Subbing Feb 17th- Para

Today I subbed as a classroom para. This was in the junior high in the self-contained classroom. I had worked with some of these students before, but I was surprised at how some of them were reluctant to work with me. One student just flat out ignored me, then later I was supposed to give him his spelling test and he ignored me again. His teacher then told him that he had to answer my questions and to stop being rude, but I was still surprised. I had helped this student with his ceramics class a couple of weeks ago and he was fine, but today he wanted nothing to do with me. I guess these students are just extremes of the students that are in the regular classes. Sometimes students  get frustrated and they just don’t want to work with you, but they aren’t as obvious as the sped students. As a teacher I need to be more observant of my students to understand why they are acting out they way they are. I didn’t know this student very well so I wasn’t able to figure out why he wouldn’t work with me, but it reminds me that every student has a reason for what they do. Maybe this student just wasn’t comfortable working with me and so he didn’t want to talk to me. Sometimes when a student does something we just write it off as not important, but what is going on in the student’s life is important to them and it can really affect the way they interact day to day. 

By the end of the day most of the students were comfortable working with me. One student who seemed frustrated when I was helping him with his math engaged in a conversation with me while we were waiting for his bus. In one of their classes they talked about Dr.'s visits and towards the end of the class I realized they were practicing having conversations, that these students aren't used to having conversations.

Subbing Feb 16th-Math

I subbed math today. This was the first time that the para was actually helpful to me. She told the class that they were being too loud and that they know that was acceptable behavior. She also helped when I was a little confused with the notes. The other para’s I have had have just sat in the corner and pulled their students aside if they needed to. This para has showed me how valuable a para can be to the whole class. When I interviewed to be a sub one topic that came up was what to do with the classroom Para. I said that I wouldn’t totally depend on a para, but that they are actually in the classroom day in and day out and that they know the students. I don’t think that I have depended on the paras in my classroom enough. This is something that I need to work on, the balance between not depending on my paras enough and depending on them too much.

            Also the teacher I subbed for had me use the doc cam, a classroom tool that I need to use more. She had notes for the class that was fill in the blank. The class was familiar with the topic and they were to fill in the blanks as we went, and I would right down the answer after a student had provided me with the correct answer. I need to practice writing so that my hand is not in the way while I write.

Subbing Feb 15th- Science

Today I subbed for a science teacher again. It seems that my high school science teacher is coming back to haunt me, saying see you should have been a science teacher.

This teacher seems to have her stuff together when she wrote her sub plans. She gave very detailed tech instructions and when she said her students know what to do, they actually did and they did it. I was a little worried when I was told that they knew what to do based on my past experience with this instruction, but they got to work with their vocabulary. This teacher showed a film for the majority of the class and the students were to write at least 15 facts that they learned about volcanoes from the video. This was a long video with many facts so the students shouldn’t have had a problem. When I went to collect the worksheets from the students many of them didn’t have it done. One student didn’t do anything because he didn’t have a pencil. What is up with these students that they think just because they weren’t prepared for class they don’t have to do anything. Why can’t they just ask one of their peers or even me for a pencil? Not only that, but how do they expect to get through a day of school without a writing utensil? I guess this is the problem I have for the day what can I do as a future teacher about students who don’t bring their writing utensils. I can have a flowerpot of pencils that have big bright flowers attached to them that are available for the students use. They know they are to return the pencils to the pot at the end of class. I would also make it clear to my students that just because they don’t have a writing utensil they are still responsible for the work that they are supposed to do and for the information that is given to them. I think some students may forget their utensils on purpose so they won’t have to do their work, but if they are aware that they will still have to do their work they may not forget their supplies as much.

Subbing Feb 10th- Science

Today I subbed for a science teacher at a junior high. I have observed this teacher before while subbing for a 1 on 1 para. He is very laid back and the students seem to enjoy the class. His classes are very well behaved. He doesn’t have a seating chart, but he lets the students know that if they can’t handle the responsibility of choosing where they sit then he will choose a seat for them. I think that this shows the students that he considers them adults and that they need to take responsibility. I think that they then act more maturely because they are expected to. I would like to try this out in a class, but I think I would start off with a seating chart at the beginning for a couple of weeks, just until I know the student’s names.

The first thing the students were to do is group presentations. Each group was responsible for a part of mitosis. They had to demonstrate their part in some way. I have to say I was a little shocked that he had them present to a sub. I left notes on what each group did and how they did, but he didn’t ask me to do that. Some of the groups just stood in front of the room and told the class about their part, but they didn’t engage in the higher thinking demonstration part of the assignment. If I had been their teacher I would have made them redo the assignment so they could show me that they fully understood their part of the process. Because this teacher had them present to a sub, he was unable to check for this understanding himself.

Next the students were to do vocabulary. They worked at their own pace and got the work done. They were allowed to talk, but they didn’t goof around. This showed me how mature they were compared to some of the other classes I had subbed for. There were two students who were a little loud and the other students told them to be quiet. I did have to separate them, but they did so without any complaint, knowing that they deserved to be separated.

Subbing Feb 9th- Industrial tech

I almost didn’t take the subbing job for today, but my brother convinced me that it would be no big deal.  Todays job was with Industrial technology. I know nothing about industrial technology. One of my brothers is a welder and the other is going into woodworking, but I still have no idea what these classes are like. My younger brother told me it would be no problem because they are not allowed to touch the machines with the teacher is gone, and that they usually just watch movies when their teacher is gone.

