Golden Shower
After a few weeks, and a mouse incident behind us, I was finally starting to settle in as a 2nd grade teacher. It was not my ideal age, but it was a job. Having just finished my student teaching, a job was exactly what I needed. One morning when I arrived at school I noticed there were a bunch of unfamiliar faces walking into the building. I asked a co-worker where everyone was today? She informed me they had a curriculum meeting up at the district office and we may even be short subs today. If that was the case we would need to fill in places throughout the day. Well, adapting, filling and subbing has what I have been doing best the last few weeks and today didn’t seem to be any different from any other day. So on I went to get my day started.
As the day went on and my class had sub after sub. I could start seeing the tide change throughout the day. I was a sub too, but I had already been there a few weeks and pretty much had the routine and expectations established. Now we’re throwing in a whole day of subs, who are just trying to get through the day.
When the substitute gym teacher brought my class back from the gym, he walked in the room with them. Hmmm that’s weird. Teachers don’t usually follow the class back into the classroom. “How were they?” I asked hesitantly. His reply immediately made me regret asking the question. “Can I talk to you out in the hallway for a second?” So out into the hallway we wandered. What the hell could have happened during gym class when they were suppose to be burning off all of that pent-up energy? I told the class to take a book out of their book bags and start reading quietly until I came back.
The substitute gym teacher looked a little embarrassed when he began filling me in on the wonderful experience he just had with my class. He began by telling me that one of my boys was down at the office getting a change of clothes. What? Why on earth would a student need a change of clothes? I understand if you’re working hard and sweating a lot, but these were second graders, not high-schoolers. They shouldn’t need to change their clothes after a gym class. He continued that one of the boys asked him if he could use the bathroom during class, he let him.
A little while later another boy asked to go to the bathroom, so he let him go as well. While they were in the bathroom one of the boys peed on the other one and was currently in the office seeing if they have an extra pair of pants for him to change into. He told me it happened towards the end of class and he didn’t have time to do anything about it. He wanted to let me know and that he had another class coming right away that he needed to get back for. Great! He didn’t have time to deal with it so now it’s on me. Time to put my detective hat on and try to fill in the pieces.
It turns out the two boys who were in the bathroom together knew they should not have been. I had to already separate them in the classroom and they lost the right, due to behavior problems, to use the bathroom at the same time.
I pulled both students individually to listen to both sides of the story. It turns out, after spending an hour of the reading class, this is what I pieced together from their stories. When they were in the bathroom they started to have a peeing competition on who could be the farthest from the urinal, while still making it in. Poor choice because eventually they will run out of pee, be far away from the urinal, and it will get all over the floor, or worse themselves! Then again these are second graders who do not think logically. While the competition was going on, one student started making fun of the other one. This caused him to turn towards the student mid stream and get pee all over the other students pants. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little inside at this because I am as competitive as anyone and really wanted to know who won, but of course could not ask that.
After I had pieced the story together by hearing both sides of the story the next step was to figure out a consequence. While I was talking to one of the boys, the secretary came in the room and walked out with the first boy. I figured she was just trying to figure things out as well. When I noticed he did not return, I called the office to ask where he was. She told me he had to leave for an appointment. Wonderful! I get to deal with this to start my day tomorrow as well! I e-mailed the boys parents to let them know what happened and I called the parent of the one who got peed on. As a teacher you never know what a student is going to go home and tell their parents, so I try to let them know as soon as I can before they have a chance to hear it and form a story in their head.
To my surprise the parent was not upset at all. She basically told me, that is my time with the students and I need to deal with it! OK then, not the reply I thought I was going to receive, but deal with it I shall. Another eye-opening experience. If these two experiences happened in just a few months of substitute teaching, I can’t wait to see what excitement the next thirty years will hold!
Lesson: Never have a peeing competition, but if you do, don’t make fun of your opponent in the middle of it!
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