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    Sub Teaching
    Sub Teaching
    Sub Teaching
    Ebook38 pages35 minutes

    Sub Teaching

    By Ian Woods

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    About this ebook

    Sub teaching, why did I write this book: because I want to dispel any prevailing myths that sub teachers have it easy and share a few examples why. On one hand, teaching children is a pure joy, but it can also be incredibly challenging; being a sub teacher requires compassion, understanding, and a fertile mind that works at the speed of light.

    If you were ever a sub, or if you contemplate being one, you are in for the ride of your life. A sub will definitely be taken to the edge of their wits: you will panic when there are no lesson plans and you have to be on duty, with no time to prepare. What better test of character is there than this? At the same time you will have to remain optimistic and open and deal with life challenges that might erupt any time.

    My book gives insight into the kind of energy a sub invests into one day and the feedback they receive. Some days are sublime and the class is like pure silk, while others you are dealt the worst hand in the world. You are pushed to the edge; you are requested to do the impossible, and subjected to contradictory, inappropriate behavior. On these days you need to be in full control with a very crisp awareness, your eyes and ears tuned to every weird pencil click, rustle of paper or giggle. You must also beware of long periods of silence, because silence means something is wrong.

    A sub teacher has no position or standing to complain about raw deals, or being thrown into new and embarrassing situations point blank; like being instructed to stand in front of a school assembly and award certificates to students you have never met, giving a word of congratulations. There’s quite an atmosphere with every eye trained on you; what do you say with only seconds of notice? On these days you need to stay cool and find a place of rest. You need to act as if maintaining a professional, optimistic outlook, though deep inside you are tempted to feel like a bag of nerves.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIan Woods
    Release dateDec 4, 2014
    ISBN9781310831928
    Sub Teaching
    Author

    Ian Woods

    Teacher. Writer. Artist. Philosopher. Naturalized U.S. citizen.

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      Book preview

      Sub Teaching - Ian Woods

      Sub Teaching

      by Ian Woods

      Copyright Ian Woods 2011

      All rights reserved

      Warning: this book contains profane language which may be offensive to the reader.

      Sub Teaching

      by Ian Woods

      Over the last 13 years I have observed, volunteered and been a teacher in many different schools in Los Angeles and Orange counties. I began subbing in 1998 and being in charge of a class has produced some of the finest and scariest days I remember.

      What makes a day hard? Take a teacher who is absent because of an emergency and there are no lesson plans. You have entered the room at 7:40 because the secretary is late; then you find out you have yard duty at 7:45. The first lesson is dividing complex fractions which you haven’t touched in years; then the boy with long hair at the back has switched seats and should be at the front. He answers no to every question; then when you give a consequence the class finds it hilarious when you can’t pronounce his name. It’s really hard being a sub, but at the end of the day it’s worth it.

      I remember the first time I panicked was in a first grade class. The teacher was just shy of retirement and had developed her own style of lessons, which were hard to interpret and teach.

      I had to cut long strips of paper and have the kids make their own magic lantern with a dinky shaped handle stapled on. That portion of the lesson was only half an hour long. No way were the kids going to grasp how to do the numerous double-folds and reverse flips where seams were supposed to match. That plus cutting slits and folding the paper for effect, where the light shone through. Some of the kids didn’t even know how to use a pair of scissors, or what scissors were for.

      After fifteen minutes, most were still on their first cut and the lesson had to be done and dusted in another ten. Needless to say, many were finished with lots of teacher help.

      ***

      I would always arrive early to get the key and digest the lesson plans, but one day the secretary was nowhere in sight. As usual all the other subs had morphed their way to the front of the line and got their key first. By the time I was seen, it turned out I had been sent to the wrong school. It was ten minutes to the hour and I should have been at a school across town in a low income neighborhood. Instead of first grade, I would be teaching sixth.

      You’re late and I should be in a workshop! snapped the teacher as I stepped in through the door.

      I was slightly irritated

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