Long Term Sub Part #1

Long Tern Sub.

Last spring a very good friend of mine had to go into the hospital for surgery. She was going to be out for six weeks. She is a fantastic seventh grade Biology teacher. I was very pleased when she asked me to teach her class while she was away.  When both the teacher and the student learn at the same time, that is when true creative education happens, and I knew this would be the case in this classroom with these students.

 My major degree is in History, with minor degrees in Philosophy and Psychology, as well as a Masters in education. I have always believed that if you can teach, you can teach basic fundamentals, and the joy of learning. When that environment exists, you can teach just about anything. (The same holds true for coaching)

Cursive writing is not a big thing with children these days so I thought I would have them each sign their study “packets.” with their opposite writing hand. We wanted to teach them balance and the importance of the journey. The kids loved the change, and embraced the new learning technique. It was a fun thing to do.

When I was doing just a day long sub I used to tell the kids:” Give me 35 minutes of work and I will reward you with 5 minutes of free time at the end of class. “This paradigm served me well, but as always, there are some things that just do not go as planned and you have to adjust on the fly.

 There was a saying I thought up for the kids and related it to the children at the beginning of my first class.

“I’m a huge believer in choice. I can’t force you to study nor do I want to. But I can and will maintain an atmosphere in this classroom for those children who want to study can do so in peace and quiet. The deck is stacked, the game is rigged. I’m going to win. I’ve seen me do it. It’s not my job to decide when, how, or even if the educational light goes on for you, my goal is to just keep flipping the switch.”

Two weeks into my tenure I noticed that there were children missing classes on Friday and these same children were coming in on Monday tired. I went up to see the Assistant to the Head Master for the Middle School and asked her if she too noticed this phenomenon. (Another great child loving lady who was very thoughtful and helpful to me during this time) She said some of the kids were going to play with their club sports teams over the weekend and that they had seen this happening for a few years now.

I had heard of this happening at many schools I had visited, but this was the first time I had seen it up close. Boy, did the kids look tired, and stressed.