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The 3 things I have learned being a sub:
1: Students' first impressions of a teacher are usually accurate.
Within 30 seconds of a teacher talking, students will decide how far they can push the envelope with that teacher. A substitute must come in confident and in control and quickly establish they are serious. Once the students understand they are going to actually be following the regular teacher's plans, they will be much more cooperative and try to make the most out of the plans as opposed to resisting them completely. Application to teaching: Start your class each period with a road map. Say something like "Today we will be learning about the Mongols, we will have a quick discussion to remind us about yesterday's activity and then watch a video, do a worksheet and then if we have time, start on the homework!" This allows students to digest the schedule and settle them into a routine. Students like routines, whether they say they do or not.
2: Set goals of achievement
Given the choice between completing work and talking to their peers while playing video games on their phones, even the most motivated students will choose the latter! So as a teacher, how do we get kids to work diligently? We give them goals to accomplish! Kids in middle and high school often times have little to no concept of what they will do after school, how things relate to real life or why they are doing --insert any activity--. Thus, as a teacher, we need to inform them what they need to do, when, how quickly, and why! Application to teaching: Have goals for a class on everything, even little tasks like worksheets. Say something at the beginning of class like "The goal of class today is to have everyone finish this worksheet! I will give you periodic updates on the progress of your goal. Get to it!" A great way to keep kids on track is halfway through the period say, "you should be halfway to accomplishing your goal, so if you are not to question 5 of 10 yet, you need to pick up the pace, if you are, then keep going at your pace!" I found, this technique very helpful at keeping classroom discipline and kids finishing their work!
3: Develop an online Personal Learning Network (PLN)
A Personal Learning Network is a connection between you and thousands of other teachers all over the country! As a substitute, I ventured to all sorts of different places and school buildings and met hundreds of people. Since I was rarely in one place for more than two days, I had no one to invest in me and develop professionally, so I created my own "teacher lunch room collaboration" on Twitter. I made a profile and searched for other teachers that share content, ideas, student achievements and other teacher things! It has been a great investment and I plan to continue using my Twitter account (@TeachMrLewis) when I get a permanent teaching position! Application to teaching: Make the teachers you see everyday a part of your learning. Use them to bounce ideas off of and collaborate with them to make your and their lessons better! Share, share share everything you do, whether it fails miserably, or succeeds beyond you wildest imagination. Share it! You might just help others on their quest to become the best teacher they can be!