[In My Words] 10 Ways to Be an Awesome Substitute Teacher

I have been blessed to have had a job continuously right out of college. I applied for so many schools before I even graduated, sent cover letters and resumes to every.single.principal in the area (public and private elementary schools), and received my first job at the school I had attended growing up, population: small. But this school (this wonderful school that I miss SO much!) opened up so many more doors for me. It was a great first class for my first year of teaching, and helped ease me into the demands of being a teacher. Because of this, I was able to obtain a job in a bigger city in a public school. I taught first grade last year, and second grade this year. In my opinion, second grade is my favorite, but it was a fun challenge to teach first grade. You're SO important in teaching them to read, and it's WONDERFUL when they catch on and it becomes easier for them.

But on to my real topic. Many, many college graduates in the education field are not as blessed as I am. My first year of applying, I was informed that there were over 250 applicants for the Moorhead school district alone. This includes recent graduates, those that are getting back into the field, those that may have been cut and need to find a new position, and those that have been subbing.

So how do you get your foot in the door as a substitute? You keep getting requests for jobs.

And how do you get repeated requests for jobs?  You please the teacher, get on her "good list" (yes there is such a thing), and keep getting asked back and referred to other teachers.

Here is my say on what makes a good substitute teacher, according to what I appreciate and expect for my classroom. The following will probably (not guaranteed) move you to a teacher's "good list", and hopefully be added to other teachers' lists.

Top 10 Ways 

to be an 

Awesome Substitute Teacher

1. Show up on time.
Nothing says teacher material than someone who shows up on time, or best yet, early. As a substitute, you do not know what you are walking into and you do not know what is expected. An organized teacher will usually provide a lesson plan and information (I keep mine in a substitute binder.) You need time to go through this. Which leads to...

2. ... read the material.
Us teachers do not spend 4 hours on lesson plans just to have you "skim over it" or disregard it completely. We meticulously plan out every part of the day, in hopes to ensure that you are not left with your hands up in the air with no idea what to do. We include important information: what to do in an emergency, the kiddos that need extra attention/help, pullout schedule, medical info <--- this stuff is important, and you need time to read it before the students come in.

3. Establish a relationship with the children.
Students figure out real quick if they can walk all over you or not. One way to dissolve this a little bit is to establish a relationship with them right away in the morning. Tell them about yourself. Talk about your family, pets, life. Let them ask questions (after they raise their hand and you call on them.) I've known some teachers that even have an "introductory bag" that they bring to every new classroom. It includes items that they can use to "show and tell" about themselves.

4. Be authoritative. 
As mentioned above, students will figure you out pretty quick. If you nip behavior in the bum right away, it shows that you aren't going to let them walk all over you. If you're really quiet and timid, students will see this and act upon it.

5. Stick to the lesson plan as much as you can.
We get it. We understand that you try your best, and things don't move as smoothly because this isn't your classroom, and isn't your class. You're getting to know the kiddos while teaching while reading the lesson plan at the same time. But we also like when you a) show up early, b) read the lesson plan, and c) stick to it as much as possible. If you miss a section, that's okay. But what frustrates teachers the most is to come back to the classroom and see notes written all over the lesson plan saying, "Oops! Missed this...and this...and this...and this.." Also, like I said, time is a tough component of subbing, but we are also okay if you "run out of time" and stop the project, or if you use a little bit of the next block to finish up. What scares us and when we see something that we know the kids can do taking 3 times as long as usual.

6. Collect paperwork correctly.
When in doubt, have the kiddos turn it in. And make sure their names are on it. Self-explanatory.

7. Tidy up.
Nothing makes me happier than walking into my classroom after a substitute day and seeing that I have minimal tidying up to do. One time, I had a sub that paperclipped each set of papers together, with those incomplete paperclipped in a different pile. She then laid them neatly on my desk, in a pile. It was beautiful. Most kiddos love to clean, too. I use this magic phrase that goes like this, "Alright everyone, before we go out for recess, I need you to clean up 7 things that aren't where they belong!" and BAM our room is clean. Works at any time of the day. Also, to earn brownie points - if you see anything that needs copying (and I usually leave items for prep, with specific directions), do it. Sharpen pencils. Wipe down tables. Clean up garbage.

8. Learn how to think on the fly.
This is teacher life. You may think, "As soon as I become a teacher, I won't have to do this." But you do. Every day. When a lesson is too easy or too hard, you have to think on the fly. When you misplaced something (because it happens), you have to think on the fly When art is cancelled on the day you sub (it JUST happened to my sub this Thursday), you have to think on the fly. Another great thing to do is...

9. ... Have a back up plan and use the emergency sub plans.
I know of many subs that actually bring their own ideas with them, in case they need to fill time or they don't understand how to teach a lesson (P.S. I would rather have you teach something else than teach something you do not understand at all...it may be taught wrong). Many bring "fun sheets" and make copies at the beginning of the day. Others bring a book with an activity to go along with it. Want a hint? Children LOVE art.

And last, but not least...

10. Leave feedback.
I LOVE feedback. I love seeing who held it together and who needed extra help. I love knowing what was taught, what was skipped, what went well, what didn't go well. It makes me want to have you back, because you took the time to write something down. A teacher puts in way more time than the 7:25-2:40 time you put in. Better prepare yourself for the future :)

Hope you enjoy!


Love,
Mrs. Larson

Establishing a Positive Environment: Compliment Cubes

One of the areas I really wanted to work on this year was establishing respect and rapport in my classroom. It's pretty easy for me to display these traits, but second graders? Well, they need to be taught. Most second graders act quickly. It's the way their maturity handles it. As they get older, they are able to think more about a situation and naturally see it from different perspectives. For now, we have to provide opportunities for them to explore ways to express feelings every day in a considerate manner.

