Substitute Teaching
Before I taught school full time, I spent a semester working about half time as a substitute elementary school teacher.

It was simply one of the most intensive thinking-type jobs that I can imagine. How, in one day, can a total stranger walk into a classroom, spend about 10 minutes inventing a strategy for the day's lessons, establish positive relationships with the students, control behaviors so well that teaching and learning can happen, and manage to smile through it all?

In some schools, I have done all that and walked away at the end of the day feeling like I've summit-bopped Mt. Everest. In others, I have walked away feeling intensely disturbed that our culture could produce such angry, troubled children. How can anyone become such an experienced master thinker that they can smile and get work done even on those tough days in the tough schools?

A search of the internet revealed a few substituting ideas, but nothing too inspirational. I invented some forms that have helped me immensely. They are mostly self explanatory, but feel free to email me if you have any questions. I saved them as zipped Microsoft Word files for Windows 95 so that you can download and modify them. If you have a Macintosh and can't unzip the files, just drop me an email and I'll send them to you via email. Please suggest changes to them, too. I enjoy the creativity.

FormHelpfulInformationAndPermanentRecord.doc - I keep this very useful daily form for my records. It tracks information such as job number, date, school name, grade level, etc. It also leaves room at the bottom to make a seating chart each day as the students filter in.

FormToLeaveTheTeacher.doc - This helps organize the information that I leave for the teacher. It tracks who was absent, who was (un)cooperative, what we accomplished, etc. Teachers love this kind of form and it wins you return jobs.

QuickNotesToSendWithAKid.doc - These generic note forms save me from having to search through desk drawers for nurse, library, and rest room passes. It also comes in handy if you need to ask another teacher a question, but can't leave your class.

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