Last updated on October 27th, 2023 at 03:56 pm
Substitute teaching is pretty much the ultimate gamble of a job. Unless you continuously sub at the same school, chances are, when you accept a job, you have no idea what you’re walking into.
I’m kind of used to this by now, but not numb to it by any means. It’s part thrilling part terrifying, and I say that as someone with an education degree and full-time classroom experience. Subbing’s no joke.
When you find out the class has been substitute taught for a while
When I started signing in at a school yesterday, I was hit with some red flags. Those red flags told me the day would interesting, to say the least.
Another sub approached the desk as I was signing my name. “Oh! Brenda*– you had Thompson’s class last week.” The secretary was talking to the sub behind me, but my ears perked up because she was talking about my assigned class. “Do you want to take them again today or stick with Wilson’s?”
I’ve never heard a woman slip out a sentence so fast. “I’ll keep Wilson’s– thanks!”
Brenda had her pick of my class, which she had apparently taught recently, or a new one. And she chose the new one.
I tried to not overthink this as I located the room and slipped the key in the door, flicking on the lights and illuminating groups of cream-colored desks, some beach-themed inspirational quote posters, and bunches of bandana print curtains drawn over a bank windows on the opposite wall.
Perhaps this class was actually really great, and this sub wanted to let me experience that while she took a group she didn’t know yet. Perhaps.
A woman darted in from a side door and started filling me in on the plans for the day. Apparently most of them hinged on my ability to access technological things. We wrangled a breathlessly busy but very helpful IT staff member, and he helped me log in and operate the smart board.
As the woman explained the lesson plans, the situation at hand bubbled to the surface. She was not the classroom teacher, but another staff member. The teacher normally in this position had quit suddenly. The students had been taught by a rotation of various substitutes for over a week now.
My strategy for a difficult subbing day
My heart took a little plunge with the news that the classroom teacher was no longer at the helm and different substitutes had taken the class for a week. It meant these third graders likely lacked consistency, order, and the security of their teacher.
Would they be lost by the time they reached me today? I sure know how to pick ’em, I thought as the other staff member shuffled out. I was already experiencing regret about leaving my daughter. And now it became apparent that I had left her for this uncertain maelstrom.
There was no use lingering on my choices, my life stuation, or the state of modern education. The only way was through— a lesson I’d learned quite powerfully during the birth of my daughter. We’d survive, and I’d lead them. I scanned the plans for the first break in the day– the students had art in 1.5 hours.
I could do anything for 1.5 hours, I told myself as students started to trickle into the room.
As the students came in and unpacked, I introduced myself and explained their first task. I began the day as I usually do when subbing. This includes an explanation of my expectations (1. Keep your voice off when I’m talking or another student who I’ve called on is talking, and 2. Follow directions). I also practiced my quiet signal (a handy chime) with them.
With these behavior management baselines in place, the room was abuzz in a relatively quiet but unsteady hum. The morning work laid out in the plans was confusing to most of them. I couldn’t get the school’s daily news show to play. The students were still sussing out if I was for real.
I sensed that I would need to regularly reinforce the expectations. I would need to reward, at a consistent dose, the students for chunks of work and listening time. So here is what I did: For the whole class, I motivated them to push through 45-90 minute instructional blocks of time with the promise of a game at the end, if earned.
I outlined what the students would need to do to earn the game and wrote the word GAME in big letters on the dry erase board. The class would need to earn each letter of the word to be awarded a thrilling game of Four Corners at the end of the round. I’ve written about this spelled-out incentive strategy, and not just to be cutesy. It’s simple, and it really works. I used this strategy all day.
Rewards and consequences for a tough class
In conjunction with the whole-class game reward, I also used individual rewards. This is because sometimes the whole class was not on task, but a few individuals were. I wanted to reward them specifically. Luckily, there was a box left on the desk filled with the schools token economy “bucks.” These coveted bucks were dispersed to deserving students throughout the day.
When it comes to negative behaviors, I had reminder conversations with two students with repeated infractions. My general rule is if a student is not following directions, he or she is given a reminder twice. If the student continues in the misbehavior a third time, I ask that they come sit at the teacher table for a bit. It tends to send the message that: 1. I mean what I say and 2. The student needs to reflect on and change their behavior. I find that a change in seating, away from distractions, is pretty effective for shaping up student behavior.
Whether handing students rewards or consequences, I try to stay iron-clad in my consistency. Students need to know that I mean what I say. For a class that’s been under the tutelage of a variety of people with a variety of classroom management (or lack of management) methods, this is especially true.
A sample schedule for getting a class back on track
Each classroom’s schedule will differ, but when you take out the acitivites like lunch, recess and specials, you’re left with chunks of in-class time. The flow of this in-class time can be shaped in a way that sets students up for more success. For example, you will probably face mutiny if you attempt to enforce two straight hours of silent desk work. There are ways to sweeten the day by keeping the activities varied and age-apropriate. Here’s what our schedule looked like with the third graders:
Morning work
35 minutes of desk work– periodic earnings of letters in GAME, periodic bucks earnings for individuals
Break: The earned game (Four Corners)
Language Arts
30 minutes whole-group lesson and instructions
1 hour of literacy centers, in which students rotate activities every 15 minutes– periodic earnings of letters in GAME, periodic bucks earnings for individuals
Break: The earned game
15 minutes engaging chapter book readaloud during snack
Math
15 minutes whole group instruction while earning GAME letters
15 minutes of individual desk work– periodic earnings of letters in GAME, periodic bucks earnings for individuals
15 minutes of partner work– periodic earnings of letters in GAME, periodic bucks earnings for individuals
Break: The earned game
My strategy was to break the day into doable intervals, with chances for whole-class and individual rewards. This created a steady, motivating pace for the day. Yes, we played Four Corners three times. The students probably could have done a few more rounds, even. If they got bored of it, I would’ve switched to a different game like Heads Up Seven Up.
I knew even though the day wasn’t perfect, the rough and tumble strategy had done its job. “Are you coming back tomorrow?” a student asked. “Wow, today went really fast!” another student observed.
What students without a consistent teacher need
Students without a consistent classroom teacher can feel uncertain, uneasy, in limbo. It’s not a great situation for anyone.
As a substitute stepping into this kind of scenario, I know I can help even if I can’t solve the problem completely. I can be a source of stability and calm for a day. I can help these students learn, and if possible, make that learning fun.
That’s why I try to follow through with what I tell them. I try to be a fair referee and formidable tour guide through a potentially bumpy day. Because how I show up to those students that day– in the midst of a chaotic situation– is the thing I can control.
And somehow we made it through.
Substitutes, have you been caught in this scenario before? How did you handle it? I’ve actually been through it before while long-term subbing, but I always like to hear others’ experiences as well!
*Real names changed 🙂