Enter the compliment cubes! My desire was to open up my littles minds into the power of compliments. Children seek these out. Have you ever seen a child work really hard on a drawing, then seek you out for you to say something about it? Or how about when you only pick three students to share their work, but after you have them put it in their mailbox, two others seek you out to show you how they solved it? Many young children need reassurance that what they are doing is okay - mistakes and all (because that IS okay!) - and that we approve of them and like them as human beings.

I discovered, however, that the compliments that these students liked to give centered around material objects.

I like your blue shoes!
I like your Taylor Swift folder!
Your kitten notebook is so cute!

You know those compliments. The compliments they default to, because it's easy, they mean it, and life is almost always about the toys you have, the price of your clothes, and the animals on your school supplies.

So we started out by having a lesson on compliments. I stated what compliments can be, gave an example, and then they came up with examples so that they could try giving compliments. Here is what we came up with:

If you can't read it, it says:

Compliments:

• How they are acting and how it helps (Thank you for working quietly. It has helped me concentrate.)
• How they are working to succeed (I like how you are reading quietly. I like how hard you are working at math.)
• What they do for you and how it makes you feel. (Thank you for inviting me to play. It makes me happy.)

I really, really wanted my kiddos to express how they feel during this, because it allows the recipient to see how their actions affect others. For example, if Sammy gives Sally (a student who likes to blurt) a compliment such as, "I like how you raised your hand today. It made me feel respected." then Sally is going to think twice about blurting next time. (See? Reverse psychology here.)

But I wanted a way to manage these compliments. More of a way to make sure it happened every day. So I introduced the compliment cubes. They are numbered cubes - sharpie marker which needs to be rewritten every now and then - (my littles have numbers assigned at the beginning of the year...makes EVERYTHING easier) that are placed in a bucket by the door. We established the correct times to grab these cubes, and the rules. As in...once you draw one, you cannot put it back because you don't like the person ;) Most of my students grab them during morning work time, while others might grab them during our Daily 5 or math stations time (where THEY are majorly responsible for their learning. We talked about self-reflecting and seeing if this is a good time to grab a cube or not.) The whole transaction takes MAYBE a minute per child, and usually has a snowball effect. At first I really wanted to control my snowball effect, but then I recognized the importance of establishing this community in my classroom. Usually the "snowball effect" calms down after 2-3 minutes and everyone gets back to work. 

When a student gives someone a compliment, they also give them their cube, and the recipient places their cube on the "tower" of cubes being collected by the whiteboard. I lost my picture, but basically, students just stack their cubes on top of each other. We discussed how we need to "build each other up" every day...hence the tower. Yes, I'm creative, I know :p

I was nervous that this wouldn''t latch on with my students, but the desire to receive compliments spurs the desire to give compliments. I even have a blank cube in there so students can give me compliments (which is the greatest thing, according to them), and I can give a compliment a day too. If I ever see the need to spur on compliments, I grab a cube and give a compliment, and soon a bunch of students are starting it up.

My kiddos don't stop at the compliment cube anymore. They did, at first. But now they are offering compliments even if they don't have the cubes! Their manners are wonderful, their behavior toward each other is so respectful...it's beautiful! I know that I taught them about this, but in the end, it's the kiddo's choice to learn and practice it. Young children are yearning to learn, so remember that you are the prime role model to teach them.

Love,

Mrs. Larson

Be That Light

Whoa, it's been awhile since an update. Have I mentioned that being a teacher sucks away all your time once August hits, and when you do have free time, you use it to come up with cute little things for your classroom that you could put off until you HAD free time? That's the life of a teacher, and it can be very rewarding.

One thing I've noticed - and this is a shout out to all teachers out there - is that attitudes start to change around the beginning of October - about a month after school starts. In September, we all head in with these huge, honest smiles stretched across our face as we meet the bubbly littles that inhabit our room seven hours a day. As the month rolls on, I've noticed these smiles sometimes becoming less honest and more plastered. I find that we stop visiting each other, stop celebrating the wins, and laughing about the "REAALLY?" moments that happen in our day. We become wrapped up in the things that start to bring our attitudes down: stress, kiddos that need extra work, extra work that we need, extra work that is required of us...and we start forgetting about staying strong and happy.

Teachers - my friends, my coworkers, you strangers out there.
Do. Not. Forget. That you are important. Not only to the littles that mess up your room, but to the adults you work with. You are what helps me proceed every day. You are who inspires me. You are as important in shaping my life as you are in shaping your students. Because what you do, what you say, what you believe, what you provide, will always impact me, good and bad.

Do. Not. Forget. That you need to keep yourself happy too. Find a way to de-stress. I run. I knit. I sew. I zone in front of the television while eating a pound of chocolate. But one way that I've found helps me de-stress in the work place is visiting other staff. It could be talking about our personal lives, venting about our school lives, bouncing ideas off each other...either way, that personal interaction is so important.

So don't stop. Don't let that smile become fake. If it does, you'll never  make it out alive. Look for the GOOD in your classroom on those days when everything seems to be going wrong. Because, at the end of the day, the most important thing isn't that Susie didn't know how to add, but that she got to spend time with you, she feels safe and loved, and you fostered a desire for learning. Susie may not know how to add mentally until 5th grade, but you will always provide a step in her learning.

Smile. Smile through it all. Be that light in a child's darkness. Be that light.