I didn’t get a job on Monday, but that’s OK because I got to do some chip work, and wound up making more money.
Today, I was a sub for a sub of a special needs class – the other sub wasn’t available today, but he subbed yesterday and he’ll sub tomorrow for a teacher who just had another baby. I had subbed with this group of so I knew them and they knew me. . The teacher trusted me enough to take them on an all-day field trip. The thing is though, the teacher’s plans were very “light” with things missing like: destination, how to get there, where to get money for this. After a few texts back and forth, I had enough information to carry on; the rest I Googled.
Our first trip was across the street to the High School. They were having a student exhibition of art, and today was an art-themed day. It took a while for us to get over there, but once there, the kids looked over the art for about 10 minutes and were then bored. I had forgotten to get the money for the rest of the trip so I run-walked back to the middle school to get the money while the rest of the aids watched the kids at the bus stop. We eventually got on the bus and headed for San Jose State University to go to the Thompson Art gallery in the campus’s Art wing (where I had spent five wonderful years getting a Masters in Art History). We got off one stop too early so we had to walk a few blocks. It was OK because our walk there included a sidewalk art gallery exhibit. After bathroom breaks in the massive Martin Luther King Library, we ate lunch at Togo’s then headed across campus. So much has changed in the 15 years since I have attended the school. They are currently just finishing a very large food court where the old food court and pub used to be. Well, we got to the art wing and couldn’t immediately find the Thompson Art Museum (new since I had attended there). I went into the teacher offices to ask for directions and I met my old master teacher! It was so nice to see her – it was so nice that she remembered my name! She gave me some pointers for my job search, and also directions to the Thompson Art Museum… which was closed for the summer. Great, we trekked all the way there to see the (rather attractive) dark blue door of the closed museum. We walked back across campus and saw some statues, which sort of made it an art walk. The whole way home, one of the aids nearly talked my ear off. When we got back, the kids played with iPads for a while, and then school was over. What a day! The teacher kept texting me to apologize for how poorly things had gone, but you know what, I had a lot of fun, and I did see a lot of art. It was not a wasted day at all!