Keeping Busy

Some days, I have A LOT of free time as a sub.  On these days, I usually try and help out around the school, but sometimes there's just nothing to do but hang out in my classroom.  Early on I learned to always be prepared with something to occupy my time.  Luckily, I usually have access to a computer (though with some filtering).  The following are some of my time wasters.

A few years ago, I took up knitting.  I quickly learned that knitting is an awesome activity for a substitute.  I often bring my projects with me to my classroom.  Knitting is the perfect activity for the days when I'm monitoring a work day or when the students are watching a movie.  I found that a mindless knitting pattern keeps me occupied enough to avoid absolute boredom, but leaves me present enough in the classroom to actually notice and anticipate possible classroom problems.  Knitting is a better activity for me than reading in the classroom because I have the tendency to get completely engrossed in the story and totally tune-out my surroundings.  This year, I finished a baby blanket, several hats, two scarves, and other odd assortments of knitting projects.

I have also found a number of websites that keep me occupied at work.  I always get pretty excited when I find a useful website that isn't blocked by the school districts web filter.  I've read through several blogs and web comics during my time subbing.  Some of my favorite sites include XKCD, Order of the Stick, and Hyperbole and a Half.  I often use grooveshark.com either to play quietly to attempt to control student volume during work days.  I also usually use grooveshark to play my current favorite artist Florence + the Machine to combat the eerie quiet during my prep period.

Finally, there is the classic reading of a book.  I usually only read during my prep period or to be an example to the students when they're supposed to be reading.  Recently, I read through the entire Twilight series during my spare time as a sub.  A couple years ago I read the first Twilight book and wasn't terribly impressed.  I felt that the story was pretty slow and the writing incredibly repetitive.  At the time, I felt like it was important to read since many of my students were reading the book and becoming quite obsessed.  After slugging through the first book, I felt I could at least have a little bit of an opinion of the book.  I told friends that I intended to finish the rest of them eventually; I just never got the motivation to read the other three.  A few months ago, I was reading up on "Macbeth" before I had to teach about the play for one of my jobs.  While on Sparknotes, I stumbled across this blog.  Intrigued, I started reading through his thoughts and opinions about the first book.    I continued reading post after post during that long day (I had an extra-long prep period at this school that day).  During that two-day job, I read at least half of his posts about the first book.  Finally, I had my motivation to continue reading the books.  I picked up the second one so I could read it along with the blog posts.  I found Dan's writing witty and intriguing.  He had several of the same problems with the books and many more questions than I had.  I'm not sure I could have finished reading the last book without this blog.  I am happy that I read through them all, but even more happy that I finished reading them!

One more day of work tomorrow.  Excited for the summer and excited to move on to the next chapter of my teaching career.