Substitute Life

I have learned so much substituting in all the grades from kindergarten to grade 12. Every time I substitute I always leave with an idea. I also leave the school knowing what I like and what I do not. I find out what works and what doesn't. I love working as a substitute. The only downside is that I want to know the students and create a rapport with them. As a substitute I am in a different class every day and I do not remember the names past that day.

KINDERGARTEN

It is in this grade that it all starts. The students are like little sponges and I enjoy seeing their faces light up when they understand something new. Every time I work in a kindergarten class I always come away with something new. I am alway interested to see how the teacher schedules her class and how the class is organized. I believe that I learn a lot from going into kindergarten classes.

GRADE 1-3

It is during these grades that I get the most ideas about future projects such as for independent studies science and how to organize my future class. When I come home I alway write down ideas in my notebook about how to start the day, the schedule of the day and dismal. I feel that I will have all that organized by the time I have my own class.

Grade 4-6

Whether I am in Red Deer or Wolfcreek I enjoy these grades. Maybe it is because I have a child in grade 4 but I find that there are so many ideas that I could potentially teach these students. I like to take the different classroom management systems because I like to meld them all together and make my own.

Grade 7-9

I have taught in several grade 7-9 classes. These grade are a little different. I have found that it is in these grade that teachers specialize in different subjects. Since I took the elementary track I am a generalist. however I do favour some subjects more because I believe that they are very important. These subjects are Language, Math and Social Studies. I believe that there is so much that these students can achieve and with the right guidance they can do wonderful things.

Grade 10-12

I have taught mostly grade 10 and 20 math. I have also taught grade 10-12 PE and sports performance. these are fun classes to teacher because it is like teaching adults. I can explain concepts in more sophisticated language and they will understand. If there is something I do not know I will learn it.

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March 18- 22, 2019

This week I worked in a grade 10/11 math class, grade 7, grade 2 and a kindergarten class.

Math 10

We worked on conversion from imperial to metric and back again. The more I explained it the more I explained it the more I understood it and, in turn, the more the students understood it. By the end of the third class I was explaining it so well that the students really understood it. they even tanked me for it.

i believe students learn better from a teacher that is enthusiastic about what she is teaching. For me, when I learn something new about the concept I am teaching, or understand it better, I show more enthusiasm about it.

Math 20

The students were doing a review on radicals. It has been so long since I have worked on radicals that I decided to take my lunch and relearn radicals. All lunch I watch khan academy and practiced radicals so I could help the students if they needed it. I am not afraid of relearning things or improving on them. That is the definition of growth mindset. I enjoy learning new ways of doing things or refreshing old ideas. I believe in life long learning. There is ALWAYS SOMETHING to learn. I strive to learning at least one thing NEW a day. This keeps my mind fresh and keeps me on my toes

March 25-29, 2019

This week I taught in grade 7, 2 and kindergarten.

Grade 7

I taught math and pe. In math we worked on fractions and fraction strips. Besides the concept the classroom management was well established with them. I have tried a generic approach by counting down from 5 and saying things like we will be quiet in 5-4-3-2-1 or we will be looking up front in 5-4-3-2-1 etc... If I could find an attention getter that is different from older students I would.

In pe I ran a badminton pyramid tournament with the students. In this tournament there are rows of students. Each student can challenge another student on one higher level or the pyramid. Who ever win can replace the name of that students.

Grade 2

I taught daily 5 and pe. I am well established in daily 5 because every elementary grade that I teach follows the same program, with the read to self, read to a partner, work on writing, listen to reading and reading on technology. It is wonderful to see the students all working on their reading and writing; I believe that reading a writing are the most fundamental skill that you need in life.

I know lots of games for students grade 1-6 so we played animal tag, with rubber animals, and tree tag. The kids had fun and then they got to pick their own game. The game that they played was like British Bulldog except they called out hockey instead.

Kindergarten

I always love working in a kindergarten class, the students are always so happy. I learned a new program for units. Every unit the teacher makes a 'contract' for the students to complete. One side of the contract states the outcomes of the unit and the other side has 4 pictures of different activities that display these outcomes. When these 'contracts' are done they are put in their portfolios, which are made with the students.

I absolutely wished I would have been a substitute teacher before I was a kindergarten teacher last year. I am learning so much about different class programs but also a lot about myself as a professional teacher. I believe that it I was asked to work in a kindergarten class now I would totally know what to do.

