Insights after 5 Months of Substituting

I've been substituting for over 5 months now, so I think it is time I took a few minutes to look back and assess what I have learned.

Before I started substituting I was, as you can well imagine, nervous, because I did not know what to expect. I had been a student teacher in two very different classrooms, but still, substituting was going to be something completely different: I was going to go to a classroom completely unknown to me, with children that I did not know, with procedures and routines that I had no idea about. Since then I've had over 100 substituting jobs, in almost as many classrooms. None of them have been terrifying or dreadful to remember. On the contrary, I had an overwhelming proportion of good and very good experience.

One of the most important things that I noticed is how important the first minutes with the students are. That dreaded first impression that is so much talked about is REALLY important when you stand in front of a group of children that you do not know anything about. I think the way you start off will be decisive for the way the whole day (or half-day) is going to look like. First of all you need to believe in yourself or at least look confident and play the part of a confident person, even if you don't feel that way. When I was done with my student teaching experience I am not sure that I had that attitude of "I am a teacher". Well now I have it. When I step in front of the classroom I feel that I am the teacher and the students in front of me are waiting for me to show them the way. And I am ready for that. Another trick to looking confident (besides faking it) is being very well prepared. You could say that you cannot do a lot of prep as a substitute, but that is not true. You need to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the beginning of class and read the lesson plan at least two times, making sure that you know how the day is going to look like. By the time the students walk into the classroom you need to be on top of the situation and know exactly what those children are going to do first, second, third and so forth. You need to know where the materials that you need are and/or what questions you are going to ask the students if there are not enough details in the lesson plan.
Besides getting to know the lesson plan you need to have an opening ready: what are you going to tell to these students when you introduce yourself? I found it very useful to take a few minutes to introduce myself no matter how the schedule looks like. I tell them my name, what I am doing there and a few things about me. That works great, it is the first step towards building a rapport with them. I also tell them what my expectations are (that usually involves following the same rules that they have while their teacher is in the classroom). I expect them to be respectful to me and to their classmates, to do their best and to work hard.
Next, I teach them the signal that I use when I need their attention and we practice it once or twice. I use "Class, class, class" with them answering "Yes, yes, yes" and having their voices off. I found that children K through 5 love this signal and are really responsive to it. Finally, I call attendance. Even if I have a seating chart and I could do attendance another way I prefer to call their names out loud because it is another way in which I am building rapport with them. I show my interest for who they are and what their names are. I tell them that I will try to remember their names by the end of the day and I ask them to correct me if I don't pronounce their name correctly. That's it! This is my opening with every classroom. If for some reason I don't feel comfortable in my skin a certain day or something happens and messes up this opening, chances are the rest of the day is going to be less than perfect. It will feel disorganized to me and I will be struggling to keep students on task and well behaved.

Another important aspect that I want to discuss about is the different group/class personalities that I encountered, my reaction and my relationship to/with them. The phenomenon of group personality is fascinating to me. I cannot stop wondering about what gives personality to a group. What makes a group be more than the sum of its parts? What makes it behave like a living creature, different and yet similar to the individuals that make it up? I don't have the answers to these questions but I noticed that the same way you meet people that you do not hit it off with right away it is also possible to meet classes of students that you do not hit it off with or that you do not like as much as you like other groups. I am not sure what causes this. I guess sometimes it might be sheer chemistry, difference of personality and other times it might be me: I feel off, I am having a rough day, in which it is not easy to meet new people and to interact with them. It might also be a combination of the two, or some things that are out of my control: something that happens at the beginning of the day, the way the classroom looks and feels like, the lesson plan that I find on the teacher's desk, something the teacher told me about the group before I met them. Whatever the causes might be: there are groups that I like more and groups that I like less; groups that I seem to be able to communicate with easily and groups that like me more than other groups. Besides the first impression and the opening that I was talking about, this chemistry between the group and me is the second important element that determines how my day is going to look and feel like.

The learning never ends. Every day is a new experience and it teaches me something not only about children but also about me as a person and as a teacher.