When I got to the school and found the industrial tech area It took me a while to find the classroom. I got to a classroom, then realized that I had misread the schedule. At my district, some of the classes are blocked, but most of the classes are on a normal bell schedule. These classes are blocked, and I had never had to deal with the blocked schedule at this school. Next I had to find the teacher’s office. There were a couple of offices in this area but they were not labeled. I asked the students sitting in the open space where the teacher’s office was and they pointed to an office where a child was sitting, I went in the office to look for the lesson plans but saw nothing. Next I found another teacher and asked if they new where the teacher I was subbing for might leave his lesson plans, he helped me look but we found nothing. Finally the teacher I was subbing for came into his office and told me he was trying to get everything together. He walked me through the day and wished me luck. Basically these students were copying down some directions then they were to watch Mythbusters. This wouldn’t be a problem except the students had watched these episodes many times before as there were only two DVDs for subs to play when the teacher was absent. This creates bored students, which allows for students to misbehave.

Once again this wouldn’t be a big problem accept for the fact that the shop class is the same room as the auto shop and the garage door was open for a few hours on one of the colder days of the year. My students asked another teacher if we could use his classroom, as he didn’t have a class, thank goodness he agreed. He also offered his class for the rest of the day as his students would be working on a project and it wouldn’t disturb them if we were in there doing work.  Really these students behaved okay, but my question is, why can’t industrial tech teachers have something productive for their students to do for when they are gone. If they can’t have something for their students to do, can they at least have a video that the students haven’t watched over and over again.

Also this class is the first I have had to deal with the travel issue between the two high schools. If a class, like industrial tech has students from both schools then they will have two grade books, and two attendance books. When I took attendance there was a student that wasn’t on the roster. It took me a while to realize he was probably from the other high school and that I needed to log into another PowerSchool account to count him present. There was no mention of this in the sub plans, and I also talked to another sub who had no idea about this.

Subbing- Feb 8th- Sped Para

Today was my first day at the high school, and I was once again a 1-on-1 para.

This was interesting because I was with the self contained special education class and I was working with some siblings that couldn’t be in the same room with each other. First I worked with the sister, I took her to Gym and helped her with Math. In gym she had a student that worked with her, encouraging her to do the activities. After gym was seminar. The sped students were allowed to read some picture books or just sit and relax. The male sibling was halfway across the gym from us, but he seemed to just go off. He banged his head against the wall and broke his glasses for no apparent reason. The student helper and I had to distract the female student so that she would not be sucked into the tantrum. This is when I first discovered how important it was to keep these siblings apart. In math I jest helped the student by encouraging her to do her computer work and then selecting coins for her to add. She was very touchy feely today and she would give my big tight hugs.

I also got to work with some of the other students while they were in reading class. They each had a list of spelling words to work on and I helped one student by quizzing her on her words and having her use the words in sentences.

Next the class had their weekly field trip to the community center to work out on the gym equipment.  I rode the bus with a girl that I had not previously worked with. The bus driver put in an Anastasia cd and this girl started singing. I new the words to the song and quietly sang with her. When we got to the community center the student thanked me for singing with her and said she had a great time singing with me. That had to be the most rewarding part of my day.

At the community center, I was paired with the male sibling. I was to make sure that he stayed on the treadmill and then helped him with some weights. After the weights we needed to leave. I had put my coat down against the wall, so I told him to wait for a moment while I got my coat. There was another para standing there, but while I was getting my coat, he ran into a weight. It wasn’t a big deal but I felt bad for not paying attention, and something more serous could have happened. This showed me the amount of concentration the people who work with these students have to have. They have to pay attention to every thing the student does because they are not necessarily responsible for themselves. On the way back to the school there was a radio call for security to come to a room immediately, the Sped teachers were joking that for once it wasn’t for them. After this day I have a whole new respect for special education teachers. In my district the para subs get paid less than a regular sub, but I find that while they are responsible for only one student, they seem to be responsible for a lot more than just that student, I think that para subs should get paid the same as a regular sub, if not more.  

Subbing- Feb 4th- Science

Today I subbed for a science teacher that I had observed previously while subbing for a 1-on-1 para.

I am noticing that the students are well behaved the first hour, probably because they are too tired to care to misbehave, and then as the day wears on they act out more and more.

The students were working on a “lab” where they had to identify the different stages of mitosis in a selection of cells, then find out how long the cells spend in each stage by calculating how many cells are in each stage. To do this they had to have 6 different colored markers. The first class worked on their project fine, they had some questions and I answered them to the best of my ability. The second class was not so well behaved they talked a lot. The coloring part of what they were doing didn’t take a lot of thought so the talking was fine for the most part, but it got out of hand a couple of times.

I was going to chalk this up to the fact that they had had three snowdays and it was Friday, but the classroom para told me not to worry, that they regular teacher couldn’t get them to behave, and that this was their normal behavior. This made me feel better, but it reminded me of my early days with my 7^th hour. I would have been embarrassed if I had had a sub and my students had acted out, but I would have been more embarrassed if the para had said this was how they behaved normally. I understand It can take some time to get a class under control, but now I understand how important it is to get them under control.

After this class the teacher next door came in and told me that the next class was really bad. She pointed out some students that misbehaved on a regular basis and told me that I could send students to her class if need be.  This was very helpful, but I don’t know that it changed anything. There were students who were throwing markers when my back was turned helping another student. I told the class that this was not acceptable behavior and that if markers were thrown again I would take them away. As soon as I turned by back three markers were hurled in my direction. I said fine, and went to collect the markers. I told them that we would have to find a way that they could earn the markers back. While I was collecting the markers, I noticed that many of the students weren’t even to the coloring section yet, so I told them that they could get one marker at a time once they showed me that they had finished the first section. This worked much better. This was probably the worst behaved class I have subbed for in my, admittedly short, subbing career.