Personal Connections

The last two of my blog posts have been about my experience as a substitute and volunteer. Again I want to share my experience I had this last week. I was a substitute for the third time for the same teacher. You might be thinking wow she I gone a lot. The teacher I help out is also the head of the math department so every time the school has meetings she has to go to them.  I'm not complaining because this allows me to have more experience in the classroom and she continues to give me new challenges every time I sub for her.

In my last blog I talked about how students blamed me for not getting their homework done in class. This made me nervous for the next time I would sub for her because I was not sure how I would handle the situation this time. I wondered to myself if maybe I was too friendly and too nice the last time I was a sub.  When I go to the school to observe and volunteer I try to be very friendly so that students will feel comfortable enough to ask me questions. I tried to do the same as a substitute. Last time I subbed students had a work day during class so I was very lenient as far as students moving around and talking to each other. I heard a lot of side conversations happening but it looked like everyone was working on something. I was also trying to help any student who raised their hand which kept me busy for most of the hour. Clearly they were not actually doing what they were supposed to be doing and they decided to blame me for this.

Now to this week. This time I was teaching one hour and the other four hours were having review days. I had a conversation in the morning with the teacher I was subbing for because she knew I was a little nervous. She gave me some ideas of how to handle each of the classes but left it up to me to decide what I was going to do. I looked over all the material for each hour during her prep first hour. 2nd hour I was teaching a small lesson after students corrected their assignment. I wanted to try something different then just having them write down notes so I decided to use the white board. This teacher wanted me to go through the first example with them and let them try the second on their own for each type of problem. I went through the first problem but made the students tell me what to write down for each step. Then I let them try the second problem. When we went through it I had students come up and write their answer on the board. There was three steps for each problem so I said for each step someone new needs to come up and write it on the board. Students were hesitant but we got through it and I gave them their assignment. Next was 3rd hour who had a review day. I told them the objectives for the day and then had them correct their assignment. Next we went through the 4 question activity she left for them. I answered any questions and then with about 20 minutes left, I gave them their assignment.

Now I got nervous because the next three classes were the ones I had last time when things did not go so well. 4th hour was the easiest hour because they are the smallest class of the day. One of the "excuses" last time from 5th hour was that I did not give them all the information they needed or the objectives of the day. To improve form last time, before I turned anything on or took attendance, I told them everything we would be doing and made sure to point to the board that always says what they would be doing. Then I had them get their assignment out so they could correct it while I took attendance. Once they were finished, instead of just giving them their assignment like last time I decided the best way to get through the hour was to do some of the homework together as a group and then go through the answers. This was something the teacher suggested and said would be okay to do. She suggested that I put two problems on the screen at a time and give them about 5 or more minutes, depending on the problem, to work on them. I could answer any questions during this time and once the time was up or once everyone was ready, I could show them the answer. Not only did this take up time during class but I could make sure everyone got some of the assignment done. I did this for the first seven problems and then handed out the work sheet so they could have the rest of the time to work. They ended up having about 30 minutes to work on it and some of them even got it done. Since this worked out so well I decided to do the same thing 5th hour but handle it a little differently.

5th hour is the largest class of the day and is the class that blamed me last time for not getting their assignment done. I knew I wanted to say something to them so that they knew I had heard what had happen. I didn't want to seem nervous or mad in anyway. I am still learning how to teach so I was using this as a learning experience from the last time. Like 4th hour I made sure not to turn anything on or put anything on the projector. Last time I did not wait for every side conversation to stop because it is very hard to get all 30+ students completely quiet. This time however I made sure everyone was paying attention to what I was about to say. I told them we would first correct their assignment from last night and then we would have an assignment to work on. However I told them that last time I was here people did not work on their assignments and that they had reasons why they didn't do it. I continued to say that this time no one would be moving around and that instead of just giving them their assignment we would be doing the first few problems together. I told them to get their assignments out so they could correct while I took attendance. When they were done someone asked right away if they could move and I knew it was a student who blamed me last time. I said no even though he thought saying pretty please with a cherry on top would change my mind. We did the first eight or nine problems together and I decided to give them the rest of the time to work. I again said we would not be moving around but that they were more then welcome to ask me questions. I went to give a student the answer key because he came in after he took a test. The student who asked to move earlier moved and, loud enough for everyone to hear, I said that we weren't moving around. He tried to argue because they were just working on an assignment to which I replied "yes but the last time I gave you time to work and I let you moved around I got burned for it." The room got quiet and the student gave me a look as if he knew exactly what I was talking about. I heard someone say that I got in trouble last time which I quickly made clear that I did not. I just said that I need to change from what I did last time because clearly people did not get assignments done. The rest of the hour people worked on their assignment and continued to ask me question. I felt very confident in what I had done and how I handled the situation. 6th hour was a lot like 3rd hour and although I had to get students back on track, I did not have any major problems.

