Wish me luck

[ipitythafool25]

Tomorrow I will officially be substituting for the first time ever ... pour out a little liquor

[Blzer]

Re: Wish me luck

Let them know who's boss from the get-go. Don't let those little bastards think they own you because you're not the normal teacher. It's also good to be liked as a sub at the same time, though. There's definitely a tough happy medium there to find when doing so.

Good luck! Actually, have fun! I've always enjoyed teaching/coaching/tutoring.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Wish me luck

I subbed directly out of college for a year as I thought I wanted to go into teaching.

Middles School, IMO, is the hardest. The kids are all trying to figure themselves out, hormones are raging, attitudes are rediculous...it's just not a pleasant experience.

High School was easy...especially when you get Junior/Seniors. Most of them either care a lot or don't care at all. The ones that do care usually do their work, the ones that don't usually don't show up or just do their own thing...as long as they're not disturbing others, who cares. Freshman were usually easy, just immature and hyper.

Elementary students are also nice to deal with, but they're kids, usually with a lot of energy and it can be a bit trying to get them to settle down. But for the most part, if you are young, they will think you are cool and try to impress you....shorten your last name to a letter "Mr. S" and that will win them over immediately.

Along with what Blazer said, I disagree with showing them who is boss. Everyone knows you are a sub and think back to how your classmates treated subs. They know you are there for one or two days and lack a lot of true control. If you try and play the boss-man card, you'll end up making it harder on yourself and on the other kids. This will only draw out the smart asses in every class room.

If you make them think you are on their side a little bit, you won't get a l lof of crap for them.

I used to go into every High School and Middle School class and basically say the same thing. I'm the sub for the day and this is what we have going on. If you don't want to do it, that is fine with me, just don't bother the kids who do...and sometimes I'd lie and say "I already sent 4 kids to detention from the prior class, so hopefully I don't have to send any more". Also, usually you get movies most of the time, so it can get real easy.

I would suggest starting with elementry school if you can. You can get the feel of the job without the "new guy" look and feel...some of the older kids can smell your fear!!!

[Blzer]

Re: Wish me luck

Along with what Blazer said, I disagree with showing them who is boss. Everyone knows you are a sub and think back to how your classmates treated subs. They know you are there for one or two days and lack a lot of true control. If you try and play the boss-man card, you'll end up making it harder on yourself and on the other kids. This will only draw out the smart asses in every class room.

If you make them think you are on their side a little bit, you won't get a l lof of crap for them.

I think you misunderstood my post. I didn't mean that you should reign the classroom like you're the Trunchbull from Matilda, I just meant that you should expect typical classroom behavior and not provoke a chaotic atmosphere.

Take me as a student, for example. My freshman year in high school I was in an Algebra II/Trig class and we had this really old guy substituting. He was probably at loss for hearing and seeing, so he was a perfect guy to exploit. There was a white board that pretty much filled up the front of the room, but it extended out enough that a TV which stood in the top left corner of the front was nearly invisible to someone writing on the white board. I had a remote control watch which I programmed to that TV and I turned it on in the middle of class. I switched it to Family Feud and turned it up right at the time there was a buzzer on the game show. We all cracked up and he didn't hear a thing. Then I turned it up louder and we practically started watching it in class. Once he had a hint that something was going on he turned towards the TV, but I turned it off right at the same time. Poor guy never knew what hit him.

My point is, if you're supposed to be instructing the glass, be able to instruct it without people like me being a nuisance for you. If you're just supposed to read aloud an activity that everyone is supposed to do and kick back, then you do exactly that. But people are going to be asking to go to the bathroom and then leave for the entire period, there will be those... cell phone texters... and they will be telling you that their teacher lets them do things that they don't really do like have group tests or something. I basically meant cover your ground and be there for 50 minutes at a time. There are ways to be able to govern a bunch of children while at the same time being on their good side.

[youvalss]

Re: Wish me luck

Actor? Broadway? haha...

Just kidding. Good luck, remember that you're in charge, not them. I think it's all about first impression.

[Speedy]

Re: Wish me luck

My freshman year in high school I was in an Algebra II/Trig class and we had this really old guy substituting. He was probably at loss for hearing and seeing, so he was a perfect guy to exploit. There was a white board that pretty much filled up the front of the room, but it extended out enough that a TV which stood in the top left corner of the front was nearly invisible to someone writing on the white board. I had a remote control watch which I programmed to that TV and I turned it on in the middle of class. I switched it to Family Feud and turned it up right at the time there was a buzzer on the game show. We all cracked up and he didn't hear a thing. Then I turned it up louder and we practically started watching it in class. Once he had a hint that something was going on he turned towards the TV, but I turned it off right at the same time.

Nice.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Wish me luck

We did the TV thing once. Althought it would just be static so it was kind of lame.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Wish me luck

Don't be a pushover, or it'll be utter chaos the entire time. A good teacher will leave plenty of "busy work" for them to do. Only time you really run into trouble is if they have nothing to do.

Most of my first year teaching, I felt like a substitute.

[NoDakHusker]

Re: Wish me luck

Good luck with that!

I remember in high school having this really old guy for a sub who basically used the substitute teaching job as a way to take old guy naps. He couldn't hear for crap and within a few minutes of class starting he was in the teacher's chair sleeping(and occasionally snoring lol).
Good times, good times. One time my senior year, the entire class got up and left...it was the last class of the day, so we were like, what the heck. Yes, we did get away with it and it was awesome.

[adice15]

Re: Wish me luck

Here is my sub story:
In 3rd grade i would always get sick. One day we had an world war 2 vet subbing. So i go up to him and tell him i have a head ache and i need to go to the nurse. He then proceeds to pull out a pocket knife and say: "Well, i could just cut it off, then it wouldnt hurt". And he was not joking either. Needless to say, i told my teacher on him and he never subbed in class again. But in 5th grade he was our p.e sub. That was the worse pe class ever. He made it suck so bad for that whole class. To make it worse, his name was Mr. Barney

[ipitythafool25]

Re: Wish me luck

Well I made it out alive, 7th grade science and the teacher left no lesson plan ..thrown to the wolves my first day. I found some stuff for them to do as busy work, the school had an early release day which cut each class down to like 30 minutes a piece which helped tremendously

1st and 2nd period were super small, like 10 kids each and they were a breeze so I thought I had the day made.. then 3rd period rolled in 26 kids..and it was chaos at first, but quickly reigned them in. 4th was the same size but they were absolutely perfect.. they all walked in saw the assignment on the board and went right to it, I was amazed.

Then came lunch and planning period which were a nice little break before the real storm hit .. the last two classes were devil children..I dont know if it was the fact the were getting out early and have fall break next week and were just tuned out, or if they were spawn of the devil.. a few of them were great but man ... wow just sums it up

So overall it was an experience, definitely would have went better had it not been my first time ever subbing, middle school, with no lesson plans, and dealing with an early release followed by fall break ..the perfect storm.. but I loved it , I'm going to school to be a teacher eventually and it was just great actually having something close to that experience and hopefully the future wont have so many crazy things happening each time lol

[wsu_gb23]

Re: Wish me luck

^ Glad you made it through your first time as a sub. I am also a substitute teacher and teaching 6th, 7th and 8th graders is no treat at all. I sub a lot in Phy-ed as that is my degree, and that is a lot better than the regular classroom because kids are allowed to be noisy in the gym. Good luck the rest of the way, it looks like you're off to a good start.