Thread: what a sub wants from a teacher

You mean you don't always have the answer key? It would not occur to me to NOT leave one. (Besides: sometimes my subs will even correct the work for me when I do that. :lol: )

I must agree that answer keys are good. I never know what subject I will teach, but either way it has been too many years since I have studied some of these things. So, while I might feel 80-90% sure I remember something, or that I think I could get it right, I don't feel that is adequate enough for the kids. Sometimes, seeing the answer reassures me that I did know what I was doing, or it reaffirms that I didn't. I just want to do a good job teaching the kids because I want to be a teacher. This is experience for me. So, I try with every resource I can find to help the kids. They look to me to help because they know me because I'm a permanent sub. They will look at me with a confused look and say, "I don't get it Ms. teacher! Help me." Well, that line always taps my heart. I always go through whatever I can with the ones that are struggling and cry out like that. It is funny how they call me Miss, or Ms. teacher because many or most know my name by now. Some of the others will scold those and say, "that is not her name!" hehehe. Anyway, I guess that I just want the teachers to know that I do try my best, and that I do assume the best about them as well. Like if something is missing, I assume that the teacher forgot it, didn't have time or something like that. I guess that because I want to be a good teacher, I am paranoid about whether the teachers think well of me or not. I always try to follow all instructions and lesson plans exactly. If something is not there in the instructions to do, I don't because different teachers like different things. Some have seating charts that they like you to mark, and some just leave one roll sheet to mark for each class. I guess that the most annoying thing that has ever happened to me and the kids was when I was left with nothing but roll sheets and a transparency of the work. It was math. There was nothing for me to look at for explanation really. Even answers would not have helped me this time. I needed a teacher's addition with explanation and examples. I like to go over some examples and explanation first when I teach a math class. Okay, well I have more than 2 cents in. So, I'll be quiet. [/b] One more thing... I sometimes want to ask a teacher if I did alright or if there was some way I could improve, but it is always later in the day, and they look tired. I would be open to constructive criticism. I wish I could see what they are thinking about my performance.

I am a first year teacher. Before I was hired for my position I was a sub for a year. In my experience, I have learned not to expect too much from teachers. When you are sub, the class assignments are usually busy work; video/video notes or boring worksheets. I soon learned that I needed to prepare things for myself. If worksheets were left (answer keys too) I would use them. I always brought extra things for students to do if they finished early. Trivia, word finds, crosswords, sponge activities. These are all great for those students that finish early. There is always one who does. They are even good for those resistent students who think becauase the teacher is gone they can do what ever they want. I always carried my special "sub bag" that had these materials, treats, a basic first aid kit (this avoids unnecessary trips to nurse) and other usefull things that would help me get through the day. Another thing I did was to arrive early. I know sometimes you may recieve an assignemnt 30 min. before school starts. For those other times, I always arrived at least 30 min before the first class started to look over lesson plans, plan last minute activities, find the answers to the worksheets they left with no answer key. Also to find; helpful teachers, the lunchroom, the bathroom and office.
Because of this 95% of the time I really enjoyed my days being a sub!
Good Luck

i found that it was good practice to create a set of lesson plans for different subjects. this way, if a teacher didn't leave anything for me, i could reach into my bag and pull out a plan for the day for that subject.

teachers rarely neglect to leave lesson plans, but it happens. sometimes, a teacher gets in an auto accident and simply can't leave plans. sometimes there is the rare teacher who just doesn't leave them out of lethargy, spite, or who knows what.

if you prepare some simple outlines for yourself, you can take away a lot of the undue stress of being left without a paddle. it also gives you a chance to see what plans work and what plans don't.

some subjects are easier than others. social science is a very easy class to adlib for, because you can just ask the kids what time period they are on and start a discussion. i loved subbing history classes because of this. anything involving social awareness or current events is perfect material for a colloquium. physics and other sciences are similar because you can spend the day broadening their ideas about what they are currently learning. if they are talking about gravity, teach them about newtonian versus einsteinian explanations for gravity, or about space-time and wormholes. for english, you can get yourself a list of quotes, and get the students involved in discussing the meanings, or writing journal reactions to them. make it fun, choose john lennon, or 50 cent instead of shakespeare. math is a little more difficult, because it's harder to adlib. i usually just asked them what they were learning about and got the class involved in some on-the-board lessons.

anyhow, the key is to think about it ahead of time. try not to let the students have a "fun day" were they get no education, but instead gear them toward a socratic discussion, or something a little new to them.

joe