High School Substitute Teacher's Guide: YOU CAN DO THIS!
by Cherise Kelley
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Pub Date Aug 30 2012 | Archive Date Jul 15 2013
Description
"You're a high school substitute? Are you crazy? We were so mean to them!" This is a common reaction when I tell people what I do, but I love substitute teaching at the high school level. I started substitute teaching in 1989, fresh out of college. I was looking for a way to support myself through graduate school. A friend told me, "You have a bachelor's degree, so you can be a substitute teacher."
This book has two target readers:
1) The teacher who just got her credential but didn't get her own classroom and is faced with substitute teaching until she does.
2) The unemployed college graduate who needs a way to support himself until he gets a job in his major and doesn't realize this opportunity is out there.
There are many books on substitute teaching, but this is one of only a few written specifically for high school substitutes. High school calls for a completely different approach from K-8. This book explains not only how to get a high school substitute teaching job, but also how to do the job so well that it will be rewarding in and of itself. Being an excellent substitute can also open the door to a regular full-time teaching position.
Up until the advent of the Internet, most books for substitute teachers consisted largely of worksheets the substitute could photocopy and hand out to students. Today, you can instantly find a million free Internet worksheets. Heck, 99% of today's high school students have phones capable of finding these worksheets.
You won't find worksheets in this book. High school students are too savvy to do a substitute's ungraded busy work. Today's high school students crave human interaction. I've seen them get more excited about a classroom discussion than about watching a movie. Times have changed, and I have remained a successful high school substitute teacher by embracing the changing times.
This book has two target readers:
1) The teacher who just got her credential but didn't get her own classroom and is faced with substitute teaching until she does.
2) The unemployed college graduate who needs a way to support himself until he gets a job in his major and doesn't realize this opportunity is out there.
There are many books on substitute teaching, but this is one of only a few written specifically for high school substitutes. High school calls for a completely different approach from K-8. This book explains not only how to get a high school substitute teaching job, but also how to do the job so well that it will be rewarding in and of itself. Being an excellent substitute can also open the door to a regular full-time teaching position.
Up until the advent of the Internet, most books for substitute teachers consisted largely of worksheets the substitute could photocopy and hand out to students. Today, you can instantly find a million free Internet worksheets. Heck, 99% of today's high school students have phones capable of finding these worksheets.
You won't find worksheets in this book. High school students are too savvy to do a substitute's ungraded busy work. Today's high school students crave human interaction. I've seen them get more excited about a classroom discussion than about watching a movie. Times have changed, and I have remained a successful high school substitute teacher by embracing the changing times.
Advance Praise
I'm glad I bought it. Covers just about everything, with solid info everywhere. January 3, 2013By Craig B. Wilson
I taught full-time for more than a decade. I've done occasional subbing, but I'm about to do a whole lot more, so I took a gamble with my money and bought this. I'm glad I did.
This is specific to high school... This book gives you the low-down on everything you are likely to run into.
It's almost too detailed, but... even though I'm a veteran in some ways, I made sure to read every page because there are nuggets of wisdom everywhere...
This lady's good. She includes her own story here and there, many lessons learned between starting out and where she is now. She's taught as a full-time teacher many years and a sub for many years.
If you start reading and tire of the detailed preparatory info for subs, wait until you get to about page 121. For me, that was where a lot of the heart was. I mean, I need all the other info, but this started to teach me the attitude I need to build toward these not-quite-adults, and the role I need to play in the classroom. That was valuable for me.
Here's a paragraph: "When you are a daily substitute at the high-school level, what works is treating the students as an employer would, rather than the way a parent would. Have a businesslike but friendly and helpful attitude. Be there to help the students with their work habits. Realize that this is their classroom, and you are a guest. Treat the students as you would want to be treated, as if you were sitting in one of those student desks."
She's not a pushover. If someone doesn't cooperate with a respectful and "reasonable and appropriate request," then call the office for backup. But respectful behaviors set the tone. "Approach high school students from the role of a helper."
Another nugget: "One mistake I hear teachers make with this line of reasoning is telling students their grades are their pay for doing their schoolwork. Wrong. *Learning is their pay for doing the work in school.* Grades are a measurement of their learning, but grades are not the goal of their schoolwork; learning is. This is the major difference between school and a job; school is for the benefit of the worker."
She has no illusions; "You have no real authority, as a short-term high-school substitute teacher."
Anyway, I'm not really a reviewer. I'm just really glad I got this book.
I taught full-time for more than a decade. I've done occasional subbing, but I'm about to do a whole lot more, so I took a gamble with my money and bought this. I'm glad I did.
This is specific to high school... This book gives you the low-down on everything you are likely to run into.
It's almost too detailed, but... even though I'm a veteran in some ways, I made sure to read every page because there are nuggets of wisdom everywhere...
This lady's good. She includes her own story here and there, many lessons learned between starting out and where she is now. She's taught as a full-time teacher many years and a sub for many years.
If you start reading and tire of the detailed preparatory info for subs, wait until you get to about page 121. For me, that was where a lot of the heart was. I mean, I need all the other info, but this started to teach me the attitude I need to build toward these not-quite-adults, and the role I need to play in the classroom. That was valuable for me.
Here's a paragraph: "When you are a daily substitute at the high-school level, what works is treating the students as an employer would, rather than the way a parent would. Have a businesslike but friendly and helpful attitude. Be there to help the students with their work habits. Realize that this is their classroom, and you are a guest. Treat the students as you would want to be treated, as if you were sitting in one of those student desks."
She's not a pushover. If someone doesn't cooperate with a respectful and "reasonable and appropriate request," then call the office for backup. But respectful behaviors set the tone. "Approach high school students from the role of a helper."
Another nugget: "One mistake I hear teachers make with this line of reasoning is telling students their grades are their pay for doing their schoolwork. Wrong. *Learning is their pay for doing the work in school.* Grades are a measurement of their learning, but grades are not the goal of their schoolwork; learning is. This is the major difference between school and a job; school is for the benefit of the worker."
She has no illusions; "You have no real authority, as a short-term high-school substitute teacher."
Anyway, I'm not really a reviewer. I'm just really glad I got this book.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781479229642 |
| PRICE | $16.99 (USD) |
