Being a substitute teacher isn't a walk in the park, the role comes with many difficult tasks and one of them is controlling a class of pupils that you don't know. In the timeless words of Forrest Gump - substitute teaching "is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get". Each day might be spent in a different school with a different class and different students.
So how can you better manage your classroom? Here are some classroom management tips that are perfect for substitute teachers.
Act Authoritative
High school students, especially those in years 9, 10 and 11 are great judges of character. If you walk in the room with no confidence or authority they will see it as their chance to take advantage. No matter what happens you should remain confident and don't give off nervous or frantic vibes.
Keep Your Cool
You will at some point in your career as a substitute teacher come across a confrontational pupil that lives to argue. The best thing you can do is keep your cool, don't lose your temper or raise your voice and avoid getting other students involved with the troublemaker. Usually you can resolve an issue by taking the pupil aside and speaking to them away from their friends and audience.
Keep Your Pupils Busy
Kids have a lot of energy as everyone knows, if you leave a gap of free time in which the students become bored then you can expect them to become restless. Take a look through the lesson plan that's been left for you to complete and assess whether you think it's going to suffice, if not then you should include some mini lessons or small tasks e.g. riddles to keep them occupied.
Keep The Faith
All kids can succeed in their education if managed correctly, you might hope that a class you're teaching never needs a substitute again; however, if you remain positive and keep the faith that every child in that class can succeed then that will get picked up by the students. Praise them for good behaviour and show them that you have a positive attitude in terms of their education.
Break The Ice
It might be useful for you to individually welcome students to class by standing near the doorway. This is a great way to not just introduce yourself to the class but also to predict the classes reaction to a supply teacher.
So how can you better manage your classroom? Here are some classroom management tips that are perfect for substitute teachers.
Act Authoritative
High school students, especially those in years 9, 10 and 11 are great judges of character. If you walk in the room with no confidence or authority they will see it as their chance to take advantage. No matter what happens you should remain confident and don't give off nervous or frantic vibes.
Keep Your Cool
You will at some point in your career as a substitute teacher come across a confrontational pupil that lives to argue. The best thing you can do is keep your cool, don't lose your temper or raise your voice and avoid getting other students involved with the troublemaker. Usually you can resolve an issue by taking the pupil aside and speaking to them away from their friends and audience.
Keep Your Pupils Busy
Kids have a lot of energy as everyone knows, if you leave a gap of free time in which the students become bored then you can expect them to become restless. Take a look through the lesson plan that's been left for you to complete and assess whether you think it's going to suffice, if not then you should include some mini lessons or small tasks e.g. riddles to keep them occupied.
Keep The Faith
All kids can succeed in their education if managed correctly, you might hope that a class you're teaching never needs a substitute again; however, if you remain positive and keep the faith that every child in that class can succeed then that will get picked up by the students. Praise them for good behaviour and show them that you have a positive attitude in terms of their education.
Break The Ice
It might be useful for you to individually welcome students to class by standing near the doorway. This is a great way to not just introduce yourself to the class but also to predict the classes reaction to a supply teacher.