Guest Teacher

I think the smartest thing to do at the beginning of the day is to : 1. Tell the students your Name. 2. Tell them your rules for taking bathroom breaks. 3. Tell them the schedule for the day (Write up on board). 4. Announce any rewards for completing whatever task they are assigned. ie. extra recess, free time, etc… 5. Announce to them that you will respect them as long as they respect you and that you are giving them fair warning not to mess up because there will be a high price to pay, much higher than they’ve had to pay before. 6. Start out pretty stern, but gradually let up on them as the day goes by, so they don’t think your mean, but know that you mean business. 7. Then take a deep breath, and pray that they believed everything you said.

L.P

After locating your classroom, go looking for a teacher in a room nearby. Ask that teacher for the name and description of the most difficult to handle child in your room. When the bell rings and you greet the class immediately locate the student in question. Ask that student to do something for you that will cause the rest of the class to take notice and be envious. Really compliment and encourage that student and use him/her all day for your assistant. Works for me!!

Elleta

As far as taking roll is concerned, the little ones will honestly tell you their names when you call off the roll. For older elementary students, I always construct a seating chart before they arrive so that I immediately know who is who. As they come into the room and claim their desks, I put a check mark next to the desk. At a glance, I know who is here and who is absent. It also helps in establishing the fact that I “know” who they are from the first moments. (I usually construct the seating chart by peaking into each desk and writing down the student’s name.) It is amazing how few teachers leave a seating chart (or an up to date one)!

Kimberlee

The first thing I do when I enter a classroom is search out a seating chart. (90% of the time there isn’t one.) I then take a piece of paper and draw one. I go to each desk and look inside for the name of the student who sits there and I write it down on the chart. Later, as students arrive, I take a pencil and check off each name. At a glance, I can see who is here and who is not. If someone is particularly rowdy, I call them by name. They are always shocked that I know their name! This also remedies the problem of students switching seats, etc. If they believe that I know who is who, they seldom try to play this game.

I do a lot of Subbing in Middle School and Jr. Highs. Since I see about 150-150 students per day , I need to get their attention right away. After going over my rules and what I except from them I do a pop candy quiz. Since not all classes are in the same spot this helps me find out where they are and give me a feel for the class. Takes less than 5 minutes. I usually as them questions from the lesson plan. I.E.: if they are required to read a chapter 14, The questions will be about the last chapter or if I have never read the book about what has happened to get us to this point. I usually limit it to about 5-7 questions. As a reward I will “Toss” out a tootsie roll, smartie. I found these to be cheap and plentiful. Less than $5.00 per week this offers me much more in classroom management and sanity.

Mike

I found using index cards to be helpful in remembering students’ names. I make them up before class, writing each students name on the card, or to make it fun for the kids, I let them make their own designs on the card and write their names. Then, I tape it to the front of their desk, so I do not have to foolishly keep referring to the seating plan. At the end of the day I collect the cards, label the class, that way I have them all ready for the next time I sub that particular class. It is really helpful for me. Glad to see a site for us subs!! Thank you!

K.D.

In larger districts, be sure to check their I.D. badges when taking attendance. When I started subbing early last year at an inner city high school, I soon enough, realized that not all the students in a particular class belonged there. So now when someone strolls in and doesn’t go directly to the desk and gives me his/her name, or will mumble something, or will come up and want to point at (their) name, usually the one with no mark on it, I will ask them to show me their student ID, and a lot of the time, they’re either cutting class or on their lunch, but just want to hang out with their friends in their class.

Azan60

Write the lesson plans on the board before class starts.

Avoid the name changing game. Have someone help you take attendance while other students are working. Double check by counting the number of people and match it against the number on the list.

The first thing I do when I enter a classroom is search out a seating chart. (90% of the time there isn’t one.) I then take a piece of paper and draw one. I go to each desk and look inside for the name of the student who sits there and I write it down on the chart. Later, as students arrive, I take a pencil and check off each name. At a glance, I can see who is here and who is not. If someone is particularly rowdy, I call them by name. They are always shocked that I know their name! This also remedies the problem of students switching seats, etc. If they believe that I know who is who, they seldom try to play this game.

Get there early and read through the plans…Oh and a Tupperware thing full of skittles doesn’t hurt either …use them as a reward or as a bribe in the really tough rooms.

Spamburger

If I have a really bad day, I jot down the teacher’s name and if they ever offer that class again, I refuse and state exactly why. It is good for the sub-callers to hear feedback on teachers and/or classes. I also try to tell them if a class is especially good.

