May
22
1st grade substitute for 3 days
ByHello Peers, My name is Shelley Crawford and I am a substitute teacher in Baltimore City, Maryland public school system. I have an assignment next week teaching 1st graders for 3 days. How would your approach be modified to help 1st graders maintain classroom discipline? I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter. Have a wonderful day as well!
Sincerely,
Shelley Crawford
On the very first of 5 days that I was substituting for a high school math class, 4 students were talking disruptively to 1 nearby. I asked the 1 student who was the focus of attention to change her seat. She was offended: “This is my regular seat that my regular teacher assigned me to.” She referred herSELF to the administration to get excused from the class for the remaining 4.5 days. That had the advantage of getting her away from the other 4 students who were talking with her, but it completely removed any ability I might have had to use re-seating as a management tool.
Having a class list will not always help you identify everybody; people will lie about their names. Ideally you need a photo roster, but I get that regularly/reliably at maybe 3 of 13 schools where I substitute-teach.
Nicole,
Sorry it has taken me so long to answer.
Below are my abridged rules. What works best for me is to address each child as I greet him or her in the AM before they enter the classroom. I have what people describe a “kind and gentle” personality. This does not work well for most classes as a sub. I have turned to being quite stern- not so friendly. I don’t like it, but the alternative is having a miserable day.
I had a horrible day last week with the first grade class I sub for. There are 3 very damaged little boys in the class that have severe anger issues(rage at each other). I made the mistake of applying some of the new techniques from my districts professional workshop I had attended the night before. Although I the philosophy is beautiful, it doesn’t work well as a sub with these children.(Glasser’s Nurtured Heart). I love the philosophy and premise, yet I do not have enough of a consistent exposure to these children to build this.
First, I post this on the door and read it to each child and have them look me in the eye and agree to it…
Go into the room, go to your desk, get started on your work, no talking. Then we go over the rules after everyone has arrived
1-Enter the classroom calmly and quietly, ready to learn.
2-Follow directions the first time. The teacher will not give warnings.
3-Never get out of your seat unless you are told that you may. This includes for bathroom use, sharpening pencils, drinks and garbage. ( I have pencils sharpened for them an go over what to do with garbage… WAIT)
4-Raise your hand and wait to be called on to speak.
5- Show respect for yourself and others AT ALL TIMES in the way you talk and interact with them.
6- Be on task AT ALL TIMES. If you finish early, read or sit quietly and wait. School is for learning.
7-My teacher does not argue. If I am told to do something I will do it immediately without complaint.
8-My teacher does not give warnings. This is my warning. A violation of these rules will be met immediately with a loss of recess, meeting with the counselor or principal or suspension from school.
S. Africa- huh? Hope your new year is going well. We need more primary/elementary teachers in this forum- don’t you think?
Hi, Sharon. Can you post an example of you abridged version of the rules? I teach Grade 1 and am interested in the way you have implemented the technique. School holidays are nearly over (South Africa). Although I am looking forward to giving CD101 a good go, I am also wary re my class. Like your class, they are very challenging. Although it is the start of a new academic year, I have 13 repeats and am fully aware of what I face, not to mention the additional 24 that will be joining us for 2010. How are things going in your neck of the woods?
I recently bought and read your book , Craig. (Thank you thank you!!!).
My big question is , are there some tips / rules /methods that are applicable for the primary and elementary students? Something that I didn’t realize when I bought the book was that it was more targeted for the upper grades. I still find it very useful, but little kids do have slightly different needs. I did implement some of your methods the other day and had some great results as described below…
I have been a substitute teacher for 7 years now and one of those years I was a leave replacement teacher for a third grade class. I had an excellent year, my classroom control pretty good… even with a few very challenging students….but subbing is another story for me. I’ve been rethinking continuing as a teacher all together, but know that it is subbing that is the problem. So,,, after reading your book and tips for subs, I tried to implement what I could as I subbed in my VERY VERY challenging second grade class the other day. One of the things that made the biggest difference was that I let no student into the classroom in the morning until they looked me in the eye and agreed that they were there to learn, knew what good classroom behavior was and would go to their desk, stay in their seat, begin their work and not talk. I found that 2 of the worse offenders really bought into it.They almost seemed relieved actually. After they were all assembled, I went over an abridged version of the 10 rules. I emphasized that this was their warning and that there would be no more. This class has a high proportion of pretty mentally disturbed children with major behavior issues. So, if one child is loosing it, it is difficult to stop, deal with him or her and keep the others under wraps. I made the decision to have pencils sharpened for each student and took their chairs down and placed them at their desks before the start of school. I wanted things as calm as possible.
Wow! Mr. Wasavary! I wish I had thought of that! There were so many times I wished for a seating chart! I should have made my own like you did!
It was good of you to give advise on the class room management because many educators need those tips on how to manage the class room.
For future jobs, I would definitely use the routine the teacher has set for these young students to avoid confusion or cause insecurity in their day. The teacher’s lesson plan is the substitutes guideline which usually follows what is being taught according to state standards. This should be followed as closely as possible.
I know teachers sometimes provide more than enough work, especially paperwork (not a plus) for students to complete and this seems to cause frustration because it is not the normal routine that they expect. If possible, I would interject a fun, tested learning game to break any monotonous paperwork.
Also, call the teacher if a three-day gig is what you’re up for. Keep numbers of teachers that you usually sub for to get the ins and outs of her classroom, especially if there are any special needs children that need to go for treatment or therapy.
This is a suggestion for middle school-high school subs. As I call attendance I take the time to make a seating chart, with first names and initials. I make a copy of the class list before class starts if I have to turn one in to the attendance office so I can keep one and now I can identify every student by his full name. This takes away the anonymity the students feel they have with a sub. I also find students will frequently move chairs to be near friends; if I see this I immediately relocate them some distance away. If they try to claim that is where they always sit, I say that today I am the teacher, so I choose the seats. All this is not a silver bullet, but does help keep the classes from becoming too crazy. If I am actually teaching, as opposed to the more common handing out some work and babysitting, it is wonderful as I can call on students by name.
For 3 days (knowing students need a strong routine) would you not follow what the original teacher has put in place? OR is that not working?