We often get asked what to expect for your first day substitute teaching. Here are a couple of teachers experiences that you may find useful.
From JJ, a new substitute teacher:
This is a bit lengthy but I wanted to share how much The STEDI course worked. I had my first day of subbing yesterday (1st grade). Wow! I’m so thankful for the behavior training and Teaching Strategies!! I would not have been as nearly as successful without this genius training!
The class I was assigned to had another sub for two days before I got there. That sub needed to be moved to another classroom. She briefly told me about how there were several worksheets for each subject, gave me the timeline/schedule and left. I wanted to panic but had confidence in myself because you had confidence in me, well, what I had learned was this was achievable and doesn’t have to be difficult if I implemented what I learned. I introduced myself and had the kids read the rules (but I called them expectations) aloud with me.
I was very positive! When kids were out of their seat or talking, I would say, “Thank you for those of you who are seated quietly!” I didn’t say it passive aggressively but genuinely meant it. Everyone immediately got quiet!
There were 2 kids who were extremely manipulative in trying to get their way throughout the day. The sub from the day before mentioned to let one of those kids stay on his laptop all day or he would throw a fit. I did not think that seemed right whatsoever, so as the work started, I let him know that “everyone” means him too and thanked him for participating etc.
He started to hold his breath and get red faced with tears. I acted like I didn’t notice and that it wasn’t a big deal. I put his laptop up and handed him a paper and whispered, “I heard you were smart, can I see what you can do?” He finished before everyone and it was perfect! Lol! He kept grabbing his laptop though. I didn’t make a big deal about it but once again, he wanted to hold his breath and throw a fit when I handed him another worksheet. At one point, I started to make his little stuffed animal gorilla on his desk talk to him. I said, in my best gorilla voice, something like, “Hey, you real smart and all these kids are doing the work the teacher gives them. You gonna do your work too, right?” He stared at the gorilla in wonder, as if it truly spoke. As I walked away, I turned around and he was hugging his gorilla and then started to do his work. I continued to rave about his finished work to him as if I was seeing a miracle. I had no more problems with him.
There was another little girl who would walk into the hall, curl in a ball next to the wall and cry. Each time she did this, it was for a different problem. I implemented “I understand…” a lot throughout the day but especially with her. I asked, “Why are you out here?” She said, I don’t have any friends.” I said, “awe, say something positive about yourself, not negative like that.” Then I said, “I understand you might not feel like doing your worksheet right now but we are all trying to do our work, so what should you be doing right now?” This was on repeat throughout the day but with a different situation like, “My mom works nights and I don’t get to see her, I miss my mom.” I then told her that I understood, which I do, and I told her that I miss my mom too. I told her that her mom must love her very much to be working nights to support her. Then I redirected her attention to, “what should you be doing right now?” I felt victorious with my secret word weapons of positivity!!
Today, I was at a high school. It is drastically different. The teenagers are a bit in zombie mode. The teacher left instructions and they open their laptops and that’s it, they do their work, mostly. There are a few kids each class time who talked. I ignored it and sometimes it stopped, sometimes it didn’t. I did not implement the “thank you for those who are being quiet” until the last class. I honestly thought they were too old for that, but I tried and it worked, I got a snide comment, though, but acted like I didn’t hear it or care.
I felt like my first two days were super successful!! I can’t thank this program enough for giving me behavior strategies for the classroom and for everyday life.
There was one thing I tried but it didn’t work well for me… I placed a sticky note on each of the kids desks and had them write their names down. I placed each post it on my binder but it didn’t fit and they fell off. I think this could have worked with mini post it’s though.
Once again Thank you! I’m excited about my substitute teacher career! I have so much more confidence now!!
