My day back in the classroom as a subsitute teacher

How can students be in a classroom where they have not had a regular consistent teacher for approximately 3 weeks? Yes, they are little out of control. They are also in 6th grade, chatty, and BORED! There has been no structure nor engaging instruction. Fortunately, I got to work with another substitute teacher who has been working in a variety of classrooms in the same building. The students know her, but their lack of respect and poor listening is connected to the fact that none of their assignments are accounted for or graded. And they have been working with worksheets for 3 weeks. This day reminded me of what occurs when a teacher falls sick or their health does not allow for them to return in  a timely fashion. I also wondered if any of the parents were aware of the situation.

I noticed boxes and boxes of unused experiments and labs that could have made earth science more tangible and connected. The Social Studies teacher tried to provide necessary assistance, but she also has her own class to plan for. Stacks of completed handouts with no grades are piled on the desk. After watching and attempting to re-engage them in preparation for a quiz that was being administered by the Social Studies teacher for Science, it dawned on me that there were times when 4 adults were in a single classroom with 22 students and the volume often got out of control. Despite what that sounds like, it looked like all of us being highly ineffective. I saw very bright students and some that desperately needed some one-on-one instruction for remediation. The discussion of volcanoes and plates went well but only for limited spurts because guess what? They were mostly completely over it. And many of the adults were too. In fact, I am sure that this trend will continue until a full-time teacher returns.

Near the end of the day, we completed a writing prompt. I made a promise that I would grade them immediately. Each of them tested me by writing far less than what was directed until I fulfilled my promise by grading the first one I read based lightly on content, creativity, and length. And you know what happened? They spent the next 45 minutes being the most engaged and interested. A few even read theirs aloud. Some even asked for their stories to be returned so they could make improvements. It was not perfect but it was nice to observe.

That is all for now. I wish their teacher a speedy recovery and a more sustainable solution that will insure that the students do not lose anymore time.