I made sure to leave a note for the teacher with what each class did and how the day went. When I got home I made sure to text her how the day went and any information she needed to know. I wondered how I did and hoped that students would not think I was mad at them. When I went later this week to observe I had a student tell me that they like me as a sub which made me feel good. I have never been in a situation like this and I wondered how personal I should be with students. While I want them to get to know me so they feel comfortable asking questions, being there as a volunteer and as a substitute are two completely different situations. I want students to feel open to asking me questions about math but I also want students to feel like they can ask any questions about college or anything else. These students are mostly juniors and seniors. There have already been a few students asking about what college is like as far as teachers and school work. But do I only allow them to ask me those types of questions when I am there to volunteer/observe or is appropriate for them to ask me those questions as a substitute as well? Many people have said I have been handling this situation well but I still struggle sometimes to find a balance.

So like always I end my blog with questions for you. Do you think I handled the situation well this time? What would you have done as a substitute after being blamed for students not getting their work done? Would you have done anything differently? And lastly, how much information do you think you should share with students as their substitute? What about as a volunteer?

Post Substitute Job

I want to talk about my experience this week because I am using it as a learning experience. I was a substitute again this last week for the same teacher I did before. This time it was a half day instead of a full day.  The three hours I was there for are the three hours I am normally observing so they know me from that.  Just like last time I talked to the teacher the night before to find out what I would be doing that day.  She said that it would be a very easy day because the first two hours were getting a work day and the last hour had a quiz.  Fourth and fifth hour are Algebra II classes and the teacher had given them so much information the previous day that she decided to give them a work day to get more of the assignment done and to be able to ask questions.  She wanted me to let them correct the first problem from each section of the homework and then gave me a list of additional problems they were to work on and turn in when they were finished.  There were only five problems they needed to correct so it did not take long before they could start on their assignment. In fact, both classes were given about 45-50ish minutes to complete their assignment.  I allowed them to move around and work with other people in case they would rather ask their classmates questions instead of me.  Fourth hour seemed fine and although not everyone was working on the teachers assignment the entire hour, I did not say anything because the majority did get it done. Then fifth hour came. This class is much larger then fourth hour and is definitely the more talkative group.  I told them to start correcting their assignment right away because I wanted to give them as much time as possible to work. The majority of the class never even got the assignment out but I left it alone because who knows if they actually did it or not.

Once they (meaning the ones actually correcting) were finished I gave them the right of the assignment which was on the projector screen the entire hour. I told them to turn it in when they were finish and said they could move around to work with other people but to make sure to be working.  There were students right up front that asked me questions almost the entire hour which were math related questions. I got one question that was not math related. I was asked if by substituting I got any credit toward any of my college classes. I told them that although I don't get direct credit toward a class, subbing is a great experience and I can use it to write about in my blogs. The answer I gave was quick and the student got right back to work. I continued to help students the rest of the hour. I noticed a majority of students never stopped the side conversations and phones were never put away. Although I thought about saying something a wise person told me before my first substitute job to pick my battles. I also know this teacher well enough to know that if students don't get their work done when given a work day the chances of them ever getting another work day is very small.  I saw many students turn in their assignment but notice a good portion did not.  Again I remembered to pick my battles, I will just leave her a note saying that I don't think everyone worked on her assignment. Sixth hour was fine because all they did was take a quiz.

A few days later when I went to observe, the teacher I help out with came over to me. She said she was debating on whether or not she wanted to call her fifth hour out while I was in the room. Some of them told her the reason they didn't get their assignment done was because I didn't give them all the information and that I sat there and gossiped with them the entire hour.  I felt totally embarrassed even though I did nothing wrong and she even knows they were lying. I asked her not to say anything. Ever since she told me this I have not been able to stop thinking about it. The fact of the matter is that I was trying to be nice and told them they were welcome to ask me any questions to get to know me better since I knew I would be volunteering the entire year. I wanted them to feel like they could ask me questions during class too.  I in no way was gossiping the entire time or for any portion of that time.  My job as a substitute was to give them the information they need to get there work done. Whether they choose to listen or carry on with their conversations is up to them. I did this by projecting the assignment the entire hour up on the screen. 

I can stand at the front of the room and tell them to do their assignment as many times as I want but that does not mean they will do it. I was helping students with their work.  I could have left a lot more in the note I left for their teacher or even told her later that night when she texted me asking how it went. But I don't want them to think I will tell her everything that happens so that I can get them in trouble. I want them to trust me and have some sort of respect for me as a substitute and volunteer.

If they would have had any other substitute the teacher may have believed what these students had said. The teacher I was subbing for also knows me much better and knows I would never gossip the entire hour and I am so thankful for her. I talked to her and have used this as a learning experience. Although students will test you as a substitute you can't let it get to you. Next time I sub I will adapt and change how I act during this hour. I will also change rules for the hour and next time students won't be able to move around during the hour. Although most of the class did as they were supposed to it is sad to think that one or even a few students can ruin chances for the rest of the class.

