General Tips
- Always dress neatly, professionally, and comfortably.
- Get to know the secretary in each school where you want to sub. Be sure you're on the school's sub list and that your phone number is correct.
- If you want to do long-term subbing, make that known to the school office and to the teachers you sub for. Provide each school with a copy of your r�sum�.
- When the phone rings first thing in the morning, answer it yourself -- cheerfully.
- Say yes as often as possible. Call school secretaries when you will be out of town or on vacation. Make sure they know when you will return, and call them as soon as you do.
- If you don't want to work on a particular day, let the answering machine pick up. If you answer and say no too often, you'll stop getting calls.
- Keep a file on each school you sub in. Include administrators' names, a map of the school, a list of faculty, and a copy of the school's rules and procedures. Keep notes about individual teachers and classes. Indicate class rules and routines, whether the teacher leaves a sub folder and lesson plans, what classroom expectations are, how the class behaved, and so on. Keep copies of all your teacher reports.
- Introduce yourself to other teachers, but don't get involved in school politics or gossip.
When You Arrive at School
- Arrive as early as possible and check in with the school secretary right away.
- Obtain a map of the school and a list of faculty.
- Check the teacher's mailbox for announcements, attendance sheets, and so on.
- Look over the substitute teacher folder and compare it to your own sub folder form. Ask the school secretary or another teacher to help you fill in any missing information.
- Locate emergency exits and alarms.
- Look at the day's lesson plans and locate needed materials.
- Preview the roll for any student names that are difficult to pronounce and find out how to pronounce them.
- Write assignments on the chalkboard.
- Have an activity ready for students to do as soon as they enter the room.
Moving Through the Day
- If a seating chart is not available, make one as you take attendance.
- Learn the names of as many students as possible as soon as possible. Learn a few names immediately.
- Follow the teacher's lesson plans as closely as possible. Supplement with your own activities only after the assigned work is done.
- Let only one student out of class at a time, with a hall pass of some sort. Bring your own if necessary.
- Take notes throughout the day about incidents you want to share with the classroom teacher.
- Whenever you're unsure of what action to take, err on the side of caution.
Before You Leave
- Complete a teacher report form. Include a list of students who were absent that day.
- Return the room to the condition it was in when you arrived. Close and lock windows. Return AV equipment to its proper place.
- Grade homework and seat work and arrange it in alphabetical order.
© 2000 by Education World®. Education World grants teachers permission to reproduce this work sheet for educational purposes only.
