Extra for Substitute

amother

Sat, Nov 21 2020, 10:09 pm

I recently started subbing in elementary school and it's going pretty well. The girls seem receptive and the teachers are happy. One school offered me a teaching job but I don't want to take it for various reasons.
A few questions:

1. Does $20 an hour seem like a fair rate? I end up giving a sitter half of it, so it really doesn't pay for me financially. I still do it though because it's healthy for me to get out of the house. I do wish it was a bit more profitable.
2. A couple of teachers told me I can do something extra with the students once we finish the material assigned for the day. Younger elementary students are happy just to get extra time in the school yard, but older students just stand around awkwardly. Any suggestions? I was thinking something along the lines of a personality or IQ test I can keep handy.
3. Any additional tips?

Thank you.

trixx

Sat, Nov 21 2020, 11:03 pm

Subbing always pays more, although teaching usually is on salary so it covers yom tov, vacation etc.

$20 depends if that's after taxes, and per period not hour. If it's pre-tax and per hour, that's pretty bad (anyone who tries to say it's more than minimum wage has never taught). If it's after tax and for a 40 minute period, it's pretty standard. It also depends on your own experience, so if you have never taught and have no degree, that's about what you'll make.

amother

Sat, Nov 21 2020, 11:09 pm

trixx wrote:

Thanks Trixx, that was very helpful.
Although I was a great student and have many people in my family that are teachers, I never actually taught. I did substitute once or twice right after high school years ago, but then I started working in a completely unrelated field and didn't substitute again until my job shut down because of Covid and I figured I'll try subbing again.
Do you have any ideas for an easy "extra"? Any link would be appreciated.

trixx

Sat, Nov 21 2020, 11:32 pm

I'm the kind of person who can whip a topic out of the air and make it run for 45 minutes lol so I can't think of resources, especially for elementary ages.

For middle school you could always introduce them to various personality tests like you said - types of learners, Meyers Briggs, love languages (their site has tests for different ages), enneagrams, all those things kids love. With a disclaimer ofc that it's only to help us understand ourselves not label or box us in. Also, those are usually better done online than in print so it might take some searching to find a good one. And they take at least 10 minutes to do.

amother

Sat, Nov 21 2020, 11:36 pm

trixx wrote:

Yes I've done a few online but I'm looking for one teachers or substitutes use, that I can read to them and then read the answer key.
I like Meyers Briggs for high school, but it's a bit much for elementary students. I also don't love that it's 16 different combinations, and it seems to go over some girls heads. I'd love something a little more basic.
I remember once doing one where we drew a house and got personality insights according to what we drew. Maybe a little game that someone can email to me would work as well.

amother

Linen

Sun, Nov 22 2020, 12:50 am

I also wouldn't really appreciate if a sub got into personality tests or analyzing drawings my kids made. That seems beyond the pale to me...maybe consider interesting short stories that you can read with them and discuss/journal? Or trivia facts? Origami projects?

dankbar

Sun, Nov 22 2020, 7:50 am

A nice article. Story. Game. Song. Something interesting in the news. Discussion. Poem. Riddle/puzzles. Project. Journal. Newsletter.

We did something interesting once. Every student had to write one good maaleh about each classmate. Teacher collected it & presented each girl with the 20 compliments, that each of her classmates wrote about her.
It boosts self esteem.

Simple1

Sun, Nov 22 2020, 8:01 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

2. A couple of teachers told me I can do something extra with the students once we finish the material assigned for the day. Younger elementary students are happy just to get extra time in the school yard, but older students just stand around awkwardly. Any suggestions? I was thinking something along the lines of a personality or IQ test I can keep handy.
3. Any additional tips?

Thank you.

I have zero teaching experience, but I'm surprised that older girls wouldn't jump at the mention of early recess and start schmoozing away.

amother

Copper

Sun, Nov 22 2020, 10:01 am

Simple1 wrote:

I have zero teaching experience, but I'm surprised that older girls wouldn't jump at the mention of early recess and start schmoozing away.

I am sure the older ones would enjoy free time, but would probably rather stay in the classroom than be forced to go outside. Even if they just use the time to catch up on homework or whatnot.
For the middle aged ones (8-11) they would probably like playing some kind of whole class game.

amother

Amber

Sun, Nov 22 2020, 10:34 am

I'm a teacher.

If you have an extra 20 minutes, do something fun and educational

Teach them how to play boggle. Draw a boggle board on the board and make up letters to fill in (can find online)

First teach how words can and can not be made, then play!!

amother

Sun, Nov 22 2020, 11:54 am

amother [ Amber ] wrote:

This is a great idea.
Thanks.

amother

Purple

Sun, Nov 22 2020, 1:26 pm

I'm a parent. And I was very disappointed that my daughter does by a a sub is extra recess and drawing, but were not talking about professional lessons here. I would appreciate a structure active game instead of extra recess. And or some interesting lesson that teachers don't cover. I think in history or science its easier because its not so focused on in elementary school like math and reading

amother

Bisque

Sun, Nov 22 2020, 1:34 pm

Some more fun learning games to pull out of your hat

-balderdash - have different rows take turns making up the definitions and everyone votes...

- play if and then

- around the world (this works from 1st grade and up)

- write a super long word on the board and give the girls a certain amount of time to write down words with those letters and compare to see who came up with the most words