In this article, the author gives advice on how music educators can prepare ahead of time for days in which a substitute teacher will be needed. One suggestion includes creating a substitute folder, possibly during the summer when free time is more available. The author also suggests creating actual lesson plans that a substitute with no musical…

Advises new substitute teachers to be prepared, tote emergency activity folders, dress professionally (but wear flamingo earrings), be early, figure out the game plan, communicate expectations to students, enforce consequences, have a gimmick to reward cooperation, relish the teachable moment, leave the room tidy, and believe in themselves. (MLH)

A former substitute teacher explains how she won first-graders' attention and significantly improved deportment by pretending to be a Martian with different communication modes and hearing capabilities than terrestrials. Children painlessly learn tips on listening, communicating, and engaging in friendly behaviors. (MLH)

By using songs, famous quotations, poems, and a questionnaire with each day's or week's new group of students, a substitute teacher quickly establishes rapport with her students. (Author/RK)

Provides specific suggestions and activities that substitute teachers can use with different grade levels. Substitute teachers need to be aware of the age and learning levels of their students, and develop appropriate teaching styles for different grade levels. (MDM)

Though substitute teachers spend significant amounts of time with students, they receive little training. The Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University has developed training materials that include six content components: being prepared and professional, classroom management skills, legal and first aid issues, teaching and…

Describes one school district's mandatory 2-hour workshop designed to certify substitute teachers. The workshop explains the district's expectations of substitute teachers, provides information and instructional techniques to facilitate learning and proper classroom control, and allows questions and concerns to be raised and clarified by…

Examines the problems substitute teachers have with conducting regular lessons when the class is unruly and offers a student questionnaire that gives an idea of what substitutes face as one solution. (JC)

Substitute teachers are responsible for over 1 full year of every child's education, but research shows that only 10 percent of school districts provide more than 2 hours of substitute teacher training, and 53 percent of school districts provide no training. There is a tremendous need to implement effective training programs that will ultimately…

Among the numerous problems faced by substitute teachers are: (1) lack of adequate lesson plans left by the regular teacher; (2) lack of adequate preparation for substitute teaching by schools of education; and (3) low expectations as to what a substitute teacher will be able to teach. Solutions to these problems are discussed. (JN)

This article gives advice to recent graduates in education on how to find temporary assignments and how to conduct themselves as substitute teachers in order to land a permanent teaching job. (SJL)

Activities suggested in this booklet for substitute teachers are designed to reinforce the objectives of the Program of Studies, the official school district curriculum of the Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools. This booklet is part of a management support kit of resources, materials, and information developed for the Management for…

A substitute teacher advises regular teachers to support effective substitute teaching by maintaining a seating chart, leaving detailed lesson plans, grading work done in their absence, and training students to sit quietly awaiting class. (MJL)

This issue of the "SubJournal" focuses on the experiences of substitute teachers as represented through individual experience and research. Included within are ten articles written by people from various fields of study and work ranging from students seeking degrees in education to a report from the House of Commons in the United…

The need to provide inservice training to substitute teachers was examined. The study surveyed a random sample of 278 teachers and 123 substitute teachers in Allen County, Ohio. The first part of the survey asked both groups about demographics. The second and third parts asked both groups whether teachers left complete lesson plans for…