Good morning and welcome to Monday, by the time you are reading this, I will actually be substituting today. Our local school is doing their TPRI testing to judge the reading level of the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students. Generally, this gives the teacher a sound idea of where the student is at with their reading, reading comprehension, sight words and phonics.
?The testing is pretty individualized and since the instructor has to judge each student individually that means they need a substitute teaching their lesson plan for the day. Which brings me to the topic at hand, discipline in the classroom. Students react differently to a substitute depending on the style of discipline that their teacher uses. Each teacher is different and if you have the opportunity to check in with the teacher while they are there, I’d strongly advise you to do so.
Kids Running Rampant
One teacher I know uses a series of three smiley faces for each behavior color chart. In other words, three strikes and the student moves to yellow. Three more strikes and the student moves to orange. The cards are affixed to each desk and can be wiped off or marked each day with a black marker. The beauty of this system is the student has a very visual reminder of how close they are to having to move their clips.
?Now, this system is a double-edged sword. If you don’t know about the system, you may actually give the students the wrong message. If you do use the system, you need to understand what a real infraction is. Now that being said, don’t be afraid to make your own rules.
Be Yourself
I’ve heard it many times from the kids — “But that’s not how Mrs. So-And-So does it.” My response is always firm and polite. “Mrs. So-and-So is not here today and today we are doing this my way.” You want the kids to be focusing on you and what you have to say, not how much you’re not like their teacher or how unfair you are or how much of a pushover you are.
A class that gets out of hand or crazy can be a real nightmare for a substitute. The best thing to do is to maintain a firm sense of order. For example, I had a very talkative class recently and they just did not want to settle down. They were very prone to interrupting anything I was saying or just ignoring it completely. After the third infraction, any time any of the students did it, I walked over to the lights and turned them off. The students were then required to lay their heads on their desks.
After the third time that this happened, the kids began to get the message. They didn’t like the enforced break or quiet. By lunch time, they were shaping up and when it became very clear that they would miss portions of recess if I didn’t finish the section on social studies, they were snapping to order.
At the end of the day, most of those kids were hugging me and they said they couldn’t wait to see me the next day. I was exhausted, but they were happy and that’s a thrilling feel at the end of the day to know that you’ve made it this far. Remember, be firm, but be kind and once you set the rule, stick to it.
Come back for more from the Substitute Teacher’s Corner this week!