Long Term Subbing

Consistent blogging still hasn't happened yet, but I figured I still want to record and reflect on my growth and learning as I begin my career.

I graduated December 2016 and took a long term 7th grade math substitute teaching job January through the end of the school year in a rural community. The teacher I took over for resigned as he was completing classes to become an accountant after 10 years of teaching. I had two sections of 7th grade math, two sections of advanced 7th grade math and one section of an elective course. It was a challenging situation to step into and a more difficult semester than I could foresee, but I definitely feel at an advantage for beginning in my own classroom this fall. 

The school staff tended to be older and set in the ways they had always done everything. While everyone was kind and gracious, it was harder to get connected and feel like I belonged. There were not consistently enforced expectations for behavior across the school which was in complete contrast to my student teaching experience. I also entered at a time of the year where there was significant animosity and disrespect towards the administration from staff which got pretty awkward for me.

Although parts of the semester weren't ideal, I definitely gained valuable experience and insight from my time there. 

• Teaching Style: I am more self-aware of how I teach and what needs to be improved. In example, I often speak way too fast and skip important details in my explanations. In the future, I need to be confident in my understanding of the material and make sure I give clear explanations. And formative assessments give me that needed feedback!
• Parent Communication: ahhhh. bahhh. I got a lot of practice in this. I had some tricky situations where I couldn't believe the parents were acting a certain way or weren't acting in a situation. I even got referenced in an upset facebook post from a parent! I am now much more prepared to do all I can on my side of the equation, but realize people have choices too on how they respond and know that I don't need to justify or be content with inappropriate responses from parents or students.
• Curriculum: Textbook curriculum carry loads of resources. I gained practice in realizing I don't need to use them all and I can supplement and change instruction how I see fit. The math department at the school used multiple choice assessments for practically everything and it drove me bonkers. It's a lot more challenging to see students' thinking when all they need to do is select A, B, C or D.
• Routines: I did a lot of experimenting and flip-flopping things not for good. My poor students didn't know what they should be doing or when they should be doing it. I have a much better handle on the importance of teaching routines and the million things for which I need to have explicit procedures and routines designed.
• Classroom Management: This is where my pride gets hurt. I'm not innately good at this at all and my feeling of self-doubt made a lot of days discouraging and a couple of days even caused me to consider switching careers. However, I gained a greater understanding that when I'm teaching this is my classroom and I am in charge. What I say goes, even if it's not how someone else operates their classroom. I learned that I need to implement a consistent response to behavior and the more specific consequences are for me right now, the better. I learned that kids that I have a harder time working with in my classroom need to be seated closer to me. I learned to wait for silence before proceeding with instructions.
• Relationship Building: Although I'm still working on finding the line between friend and teacher, I did a good job really getting to know my students and show them I cared about them. Two students in particular lifted my spirits on so many of the challenging days. One student I had was always cheerful and would skip down the halls. Sometimes he would start singing Christmas carols during work time which would bug the other students, but he was so cute I always had a hard time stopping him. He wants to be a pilot when he grows up. Another student with learning disabilities always stayed after class to talk with me. He was super passionate about drawing and put a lot of effort in understanding class material. He was funny too and would sometime say the oddest things. Near the end of my time at this building I was complemented by the principal on my relationship building skills and that he received some positive feedback from parents in that regard. I was encouraged by that.

Overall, I don't regret my experience long-term subbing, but I'm so excited for the ownership that will come with having my own classroom and to be in a school that has a very defined behavior management system and expectations. It was also reinforced that I do want to teach in a high needs diverse area, which long term subbing was not. 

Students doing a Breakout EDU before spring break

Students making bridges out of toothpicks and marshmallows in my elective class

My advanced class doing an activity with systems of equations and candy

My desk on pi day :)

Student Teaching Semester

My goal of blogging during my student teaching experience certainly didn't pan out. However, I'm back at it and have reflections to share from last semester which I wrote shortly after student teaching was completed.

Written 12/30/16: As I reflect on my semester of student teaching, there is a whole lot I could say. It was a very formative experience, and I am definitely a better teacher and person because of it. I matured a lot this semester. I think that was largely because I was no longer dealing with hypothetical constructs or theoretical ideas. These were real kids with real stories and real emotions. And, I was a real person too, if “stuff” that I brought to the equation.

I quickly discovered I am not the perfect/”super” teacher I had always dreamt I would be. I’ve spent many years reading, talking, and dreaming about teaching. I know this is a calling on my life. And while, I did come with many strengths to student teaching, I was also made aware of major areas of growth that I wasn’t expecting and was humbled quite a bit.

The student teaching experience made me realize that teaching is not exactly what I thought it would be. It’s a lot harder, very time consuming and doesn’t always feel as rewarding. But, it is so worth it.

As I embark shortly on this new adventure with my very own classroom and literally just me making decisions about the behavior and curriculum that occur there, I hope I remember the lessons I’ve learned during student teaching and make as few of the same mistakes again as possible. J

Lessons I’ve learned during student teaching

• It is possible to learn to fully trust a stranger quite quickly. My guess is that this happens more easily when both parties are working diligently towards it. [Sidenote: I had an amazing mentor teacher who had a great balance of encouragement and challenging me to grow.  I am thankful for the energy and wisdom she invested in me and I'd love to be like her in many ways in 20 years].
• Students crave knowing the boundaries and expectations. Just being nice is the worst thing a teacher can do for them.
• Developing a solid, challenging, engaging curriculum is really hard and takes a lot of time.
• Each class has a different personality.
• Social engineering is a real thing and it can work beautifully!
• Apathy is a hard disease to treat.
• Collaboration makes teaching so much easier. Specifically, sharing ideas is helpful and TPT costs less. ;) [Sidenote: I was abundantly blessed to collaborate closely with the other 8th grade math teacher during student teaching. She is in her first few years of teaching and it was helpful to have someone to relate to and talk about the specific challenges beginning teachers face. Working with her was a huge gift!]
• A student’s emotional house must be in check before they are willing to learn math. Sometimes it’s more important to teach them how to behave/interact in a classroom first.
• Teaching is different than coaching Upward Bound.
• Teachers must work harder to develop a relationship with the quiet students. They have a voice and want to be heard.
• Lower my voice to maintain authority. Act/speak in confidence.
• Smile a lot more than I think. J J J
• Students need to be invited by an adult to use any 1:1 devices.
• It is possible to recognize the hard in situations, but to never give up on kids.
• Teachers do have specific favorite students and classes that they look forward to each day. And, they wonder what happens to certain kids after they leave.
• It is important to help advanced students learn how to put less pressure on themselves.
• Parents typically want communication from teachers surrounding concerns in class.
• My past/stuff affects how I teach.
• Analyzing one’s personal biases is an ongoing and pretty humbling process.
• The staff in a wing or building become a community/support system for one another.
• I get the most done early in the morning before school. Except when copy machines are evil.
• I do rise to the occasion. I can be the solo teacher with little support for 3+ weeks. [My mentor teacher had a family emergency she had to attend to near the end of my student teaching experience and I took over. It was exhausting, but definitely helped prepare me for my current long-term sub position]. 
• There’s no such thing as a perfect teacher whether you’re right out of college or have been teaching for 20 years. 

2/5/17 Overall, I was blessed with a great student teaching experience to launch me into my career. I miss my students and the other teachers as I still feel like quite a newbie in my new school.

I took this selfie the night of the open house at the start of student teaching. I was SO excited.

My picture on the board outside the Education Department. 

This was taken on the last day of student teaching as I was leaving my placement.

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