I started my teaching career as a substitute for Chicago Public Schools in the 1970s. Today, teachers face even more obstacles than I did.
Like a lot of teachers, I began as a substitute for Chicago Public Schools, making $40 a day filling in for faculty members who called in sick. As a 22-year-old English major, however, I was seldom placed in classes for which I was qualified. Once, for example, I was completely clueless, subbing in a kindergarten at Altgeld Elementary, and I fetched my guitar from the car to strum all afternoon while the 5-year-olds danced around the room.
Less tolerable was when students in one section would suddenly and seemingly all at once hop onto the tables for a better view of, say, a classmate who was having a seizure or, more commonly, two students spoiling for a fight.Standing on tables was, of course, a violation of rules, but at least it let me know through the crush of students that a brawl had broken out, while also leaving room in the aisles for me and hopefully another faculty monitor to reach the combatants as quickly as possible.
I was still young and quick enough to avoid a wayward left hook and restrain a high schooler for however long it took for them to calm down.Some fights were worse than others, as when I was the lone referee between two girls who turned out to be in rival gangs. I concentrated my attention on the more aggressive of the two, whose adrenaline-fueled surge of strength caught me by surprise. I had to use a hammerlock to separate her from the other.
At the end of each day, I reported for bus loading to protect our students at the bus stop while toughs made menacing gang signs from across 87th Street.
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