Back to the middle school grind today - a class of 6th graders. The absent teacher is a math teacher who also has a homeroom group so I was at school the whole day. The last time I subbed at this particular middle school it was a disaster for a group of 7th graders so I was a bit nervous going into the day. Especially when some of the 6th graders coming through my classes had already had me as a substitute for Spanish (see ESL and a Nasty Class).
The teacher left great instructions for me and had work for the kids to do in each period. She also had two free periods and a lunch so I had some time to read a book and write my sub report. To start the day a group of kids came into the classroom for homeroom - I had no idea what to do for those five minutes. I guess they just listen to the announcements? It was unclear and the teacher hadn't left instructions for homeroom. So the five minutes passed and the kids moved on.
My first three periods were all math and I had a worksheet to hand out. Once they completed the sheet I reviewed the answers with the class. For each period I stuck with my traditional intro (respect, honesty, kindness) but today I added a "RED LIST". If any students acted up I wrote their names on my RED LIST and that list got passed along to the teacher. She left instructions for me to let her know who misbehaved and that's when I decided to call it the RED LIST to make it scary. I think my list really worked because the threat made most kids sit down and shut up.
After lunch the classes got a little more unruly. I was seeing a class for the second time (this particular group has two math periods and a social studies period with this teacher on Thursdays) and I think they were starting to take advantage of me. It was at the end of 6th period that I had to add a name to my RED LIST. This kid was being ridiculous - stomping his feet on the ground to get the dirt out of his shoes, flicking other students, giving a student "birthday punches", and chasing a girl around the room. This made other kids begin to act up. Once I got him sitting the end of the class went much more smoothly. By the end of the day the kids had already completed all the work I had for them and they were getting restless so I allowed them 10 minutes of "heads up 7-up". Remember that game? I had to be reminded of the rules - it's been too long!
I think my success today was creating incentives for good behavior and threatening the RED LIST. Other teachers that poked their heads in said I was doing a great job so I must have done a few things right.
Once again, do not worry. I'm going on a little trip this weekend and will not be subbing tomorrow. You'll get another post on Monday (I hope)!
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