Here are a few questions I have for you. What would you do the next time you sub for these students? Also, why do you think students waste so much time when they could get their work done? Do you think they don't do the assignment because they don't know how to do it or do you think they just don't want to?

Nerves of a Substitute

There are a few things I want to talk about in this blog post. Last time I talked a lot about myself and why I know so much about how people learn differently. This time I want to talk about my experience being a substitute, technology, and the respect between students and teachers that I have observed while volunteering. While these are my own opinions, I don’t expect everyone to agree with me and in no way should you think that what I say is correct.

The first topic I want to share is my experience as a substitute.  The teacher I was a substitute for is the teacher I have been helping for five years now.  She is also the teacher I observe for my math activities class. The Friday before I was a substitute I asked what each of the classes would be doing so I had an idea of what I would need to do.  She has an Algebra II A class, 2 Algebra II classes, and 2 Algebra II B classes. Three of her five classes had a test so those were no big deal. However, she was not sure what her two Algebra II B classes were going to be doing yet.  She also warned me about each of her classes and told me which ones I might have trouble with.  I am the type of person who gets nervous about almost everything so not knowing if I would have to teach or just hand out a worksheet did not help my nerves.  The night before I was a substitute I received an email with the lesson and a text from the teacher.  I found out that I would have to teach her Algebra II B classes a lesson which was something I had never done before. I have never taught an entire lesson to a class all by myself.  The only time I have every taught something was one on one with a student.  Let’s just say when I found out I was teaching I may have had a freak out moment. I looked at the lesson she sent me so that I could refresh my memory of the topic. The lesson was on logarithmic functions as inverses. Reading over the notes I felt pretty confident I could teach it but again, I have never taught a class.  I continued to text the teacher asking questions about her classes to make sure I had all the information I needed. She continued to try to get me to not be so nervous. I read over the notes one last time and decided to go to bed… or in this case lay in my bed for a couple hours and still think about the fact I had to teach.

            The next morning, I woke up more nervous than the night before. I knew I could do it but I had to get over this fear. I packed a lunch and headed out the door leaving myself plenty of time to get there. Once I was at the school I knew I had an hour to calm my nerves because she has 1^st hour prep.  I talked to a few other teachers who all told me I would do great.  During first hour I decided to get the notes ready for each of the classes so that all I had to do was go through each example. As time went by I didn’t notice my nerves as much but still had the thought in the back of my mind.  All of the sudden with five minutes’ left there was a fire drill. I definitely jumped a little bit because I was not expecting the alarm to go off and it was silent in her room. Once second hour started I introduced myself and had everyone start on their test. Once I got that first introduction over with I was fine. Then third hour came; time to teach. Again I introduced myself trying to make it long enough to take up time but short enough so that I had time to teach the lesson. The second I was teaching I felt as though a weight was lifted off my shoulders.  It was definitely not as hard as I thought it was going to be but I knew what I wanted to change before I taught sixth hour.  Once sixth hour came I was no longer nervous to teach. I knew what I was doing and was ready to take on anything.  When school was over I was able to look back on the day and I realized that I wasn’t nervous at all once I got into the lesson. I was no longer scared of talking in front of the whole class and I am realizing even now while writing this that I can teach. Now that is not to say that I won’t get nervous the next time I have to teach but at least I know I can do it.   I have talked to many education majors who all say they get nervous when talking in front of people. All of the teachers I have talked to said they were nervous too but when they are teaching in their own classroom they are fine.  Teachers say that they can talk in front of their students but if you ask them to talk in front of their colleagues that is when they get nervous. But why is this the case? Where do these nerves come from? Is it because we are afraid that our peers will look down on us if we make a mistake?

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Even with the nerves the hardest part of the day was not teaching but instead it was keeping people off their phones. This leads me to the next topic, technology. I had to go the entire school day with out my phone and yet these students can't go five minutes with out touching theirs. They also rely so much on calculators and their laptops to help them to get their work done. Now as far a calculators go I realize that some problems you need a calculator. However, I have seen students who need a calculator to do a simple addition or subtraction problem. Are they using a calculator because they want to make sure they are not wrong or do they really not know how to do it in their head?
As far as computers go I see the benefit. I love having Blackboard for school because I can get all of my documents in the same place for all of my classes. But I see assignments starting to be online, online quizzes, online tests, and more. When I become a teacher I don't want everything to be online. I don't want my students or even my own kids to be so attached to a computer screen rather then using pencil and paper. I hate that I am even attached to my computer because I feel like I never go outside anymore. As a teacher I want to make activities to do outside. I don't want my students to think the only way to learn math is either on a computer or by sitting at a desk and writing notes. As teachers it is our job to make students excited about learning and to get them engaged. Having them do everything on a computer does not get them engaged because most of the time they exit out of their assignment and play a game instead. So I have two questions for everyone reading this. First, when did technology become our focus for the classroom? Second, how are you going to balance technology use in your classroom?