Slice of Life 2022: 13 of 31- A different kind of energy

      It's March, and March means the Slice of Life Story Challenge. All are welcome to join the challenge of noticing and writing about the moments of daily life that are stories.

I walked into the kindergarten class at the same time the sub did. In sharp contrast to the grandmotherly subs that usually cover kindergarten classes, this sub was an over six-foot, athletic looking young man. 

"I'm J.," he said. 

"Welcome, J.," I said. "Did you eat your Wheaties this morning?"

"No," he replied. "No Wheaties. Why?"

He reacted with confidence when I suggested that this group of kids would take a fair amount of energy. He'd been a student at the school, and he was sure they'd have a great day. We went over the sub plans together, and I showed him where I'd be back to help. 

"Do you want to teach?" I asked. Assumptions aside, he didn't seem like someone with a teacher calling, although I am aware of my bias as I write this. 

"I need the money," he said. "I'm working on my Masters at Wesleyan and coaching football." 

Wesleyan? "My daughter just finished there," I said, easily envisioning the two of them knowing each other. "She was on the soccer team." 

He didn't know her. "The name's familiar," he said. 

For just a split second, my meddling-mother-self thought about working on that, but I decided against it. All I really knew about him was that he didn't eat Wheaties. 

He told me a little more about his life as an elementary student in this very same classroom, but there wasn't a lot of time before the students began to filter in, and I had a to-myself chuckle about their reactions to their substitute teacher. He was a far cry from Mrs. B., a retired teacher who frequently fills in.

The combination of curiosity and control kept me in the room. Jake might know his way around a football field, but classroom management was a whole different beast. I left after a morning meeting, a writing session, a motor break, and a read aloud. Jake and I led quite a game of Simon Says with commands to do jumping jacks, squats, and overhead presses, sprinkled in between Simon saying touch your toes. 

When I checked back in later in the afternoon, the kids were watching a video. Maybe that was part of the sub plans-- I'd like to think not, but anything's possible-- and maybe it was part of a survival tactic. 

In any case, the teacher's name is on the absence list today, and Jake is not on the sub list. Maybe he's stocking up on his Wheaties, as kindergartners can be a whole different level of exhausting than football practice.