fire mission, 2x Enemy Armor platoons in the zone, grid 2-7-4-1, friendlies are 1-8-0 meters south of enemy armor platoons. Fire mission will be marked with red smoke, friendlies are marked with blue smoke, laser code is 1688, reference south - south east from friendly position, cleared hot."
That was 4 years ago, now...

A 29 year old John Kraken was walking into the office of his friend Susan who ran the Bradley Girls charter school and had just arrived and went into his friends office and sat down. He then waited for her to start telling him about what exactly he was gonna have to deal with in terms of teaching, was he gonna have to teach young 6 year olds or overly-confident with themselves and think they know everything 5th or 6th graders? He didn't know since he had been left in the dark about most things when it came to that. He assumed that he would have been told when she was gonna start talking to him about it and so he waited for Susan to start explaining to her, he was grateful that she had wanted to give him a job.

[Ishigreensa]

Susan was wearing a nice blue skirt and a tan shirt with the school logo on it.

"I'm glad you made it this morning, John.  Now, we'll just get some papers processed first...."

They spent about thirty minutes doing work so he could get paid for at least the day, then she sat him down and started to explain what he would really be doing....

 

"The Bradley Elementary School for Girls is first grade to fifth grade.  Kindergarteners who want to come here take a test before they finish kindergarten at their last school to see if they are the kind of kid that would benefit from our teaching style here.  Sixth graders are sent on to middle school."

After giving him a little information like that, she took him to the food service line, it was not so much even a kitchen as just a fridge and counter space for holding food for all the kids' classes.

"Want some coffee?" she asked as she got a pot for herself.  "This is where an office person will pick up your students' food for them, and then on a cart, take it through the service elevator to the Second floor, and down to your classroom.  Kids eat in the classroom at this school, all of them from 1140 to 1220."

She smiled.

"So, the school has four floors.  The fifth graders are on the fourth floor along with the computer room and the teacher's lounge, which we only really enjoy before the kids get to school or after they should be going home.  The third floor houses the fourth graders and the library, and the second floor houses the first, second and third grade classrooms."

They were currently on the bottom floor.

"You will be in charge of D class in the third grade.  There are only ten students to a class, but you teach PE to a whole grade at once, so that is 40 students.  You can handle that though, right?  You were in the army.  Your PE class is from 11:40 to 12:20, and then you pick up your third grade class from a special to eat by 12:30."

She smiled at him.

"Now, the people that actually control the funds for the school and have designed it, have some strict rules for teachers, one of the reasons we lost our third grade teacher this year.  You can't ever leave the third grade students on their own, ever.  An adult must be in charge of them at all times, so if you need a break, like to use the toilet, you have to call the office and wait to be relieved before you go.  That also means you spend lunch with them, and you spend recess and school trips with them."

She waited a moment.

"None of that is a problem for you, is it?"

[GuardianWolves]

"No not at all Ma'am. I can handle it. Thanks for the opportunity to do this, I wonder how my class is going to be like." He told her as he continued to sit down and waited to be introduced to his students that he was gonna be teaching and taking care of for however long he was employed at the school, which hopefully was for a long time so that he could be able to teach multiple classes of 3rd graders and then be able to give them a good chance at the next grade when they move on to the 4th grade. He wondered if the kids at the school had swimming lessons and if he was gonna have to do swimming lessons for his class, which he probably would have to.

[Ishigreensa]

By then, it was getting close to time to greet the kids in the gym and for teacher to take their classes to the classrooms.

"One last thing, you should know, when we take field trips, you are to wear a tan shirt with the school logo so that if student from another class is lost and finds you, they will know you are safe to stay with until they find their regular teacher."

He was taken across the wide school grounds passing the pool and playgrounds, and fields for soccer and tennis all along the way, until they arrived at the gym.

The gym was a very large structure near the back of the campus, and along the sides of the gym, up high above their heads, a railed walkway could be seen that went around the entire length and back wall of the gym while the area above the stage seemed closed off like a separate room.

On the stage of the gym, there was a grand piano, a pulpit for an important speaker, and to the side of the steps to the stage was another pulpit for an announcer to introduce speakers.

The Principal went up the stage.

"Good morning ladies and girls, and a special welcome to our newest staff member who will be taking the position of teacher for 3D and our gym teacher."

She motioned for him to come up to the stage.

He got a lot of weird looks.

"I know it's alarming," she told the staff and students, "but he was in the army, and is very capable of teaching correct physical fitness that will help our girls, and he is a much better choice than having a new substitute every three days for our third graders and for gym class."

A few other things were said, the school sang a school song about unity, and then teachers were taking their students to their classrooms.

"John, please wait and I'll show you were to take your students.  3D, please sit and wait for all the other classes to leave the gym."

The third graders groaned and sat down again.

"While we are waiting, why don't you kids ask your new teacher stuff to get to know him?"

"How old are you?" one girl with red hair asked.

