Substitute Teaching Tips
Read these 11 Substitute Teaching Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Academic tips and hundreds of other topics.
A Packet For Substitute Teachers - 5
Tell a student, "I'd like to know you better. Please write a half page for me on this topic:
•If I won a million dollars, I would . . .
•The best time I ever had was . . .
•What I like most in a friend is . . .
•I would like to be an educated/uneducated person because . . .
•What worries me most in the world is . . .
•In my spare time I like to . .
After You Sub...
Leave a note for the teacher telling them what you did while they were away.
•When subbing in a Middle or High School classroom, leave the teacher a list of who was absent from class that day.
•Close and lock windows and doors.
•Return any and all AV equipment to the proper place.
•If you have a bad day subbing sit quietly in the room until you feel better.
•Wait until after the students leave before leaving the teacher a note as to how the day went.
How To Substitute Teach
1. Buy or make a daily calendar to keep track of your assignments.
2. Decorate and laminate a regular folder in which to store your calendar and timesheet.
3. Design and print business cards and letterhead to leave in each classroom.
4. Create a substitute teacher "grab bag" full of supplies, such as markers, chalk, a whistle, scissors, videos, transparencies, tissues, and more.
5. Organize several emergency lesson plans and activities for various grade levels.
Substitute Self Preservation
When I gave my speech on what was expected, I gave it like a Drill Sergeant. I even had kids ask me if I had been in the service. Then later, when they were well behaved, I would loosen up and have fun with them.
I've never, ever, had it work when I went in as a loving, giving soul and then tried to get tough when things fell apart.
A Packet For Substitute Teachers -1
Keep a list of assignments that can be listed by number on the chalkboard. When a student is ready for something new, and the classroom teacher did not provide more work, turn his or her mind to one of the numbered items on the chalkboard.
While You Sub...
•Consider calling yourself a guest teacher.
•When addressing a serious behavior issue with a child speak to them privately at the front of the room after giving the rest of the class an assignment.
•Instead of having the students read you read to them. Stop occasionally to see if they are with you.
•Watch how you speak to the students.
Substitute/Teacher Relationship
Work together with your substitute to create a unique learning experience with your students.
A Packet For Substitute Teachers - 4
Relieve the solid work atmosphere once or twice with a game, such as Twenty Questions or Who Am I?
Read a one or two-page story (short).
Substitute Classroom Management for Elementary age
Count to 5 when they got loud or unruly. If I made it to 5, then they would lose 5 minutes off their recess time.
Before You Sub...
•Secure a copy of the school district calendar for the various districts where you sub.
•Get up early, like 4:30 am, to be ready to go whenever a sub call comes in.
•Get a separate phone number for all your sub calls. •Use your answering machine to announce your availability.
•Call the sub services if you don't have a job for the day.
A Packet For Subsitute Teachers
Have the students write a short paragraph that you dictate. Collect their papers. From this pack you can tell amazing things - each student's handwriting, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and neatness. You can identify a few particularly able students to call on for assistance.
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| Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |
