Author: TCR Staff

Tips for Handling Substitute Teachers

November 10, 2008 TCR Staff 6 Comments

There are times when you will not know, in advance, that you will be absent from your job. There may not be enough planned for a substitute. Having a substitute folder is definitely a plus. Have one that you can keep in your desk drawer or in a special spot with your lesson plan book. Inside the folder you should include the following items:

class list and seating chart
class schedule
brief description of your duties and the days you have duty—i.e. lunch, dismissal, before school
list of dependable students to carry a message to the office or another teacher
description of your daily routine, such as how you take up lunch monies, how students should be dismissed, manner in which the office can be reached in case of emergency
notes about the discipline/management system
special notes on any student behavior
special information on students—such as frequent need for bathroom or medication given at office
names of all the staff or names of teachers in the area
substitute time fillers and special work
stickers or special treats for good behavior
an evaluation form for the teacher to fill out

The substitute will appreciate all the information and you will not have to worry about your lesson plans and how the day is going. Your lesson plans should be as complete and clear as possible. Note where books can be found and on what pages the lessons are found. Also, make a note as to whether or not you want your substitute to grade papers and designate a spot for them to be placed once they are finished.

For more tips on how to handle substitute teachers, check out:

Classroom Management, Teacher Resources

20 Time-Saving Ideas to Use as a Teacher

November 6, 2008 TCR Staff 2 Comments

Let the students take turns doing your filing. They will learn ABC order, and you can do something else. Teach one or two students and let them teach another and so on.
Walk around the room and correct work during the lesson rather than doing it after school.
Don’t prepare so much ahead of time—let the students do their own tracing and cutting.
Buy punch-out letters for your bulletin board captions, or buy ready-made headliners to use as labels.
If you have an aide or reliable parent helper(s), decide what you want to do yourself and then delegate the other tasks.
Have students grade their own or each other’s papers. If you are using the writing process, peer editing fits in here.
Use your student room helpers efficiently. You won’t ever have to put another paper in a mailbox or water another plant.
Keep some personal things tucked away in your room. A soft drink and a box of crackers will get you through a lunch hour and save you from having to stay after school on a day when you must get to an important meeting or appointment.
Get in the habit of making double plans. If you have an art lesson every Friday, make it next Friday’s plan and then, while you are thinking about it, flip ahead in your lesson plan book and do another plan for another lesson.
The next time you have a staff meeting, carry along papers to grade or something to cut out while you are waiting for the meeting to begin or when there are pauses or interruptions in the proceedings. Make sure you have secure file folders to carry your papers and materials.
Volunteer carefully. If you are going to agree to do something that will take a lot of time, make sure it is something you really enjoy and that you can really spare the time.
Ask parent helpers to do things like running off sets of papers, stapling, and laminating.
Spend an occasional weekend day in your classroom and get completely organized for a month ahead to save time on a daily basis.
Pay someone to grade papers for you on an occasional or regular basis. A volunteer or assistant at your school may appreciate extra take-home work. High school students are sometimes available for this kind of work.
Give a daily review, including the various skills that should be reinforced for end-of-year testing. You will avoid spending a lot of time on last-minute catch-up.
Spend the first six weeks of the year concentrating on bonding and team building with your students. You will save the time that you would otherwise spend on discipline and classroom management later in the year.
Use the services that are offered by library resource people. They will do research and get you information that you need.
If you keep your teaching project centered and do a thorough task analysis, completion of the project will show mastery of the skills embedded in the project without need for further assessment.
Get older students, from another classroom if necessary, to help you with everyday room cleanup.
Remember that time and money are interchangeable. Spend money to save time.

Lesson Plans, Teaching Tips

Lesson Plan Design

November 4, 2008 TCR Staff 1 Comment

Here are a few basic steps for formulating a lesson. This lesson plan works for individual lessons as well as for lessons that may require several days to complete. Remember that if a lesson continues for more than one day, students will need to be refocused on the objective of the lesson, and the teacher will need to check that the students remember what they have learned or worked on before continuing.

Set: Get the students ready to learn.
Objective:
Purpose of the lesson:

Instruction: Learning may be broken down into several parts.
Input:
Model:
Check understanding:

Guided Practice: Practice the new learning with the teacher.
Activity:
Materials or supplies:

Closure: Make the connection and final check for understanding with the students between the learning and the guided practice activity.

Independent Practice: Check to be sure that the practice or activity relates to the objective of the lesson.
Activity:
Materials or supplies:

This lesson plan outline was taken from the Jumbo Book of Teacher Tips and Timesavers.

Classroom Management, Lesson Plans, Teaching Tips

Goals, Objectives, and Unit Plans

November 3, 2008 TCR Staff 2 Comments

The most important thing to do as a teacher is to organize your goals, objectives, and unit plans. Formulating goals and objectives is a major part of a teacher’s course of study, but they are only the beginning. The key is to take them and to give them real-world applications. These come in the form of your day-to-day lessons.

The chart below can serve as a mini-refresher course on the purpose and flow of goals and objectives. The next post will outline the basic steps involved in formulating a lesson. You can find forms that can be used to develop and organize your plans in the Jumbo Book of Teacher Tips and Timesavers. Remember, everything you do to prepare will be well worth it when the school day begins.