Substitute Teaching – a rite of passage

Have to give these guys a shout – great resource for free / limited use graphics. I just don’t have time to write and draw for my blog – struggle to find time to write.

Substitute Teaching

It’s got to be a bit of a rite of passage for most educators who qualify in Canada. If you are willing and able to take off and teach in some remote community in northern Canada you may well be able to start teaching straight away. But for those who want to try and stay relatively connected with friends and family, then substitute teaching is where it all begins.
I’m not a newly qualified teacher, so for me it’s a little different. I have five years of full time teaching experience and 2 further years, on and off, of substitute (we call it supply teaching in the UK) work. Even though I am not new to teaching I do have those days where I struggle, as a substitute teacher, to deliver anything meaningful, normally when the class is a difficult one.
Teaching, especially in schools with challenging students, is all about relationships. If you don’t have one with the students in your class, and as a substitute that’s likely, the day can be an exercise in trying to keep a semblance of order in the classroom, rather than enabling meaningful learning. A well behaved class that stays on task for more than 15 minutes has been the exception rather than the rule.
Apparently, according to my wife, substitute bating (where students try and get the teacher to loose their cool) is a thing. I never came across it when I was a student as we very rarely had teachers who we didn’t know, and who didn’t know us. (I was at a boarding school) That said it didn’t stop some of us, at times, from being difficult, disrespectful and downright rude. So on reflection, perhaps I should look upon trying to teach these students who have similar behaviours as karmic reprisal. How my old Latin teacher would have laughed.
That said and on a more positive note, as a substitute teacher you do get to see a variety of teachers and teaching styles at work. You see different strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours and various tactics employed in managing classrooms. All of this helps build a repository of ideas that you will be able to call upon when you have a class of your own.
The best thing of all about substitute teaching? You get to leave shortly after the students, no prep, little marking and a whole load of recovery time. Still, I want my own class – can’t make a difference a couple of hours at a time.

Substitute Teaching Full Time

My last post was three weeks ago and a busy three weeks it has been. The experience has been interesting on lots of levels. A week with G7 followed by a week teaching G5 and latterly three days with G4. First and foremost I am now confident that not all my teaching skills have been lost. Though I am well aware that my curriculum knowledge needs updating I find myself hankering for more. A week is long enough to begin to form some sort of relationship with students but not long enough to make any difference. But it is great to know that having my own class is something that I look forward to.

That’s not going to happen until my qualification is validated. Waiting for Alberta to recognize my qualifications from the UK takes on an urgency that wasn’t there before. Not only can’t I apply for positions which would see me once more in a classroom full time but every day I teach I am loosing $30, which, over the course of a month adds up quickly. Spring break is fast approaching and I will be following up with renewed vigour.

Working full time has has meant that after family admin, which involves picking up the little guy from day care, driving home, cooking supper and putting him to bed means I am not finished until 8pm. (My wife has started her flight attendant training, which is INTENSE, so I am getting a taste of being a single dad for the month.) So once I am done I am ready for some RNR rather than blogging. Blogging necessitates writing, which is challenging for me at the best of times and so not something I like to do when fatigued. That said I was reading a great post by Dean Shareski on his blog “Ideas and Thoughts“, which inspired me to make the effort this evening. In his latest post he articulates, amongst other things, why he blogs. (He also laments that he’s been too busy to blog lately.) I think for many educational bloggers it is the same. That is too say a place to reflect. For me my initial idea for getting this blog up and running was to create a place where teachers educated in other countries, who immigrated to Canada, could find useful information on how to go about getting certified. While that is still a goal my primary reason for blogging has changed. I now use it to reflect on what I have learned in the classroom as well as addressing questions related to that experience. Of course I realize now that isn’t going to happen in any meaningful way without a lot of effort. And so I need to make the effort. My intention is from here on in to blog once a week. Let’s see if I can make that happen.

January 2014 Progress Update

I am still waiting to hear from Alberta Professional Standards. At this point paranoia starts to seep in. Is there something wrong, my degrees not up to par, my grades were sub par. Of course that’s all ridiculous I was a qualified teacher in the UK and so I would fall over backwards if they turned around and said my degree had no meaning here in Canada.

The view from our deck, Mount Lorne, Yukon

At the end of last year there seemed a possibility that I could teach in NWT. Apparently each year in January a number of teachers don’t return from their holiday vacation and consequently the territory is desperate for teachers to take their place. Unfortunately having spoken to the lady in charge of recruiting teachers they are unable to consider me as my degree has not been validated by any Canadian teaching organization. It turns out that until that happens I will be unable to find a position anywhere in Canada.

On a brighter note; on the way to discovering that it turns out that in the Yukon you are able to substitute teach with pretty much no qualifications at all. If you are qualified it a bonus and you get more money but the bar to entry is finishing school and a police record check.

So having talked to the substitute teacher co-ordinator here in Whitehorse, a lovely lady called Lynn, we decided to pack up our bags and relocate from Midland ON, to Whitehorse, YT. After travelling 8 days and covering around 5500km we arrived safely. You can read more about the journey at theroadnorth.ca.

We have settled in a place outside of Whitehorse (more of which I will write about at a later date) and tomorrow I will be introducing myself to the elementary schools in the area in the hope that I will be getting some substitute teaching work. Wish me luck.