Survival Skills for the Substitute Teacher

How do I Handle a Real Crisis?

When your best effort at applying a quick fix fails, you need to make some rapid decisions. You must assess whether or not the behavior can be tolerated for the rest of the day (or the remainder of the class period). If the behavior is tolerable, accept it and move on. As the day progresses and students become actively involved in their lessons, they may settle down. But if the classroom behavior is intolerable, you need to take action.

Here are some of your options:

• Seek the help of the teacher next door.
• Send the disruptive student or students to the office with a referral slip, calling ahead to alert the office.
• Send a note to the office with a trusted student that says you need the help of the principal.

It’s important to emphasize that requesting help does not mean you’ve failed. It’s far better to remove a disruptive student from the room than it is to allow that student to ruin everyone’s day.

If I Ask for Help, Will I Be Viewed as a Weak Teacher?

No, you will be viewed as someone who has self-respect and will not tolerate a disruptive or potentially dangerous situation. You are protecting yourself and the students when you remove someone who will disrupt all learning and has the potential of putting the class in danger. Your responsibility as a teacher demands that you take action. The rest of the class will thank you silently.

The administration will recognize that you had the good judgment to take action before it was too late. And any other potentially disruptive students now understand that you mean business.

Are There any Positive Ways to Restore Order Once it has Been Lost?

There is always hope! After you have subbed for a while, you will have a sense of which techniques will work for you. Try a few of the following tactics and see which ones work.

It’s a good idea to assess why your class is out of control. Is your material too difficult? Do students understand what to do? Perhaps you need to change the assignment or work on it as a group. • If there is a personality confl ict going on, remove the individuals and speak with them privately. • Try standing near the misbehaving student or students. Use proximity to quiet the situation. • Acknowledge the good things that are happening in the room and ignore the others. Rewarding good behavior can turn the mood of the class around.

Sometimes if you remain calm (never lose your composure) and just wait, the group will quiet down on its own.

What if Students Ask to Go to the Restroom or to the Nurse?

Allow one child at a time to leave your room, and be sure that student has a hall pass if the school requires one. Keep track of who is out of the room, the time that student left, and where he or she is going. Be sure the students understand that you will not be “gamed” into allowing them to roam the halls. If you see that there is a constant stream of students leaving for the bathroom, you must shut it down. Simply state that the bathroom trips are over for now.

Summary

Not every day in the classroom will be easy. In fact, some days will try your patience and, if you’re not careful, crush your spirit. In order to avoid that, you have to develop a set of survival techniques for those days that are particularly challenging. The following guidelines will help:

• Be as strict as is required to control the class. You must set limits and enforce them.
• Try to isolate the cause of the classroom problem. Work to change things. If the subject matter is too difficult or unclear, for instance, do the work as a group or change the assignment. If the problem stems from the misbehavior of one student, take her aside, look her in the eye, and have a firm conversation.
• Try a quick fix. Sometimes something as simple as withholding a privilege or isolating the instigator will remedy the situation.
• If a real crisis erupts, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Get assistance from another teacher or the school office. You will not be viewed as weak if you ask for help.
• Give a detention or a referral slip when negative behavior demands one.
• Never lose your composure. Sometimes, if you wait calmly, the tide may change.

Be certain that the students understand that you have classroom boundaries that may not be crossed and there will be consequences if they try to cross them. Remember, you must do everything possible to keep the classroom calm and safe.