[GuardianWolves]

"I'm 29 years old." He told the young girl as he sat on the edge of the stage facing his class and just smiled at them.

He hoped that he wasn't scaring them at all, he hoped that they would be willing to give him a chance and eventually maybe trust him a bit.

He continued to answer the questions that the girls asked him, there were some that got a little bit awkward, so he just avoided those questions or deflected them in a way that didn't sound like he was avoiding the questions.

He just waited to be shown to where his class was and then he would start to teach the girls for their first lesson of the day and spend the day with his class.

[Ishigreensa]

Eventually, the kids were allowed to stand up, and the headmistress, Susan, was ready to show the class where they were going, on the third floor of four floor building.

The room was huge.  The desks were well spaced so the students had personal space, but close enough to still engage each other with activity conversation when it fit the mood.  Besides the desk and blackboard, there seemed an area all to its own, where the teacher desk had one desk facing it's side, probably either for extra help or for discipline, the teacher's choice, then there was a corner with small racks of paperback books and almost a feel of a living room to it where it had a sofa, some beanbags, and other comfortable places to sit as well as like a cat-tower, but made for big ranbunctious kids.  Finally, there was a sink area, where two long tables with four chairs at each table made for up to eight, where he could possibly teach science, cooking, or other messy stuff.

The headmistress smiled at him and nodded him to his classroom.

"The children were told they might have a new teacher today, so we took their name tags off their desks, so you can decide where each child will sit."

One little eight year old, looked up at John.

"Teacher?  I gotta pee.  Can I go?"

The headmistress didn't say anything, but let John take charge.

"See you around lunch to see how you are doing.  Remember, you can't leave them alone, even for lunch."

Then she walked away to leave John with the 12 new eight and nine year olds.

[GuardianWolves]

"Okay, is there anyone else that needs to pee right now that can go with her?" He asked the rest of the class, deciding to be cautious instead of just automatically taking her to the bathroom on his own. He didn't wanna get in trouble if he wasn't allowed to do something, he also didn't wanna make the girls feeling uncomfortable either by doing something that might be taken as him being weird or something.

[Ishigreensa]

(Mistake... never ask a class of 8 year olds if they want to go to the bathroom without them bringing it up!)

Everyone's hand went up.

"Can I go?  Can I?"

It didn't look like even one girl was not raising her hand and her voice asking to go.

[GuardianWolves]

(I've learned now)
 

"Alright, since it seems like everyone has to go potty, how about we all go together as a class, okay?" He told them as he waited for them all to stand up and take them as a class as he looked at Susan, hoping this was the right thing to do and not breaking any of the rules set down by whomever funded the school.

[Ishigreensa]

The girls calmed down when he said they would all get to go, and they would go as a class and Susan gave him a knowing smile.  She knew what would happen, but there was no rule against the teacher setting the bathroom times he took the whole class as long as it didn't mean the class got behind in their studies, something revolving substitutes had already done to the class.

Susan just left and let him deal with the class.

Lucky for him, after Susan had shown him where the classroom was, the nearest washroom was just around the corner, so he could easily go with them to the open door lavatory, and wait outside while everyone went in and did what they needed to.

"Well, Connie, it looks you have no excuse this morning." One blond girl said.  "You better not wet your pants in the classroom this morning cause the teacher is giving you a chance to go now."

[GuardianWolves]

"Come on girls let's go." He told the class as he went out of the room with them and around the corner to the bathroom and had the girls line up in a line and waited for them outside one by one and waited for them to go and do their business so that way they don't have to worry about needing to go until they feel the need to go again. He then just stood nearby the bathroom door.

[Ishigreensa]

The girls went into and out of the bathroom somewhat quickly, and it turned out only 4 of the 12 wanted to actually go anyway.  The others were just stalling for time because they didn't want to start working right away.

When they are finally back in the class, the girls stood in a line, waiting to see how the teacher wanted them to sit or what he wanted them to do.

[GuardianWolves]

He then organized the girls into two lines and had them walk back to the class and then organized them in a group trying to figure out how best to seat the girls at the tables. After a bit, he asked the girls "can you girls tell me your names one by one and show me where you keep your name tags, I'll then tell you girls how I want you to be seated, okay?" He told them as he waited for them to do as he asked them and stood nearby waiting for the class.

[Ishigreensa]

A girl with blond hair that was pulled into a pony tail in back and had blue eyes, stepped forward.

"Okay, I can show the name tags."

She walked over to a cabinet near the teacher's desk, and she pulled out a small covered box, opened it, and then she walked to each of her classmates and handed them their name tags.

"That girl, Laticia, and that girl, Erica, they have trouble paying attention when the teacher is talking, so they are usually closest to the teacher so the teacher can check on them that they heard what is going on.  Erica also peed her pants twice this year, so far."

Angela smiled at him.

"So, Monica, Nancy, and Paige are pretty good at math, and Connie, Donna Jo, Erica, and Paige are the best readers in the class."

Angela smiled again and then after all the girls had their name tags, they waited for him to seat them.