Be firm, but friendly. Give the students work to begin immediately upon arrival. If the teacher didn’t provide work for them to begin on, then quickly run off a word search puzzle or other such item for them to do as you take attendance. You could also have a journal topic on the board for the students to respond. Another good thing to do is to try to arrive an hour before class starts. This gives you plenty of time to search out all lessons, supplies, etc.

At the end of the day I usually have a 15 minute Joke Time. Kids with Jokes come up to the front of the class. This is really a great hit – and everyone listens. Rules: No Dirty or Rude Jokes.

George

My tip is: refer to the students by their last name! Timmy Jones is Mr. Jones. Linda Smith is Miss Smith. This adds a little touch of formality, and adds to your control of the classroom. (I attended law school, and this is how the professors called on us. It scared the heck out of us!

I always bring along a small selection of age and curriculum-appropriate children’s literature. Since I have certain favorites that I keep in “bag of tricks”, on the cover page a attach a stick-um to jot down which classes I’ve read the book to, and sometimes add comments as to how it was received by a particular class.

Olive

Always wear your “grim teacher” look in the beginning until the kids know you are for real.

Olive

Get to school early enough to look over the lesson plans and get organized. (How true! How true!

Lady Di

Make sure you are loaded with “busy” work for the kids who always seem to finish their assignments before everyone else.

Lady Di

If you say you are going to give a certain punishment, do it! the kids will know you mean business.

Lady Di

Get there early and read through the plans…Oh and a Tupperware thing full of skittles doesn’t hurt either …use them as a reward or as a bribe in the really tough rooms.

Spamburger

Create a relaxed atmosphere, start a conversation with several students that interests them and they’ll be more apt to respect and cooperate with you.

Bribe ‘em any way you can.

I have a suggestion for getting the attention of “chatty” students. I tell them first thing in the morning the thing I am most inflexible about is students talking/chatting while I am talking. I tell them that if they talk or chat while I am talking, I will time them on my watch and keep track of how long it takes them to be quiet.

I keep a running total on the blackboard of how many seconds/minutes it takes them to quiet down and that is what I deduct from P.E., recess or free time. Students are told that I will erase time from their “penalty minutes” if they come into the classroom and are quiet or can stay quiet during work time. It really works, and it helps the students help one another to be quiet since one person talking/chatting can make everyone lose minutes!

Another type of quiet game while doing their work is to draw a line on the board and play boys against the girls. If a boy talks the girls get a point and if a girl talks the boys get the point. This works with all age groups. I have an incentive for the end of the day. Usually a sucker or etc. I try to be very non competitive with this game so I watch and listen carefully so that it will end up even.

Lynne

I have found a little game with children that works well to improve their behavior throughout the day. This really works well with K-2 I draw a line on the board. On one side I tell the children that if they are not being cooperative they will have to write their name on the left side of the board but if I catch them doing good behavior they will get to put their name on the right side of the board (I label both sides.) I try to find something positive about each child quickly so that I can get all names on the right side of the board. That way if they do a negative behavior, they only have to erase their name from the right side of the board and they get another chance to be put back on the right side before making it to the negative side. I let the children write their own names on the boards. This especially helps the fidgeters!

I find that elementary students (especially the younger ones) love receiving stickers for completed work. Scratch-n-sniff stickers are the biggest hits. Let the students know you have the stickers in the beginning of the class – this gives them something to strive for.

Chris

I read *Miss Nelson is Missing* (Harry Allard/James Marshall; ISBN 0-395-40146-1) to the class at the beginning of the day. I tell the class that I can either be a nice teacher like Miss Nelson, or a mean and nasty teacher like Miss Swamp. Then I give them the choice. It hasn’t failed me yet, even with 6th graders!

Eric

Here’s an idea that I got from a great teacher (works for me with fourth- through sixth-graders). Show the children how to count, “One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, etc.” After the children can do that on cue, line them up at the door and tell them that you will be SILENTLY counting “One Mississippi” between the classroom and your destination and that their challenge is to count along with you. Once you have reached your destination, you will ask the children to tell you what number they counted to, and if it agrees with your own, they win a prize or a privilege. You can thereby kill two proverbial birds: you help keep the class quiet and direct their concentration.

Cowboy Will

At the end of the day or any time in between, tell the students that the only way to converse with a friend or neighbor is to write messages back and forth. This will help to keep the classroom quite and reinforce the writing process. It will also calm the students down and prepare them for going home.

Mitchie D

I’ve found a form of discipline that works well with kids from about 3rd grade & up: have the student write a letter to the regular teacher describing his/her inappropriate behavior.

M.V.P