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Barbara Pressman is the author of book Substitute Teaching from A to Z (McGraw-Hill, 2008), available in all major bookstores and Amazon.com. To find out more, visit: www.substituteteachingatoz.com
If you have a question for Barbara,
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"Is it necessary to say “Yes” to every subbing assignment that is offered to me?" |
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Dear Barbara,
I am proud to say that I have a good reputation in my school district, after subbing here for a little over a year. Most students seem to be happy when I’m their sub for the day. Many teachers put in requests for me, or call me directly.
Although I’m usually pretty effective with classroom management, there have been some classes that have been very tough to handle. In the past, I’ve said yes, even for those difficult groups.
Do you think I should continue to say yes, even when I know the day will be really hard for me?
Kelly
Little Rock, Arkansas
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"What can I do this summer to prepare for next year’s subbing assignments?" |
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Dear Barbara,
Summer is here and I’m enjoying my free time. But I feel as if I should be doing something! Do you have any ideas for me? I want to be sure that I can be prepared and successful for my very first call to sub in the 2010-2011 school year.
Doug
Cooper City, CA
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"Will I be able to Sub in High School?" |
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Dear Barbara,
I’m a new sub and have been working mostly at the elementary and middle school level. I really enjoy grades 4- 6 the most. I would like to work every day, and I know that if I sign up to work at the high school, I’ll have more subbing days. Other subs have told me that it’s not that hard.
I am worried about subbing in an advanced class. What if I really don’t know the material? If students ask me a question about Geometry or Chemistry, I’m afraid I’ll make a fool of myself if I don’t know the answer. Yet I feel that I might be good at working in the high school. Plus… I need the money? Any advice? I really appreciate you help.
Ashley
Medford, MA
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"Nagging and Negative – How can I change?" |
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Dear Barbara,
I had an awful day today. The fifth graders filed in at 7:45. I was sitting at my desk, and the students walked right up to me and started asking for special favors. I was asked to solve disagreements even before class began!
I found myself pleading for quiet. It set me off on a negative path for the whole day. Yelling and nagging never work, and I know that. For some reason, I was in a bad mood and had very little patience for the students.
I hate being that way. Can I recover? It’s not who I am, and it’s not who I want to be.
Amanda
Davie, Florida
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"How Can I Make Math Class Fun?" |
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Dear Barbara,
I just finished your book and LOVED it, particularly the specific dialogue examples from yourself and other teachers. I am a new substitute with no previous teaching experience. So far I have subbed for a High School History class and an English class, and five days in a 6th grade Math class. The five days in 6th grade were very difficult. The teacher left VERY basic things to do: bellwork, check homework, copy notes on the board, give new homework. The topic was adding and subtracting mixed numbers. I made a worksheet. I tried to make the example problems in the teacher's notes more realistic by turning the numbers into word problems using bars of chocolate. I even made a Bingo card using equations.
Any time I tried to make it fun and have the students solve to get to the answer, they didn't get it and started talking amongst themselves. By the third day, I learned the trick you mentioned in your book of writing a word on the board and reserving the last ten minutes of class for a game if there were still letters by the end of class. That seemed to work pretty well. I found that the students were still not interested in doing work. Upon handing out a worksheet, one girl said, "You mean we have to think?" For every worksheet I handed out, multiple kids said, "Do we have to do this?" I said yes, but didn't push them to do it. How does a sub make a math class fun and draw students in when they seem to have no interest in learning at all?
Thank you for sharing your experiences and being willing to give advice! You don't know how much of a God-send you are.
Stacy
Chino Valley, AZ
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