Conditions for Subs?

I know that there have been a lot of discussions going on between districts about what to do with substitute teachers. With the current economic situation, the market has been flooded with former teachers that are looking for sub jobs. Another issue that I have heard about is the level of training that substitutes should have before they can perform in the classroom. Some of the ideas that I have heard is that subs should have their full credentials before they can work in the classroom. Obviously this would work with the entire out of job teachers that are waiting for the opportunities to work in some districts. One of the experiences that I recently had had with a substitute pushed me to lean more towards these ideas. This particular substitute had been in charge of one of my Co-Teacher’s classes during a day where I wouldn’t be in that class till 6^th period. My initial introduction to this sub was definitely “what is this person doing in the classroom?” and then immediately followed by “I wonder how the previous classes did with this person in charge?” See, this substitute sure did like to talk, and about anything, and would jump through so many tangents that it was hard to follow what the initial conversation was about.

Thankfully, i was able to busy myself with getting everything set up for the class that was just about to begin, and once the bell rang I put the substitute to the side of my mind while I focused on teaching. Once the class was over however, I got to have some interesting conversations with the substitute as well left the classroom. The next day is when I got to speak with my Co-teacher and learn about the experiences. Lesson plans were not followed, similar crazy discussions were had between the sub and the students, and now my Co-Teacher had to work with several classes that were behind with the ones that I was teaching. It was also interesting to learn that the sub, and older woman, had never actually been a teacher in a regular classroom.  So yes, after these experiences, I think I might be jumping on the bandwagon of having stronger regulation of who can and cannot be a substitute.

Turning a Bust Into a Boom

                Had an interesting experience in my class that did not go as well as I would have liked. I gave an opportunity for my students to earn a little extra credit before the end of the grading period. However, I only really planned on several students wanting to volunteer to present these small posters that the students had as an assignment. As it turned out, many of the students wanted to present, and I was pretty worried about timing for the rest of the class. It took me a moment to figure something out, but I could tell that some damage was already done since I said that not everyone would get a chance to present. Some students said that it wouldn’t be fair if some couldn’t present if they wanted to.  What I came up with was to have some people present their posters at the front of the class, while students could support them by adding details from their own posters.

                Now I know that part of the process of teaching is to figure out what works between classes, especially if what you tried the first time fails. Thankfully I had a full day between that class during one period and then the other class during a different period. I was able to reflect on what did and didn’t work. I saw that it would be better to use random picking, where the students could present, while having their peers support them with extra information. This made things run a lot smoother during the second class, and I am glad that I am developing that set of skills.