The main advantage I have of being a substitute is time.
Time to prepare for the upcoming school year - my first year of teaching. Time to get to know the students and invest in a relationship with them. Time to try out different jobs such as grant writing, tutoring, coaching, and club sponsoring. Subbing requires no lesson planning so I have my nights free and I spend a lot of time blogging or reading books about teaching. I know that nothing can fully prepare me until I actually start teaching but I want to do the best I can to get ready.
What should I do to prepare for my first year? What kind of things can I do ahead of time? Can I start writing lesson plans, homework assignments, and tests or do I need to wait until I know my students? What things should I start buying ahead of time so I don't have to spend a million dollars in the first week of school? What are some other blogs I should be reading?
I want to live my life with a spirit of excellence. Help me be excellent!!
Please?
(Joel sent me! smile!) Here are some blog posts I wrote that give support to teachers: http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com/search/label/support
ReplyDeleteMy first year that I taught I kept a daily journal where I reflected about my day. It really helped me put life in perspective. Don't try to be perfect and accept that you will make mistakes but as long as you do the best you can, it will all work out. And most of all, make time for yourself outside of the classroom (hobby or some activity other than teaching).
Joel sent me, too. Here are some suggestions:
ReplyDelete1. Join a chatboard for math teachers. The website, Teachers.net has lots of subject-specific chatboards. Not sure how active the math chat is, but, it's worth checking out.
2. Get yourself a copy of the book, The Courage to Teach. Very inspirational and thought-provoking.
2. Join a math organization: NCTM - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Try to attend their conferences. If not the national, the local/regional conferences.
This is all I have for now.:)