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April 1-5, 2019

There were two days that I taught grade 3/4 and day of highschool foundations.

I tried something new in the grade 3/4 class. I found this on the internet. I explained to the students my rules and had a picture of a Lego Man with sections. I coloured in one section everytime the whole class listened and followed the rules. they started with 3 minutes and each section filled was one minute. after tomorrow they will get that many minutes free time. I am curious to see if it works the same way tomorrow.

If I were to use this for my class I would make it 30 minutes and only when the whole class was silent at once would they get a section filled in. Free time would always happen the last day of the week.If only 15 minutes were coloured in they would only have 15 minutes free time.

My new system worked. The trick is to ask the students what the reward should be- they said free time- and work towards that; then honor that. At the end of the day they received 15 minutes of free time.

I was feeling pretty comfortable in a grade 3/4 class. I like this age group because they ask questions when they are unsure of what is being taught instead of either believing what i say or not believing anything. There is a delicate balance between believing all or not believing anything. This seems to be the grade 3-6

I think that I will used the same system for the higher grades but I would just use a thermometer template. I would colour the sections in all week and on the last day of the week the free time will be awarded. I know this is extrinsic motivation but if this helps them work then, hopefully, it will turn into intrinsic motivation.

I worked in a foundation classroom in a high school. it was a little different than what I am used to, but it worked. All the students were working and content.

they have a program that allows them to have free time on Fridays for the last period. This motivates the students to do their work the rest of the week.

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April 8-12, 2019

Grade 5

I used the same system as with the grade 3s with my lego man. It did not work as well, but they still got some free time. I need to refine it, I am going to give a minute when the whole class is quiet and the whole class follows the " GIVE ME 5". I also discovered that having snacks whenever in the classroom really bothers me.

when I am subbing I am discovering things about myself that I want to incorporate in my teaching. Either as a rule or as a method of teaching.

Kindergarten

Today I worked as a substitute in a bilingual kindergarten. It was a little difficult but the students helped a lot. Also, don't underestimate EAs; so far, in every grade, they are wonderful. My only hope is that I get an EA just as wonderful when I get my own class.

I discovered that most students respond to timers really well. Also calming music actually made the feeling in the room more relaxing.

Kindergarten

It is interesting to me to see all kindergartens following the same curriculum yet do it completely differently. I can also see how advanced some students are compared to others.

I really enjoy discovering what schedule I like and what I do not. For example, today ran so smoothly. I can't help comparing year last year to this class. I started right away where this one let them come in a play for half an hour. That right there made it less chaotic.

If only I spent a year subbing before I would have known what to do instead of changing it up all the time.

Grade 2

This was not my best subbing day. I realized that it was friday and the third day they have a sub but that's no excuse. My classroom management skills went out the window. I felt so bad when another teacher had to intervene to quiet the class down: this was a low point.

I would be surprised if they asked me back. I was so disappointed in myself that I went home and decided that, that would never happen again. This motivated me to find filler games and set my day the was I want it. Just adding what the teacher wants to my day.

April 15-19

Middle school

Today I worked in a 7-9 class. It was different for me because I had to make sure the grade 9s were doing something while I taught the grade 7/8 and visa versa.

i also had a health class with 7-12 students. It's hard running a lesson and asking questions about it when you do not know the relevance of the lesson.

During this class I realized that I talk too quiet that students think they they can walk over me. When I did raise my voice a little they did listen better.

Grade 2

I applied some different techniques and the day went better. I have my day on powerpoint that I designed based on the teachers I have subbed for. It worked out quite well. I am still refining my role and hopefully get it somewhat perfect for when I am a full time teacher.

Highschool

In social studies the student knew what they were doing, I was there to answer any questions that they had.

I also attended a finacial literacy seminar. I liked this because even thought it was meant for the kids I left with some new knowledge as well.

I feel that it is very important to never stop learning.

May 15-June 26

Grade 1/2

During these past 6 weeks I have taught a grade 1/2 class full time. This allowed me to plan, and implement lessons, conducted classroom management and supervised during noon hour as well as field trips.

I learned a great deal about how to do classroom management. I tried one way , give me five, then I added to it, so the students had to listen to which way I called for attention.

I also learned ways that I want to teach and ways that could be worked on. By the end of the 6 weeks I felt that I could teach for the full year.