[GuardianWolves]

"So, your name is Angela huh?" He asked the girl who was telling him at the others and then based on what he had been told from Angela, he decided how he was gonna sit them.

"Erica, Laticia, how about you both take the seats closest to the white/chalkboard." He told them as he looked to the others and started to assign them seats.

"Monica and Paige will sit at this desk, Nacy and Donna Jo will sit at this desk. Angela and Connie will sit at this desk." He said as he pointed out each desk after calling out each pair to sit at a table and assigned the rest by calling out each name and once he had everyone assigned to their seats. He then looked to the girls and said "let's play a little game to help me get to know you both better, when we're finished with that, we'll start with teaching english." He told them as he explained the game to them, which was that he would write down a bunch of numbers on different pieces of paper and then have the girls come up one by one and take a piece of paper and then he would call out their name and they each had 2 minutes to say 5 things about themselves to the class that they like and when they were finished, he would move onto the next student until he had gone through the whole class.

[Ishigreensa]

The girls all took seats where he put them.

When he had them arranged and then he told them that he wanted them to do that first exercise, the girls looked at one another and then back up at him.

They waited anxiously for him to call the first student up....

 

[GuardianWolves]

"Class, come and line up so that you can pick a number and once you have your piece go and sit down and then I'll write the first number on the board and the person with that number will come up to the front and start the exercise." He told them as he waited for the girls to come and line up like he had asked and held out a small box with folded up papers that had numbers written in different color ink for each number and once they would have written the first number on the board which was number nine and then waited for the girl with that number to come up to the class.

[Ishigreensa]

A girl with golden yellow hair, a few light freckles by her nose, and brown eyes got up from her desk and walked to the front of the room.  She smiled at the teacher, and then at the class.

"Well, everyone should know me by now, except the teacher.  I'm Jessica Peterson.  I have a little brother.  I like to draw, and I like pretty skirts.  I have a cat that is mostly my cat, but my mom feeds him.  He is yellow with white, and we call him Milkshake."

She turned to the teacher.

"Like that?"

She smiled and waited for the teacher to let her go sit down.

[GuardianWolves]

"Very good Jessica. Go and sit down and I'll ask for the next number." He told her as he smiled and went to the board and erased the number and then wrote another number on the board, number 5 and waited for the girl with that number to come up and do her part of the exercise. He would watch and listen to each girl when they would come up and do their part of the exercise. He just waited for number 5 to come up.

[Ishigreensa]

A girl with light brown hair kind of short, as girls' hair goes, but still girlish, stood up and walked up and then looked over at her teacher with a light smile in her brown eyes.

"Monica Moore," she said looking at him to make sure she was supposed to be talking.  "I have two brother, one older and one younger."

She shuffled her feet.

"I like jelly donuts and I like the colors brown and green together."

She looked over at the teacher.  She was so nervous, that she could only say a phrase at a time before checking with the teacher that she can go on.

"That's all."

She smiled and waited to be let to go sit back down.

[GuardianWolves]

"Go and sit down Monica, thank you for that." He told her as he went over to the board and erased the number and repeated the same process he had done before with the previous two girls and waited for the girl with the number three to come up to the front and then start doing her exercise, once she would be done, he would send her back to her seat and then keep doing the process until all the girls were able to come up and complete the exercise and then he would start the English lesson and test the best readers in the class to see how good they really were.

[Ishigreensa]

Once all the girls had come up and talked about themselves, they settled in their desks waiting to see what Terrance would ask them to do next.

Erica and Leticia had to have their numbers called at least three times before they realized it was their turn, and then both Erica and Kim had gone on and on about what they liked rather than stopping after just three things, and ignoring the time limit he set, so he had to tell them to go sit down and that they had talked enough.

When he started to turn to reading and having the girls take turns so he could see how well they read, he would soon discover that four of the girls clearly read much better than the rest of the class, pronouncing words correctly the first time, and reading the story like a story rather than like a third grader trying to get through a paragraph of words.  But then one girl stuck out as clearly way behind the others needing help quite often and getting frustrated everytime she would try to start reading again.  Kim seemed to read more like she belonged in the first grade or something.

[GuardianWolves]

John then went over to help the girl at least a little bit and instructed them to read through to the end of the chapter with their seat mates and then helped Kim out as best he could to read through the assignment that he had just given them and instead had Kim read through a paragraph at a time on the next page and stopping on the words that she was having trouble pronouncing and helped her to say them the right way, when he was done and he knew that she was doing a little bit better, he just smiled and told her what a good girl was for trying to do her best.

[Ishigreensa]

Kim had such a hard time, it took her ten minutes just to read one paragraph.  She sniffled when it seemed to go on and on forever.

When he finally let her stop reading and told her she was a good girl for trying, her eyes were still teary, but she smiled up at him.

Time was flying, and it was already nearing ten o'clock.

The girls looked to their new teacher to see what he wanted to do next.

One of the girls was sort of wiggling in her seat a bit.