The Cost of Standardization

I got my first classroom unexpectedly. I had been substitute teaching in the district for a few months, leaving my resume and business card with office managers hoping to get a job interview for a permanent teaching assignment. It did not look promising. At the very least, I was hoping to get a long-term substitute job, so that I didn’t have to continue driving from school to school, picking up jobs from Kindergarten to high school. Substitute teaching wasn’t horrible, but it didn’t feel like I was actually teaching. Most days, I was left a set of instructions to play a movie, collect an assignment, or keep students at their desks with piles of busy work. I was happy for a paycheck, but what I really wanted was my own classroom. I wanted to start teaching.

A week before the Thanksgiving holiday, I received a phone call from an elementary school principal. I had been subbing in her building a few times, and she got my phone number from the office manager. A fourth-grade teacher had walked out of the classroom during the middle of the day, and the principal needed a substitute to take over until they could hire a full-time teacher.

When I arrived, the final bell had already rung, and most of the other teachers had already left for the day. The room was organized like a standard elementary classroom: desks in rows, instructional posters on the walls, cabinets with curriculum binders. Something felt strange, though, as I looked through the former teacher’s desk. There were a few piles scattered here and there, a basket overflowing with student assignments to grade, and a dying houseplant in the desk’s corner. I opened one of the drawers and found a purse with personal belongings: toiletries, makeup, and a few capless pens. I couldn’t imagine why someone would leave their purse behind. In it, she had left her wallet (minus driver’s license), checkbook, and more personal items.

I didn’t have time to solve this mystery. I gathered all of the things I felt belonged to this teacher, returned them to the front office, and began figuring out what I was going to teach the next day. I couldn’t find a planbook, so I relied on her teammates to help me gain my bearings. The next morning, as I greeted students, introducing myself as