what is it like first time subbing?

teednab-el

hey guys, I was thinking of going primary school subbing for a while if I can get some. Just wondering what is it like to sub? how do you know what to do in the classroom etc.? Basically I fear the unknown. I have fears that I wouldnt know what to do with the class. Would welcome any advise given.

thanks

byhookorbycrook

Sorry, if you are not a qualified teacher, you should not be in the class. There are plenty trained teachers looking for work so you may find it very hard.

teednab-el

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Sorry, if you are not a qualified teacher, you should not be in the class. There are plenty trained teachers looking for work so you may find it very hard.

well im sorry but i'm possibly thinking of doin teaching next year and im considering doing the interview for primary teaching...Therefore, it is essential that I get experience under my belt otherwise i'm only wasting my time doing the interview as most candidates will have subbing done....and i must get experience somewhere..


and im not asking you of my entitlement of being in the class..im asking you to describe what subbing is like..im not interested in anything else only besides the topic here.

marvin2k

Hi there,

My first experience of sub teaching was a real baptism by fire. I had worked in South Korea Teaching English for a year. I had worked with small groups of 15 Kids.

When I got back I signed up for text a sub in Dublin. I loved the teaching in South Korea and wanted to see if I would like primary teaching. I got a job for three days teaching second class(31 kids). I got the Job at 8.am and was in class at 9.15. It really was a shock to the system. I found controlling such a large group very difficult.

The teacher had left some work, so I really just taught out of the book and did my best to keep noise levels at a reasonable level. My advice would really be to use your common sense and see where they have progressed to in each subject and try and get them to show you .It would be great if you knew what class you were going to teach so you could prepare but that is not always the case. Maybe have a theme like the children of lir , and work a song , an essay , some reading and some art out of it .Be prepared to be flexible to tailor it for a different class . Use the internet for ideas , try and be creative .

I ended up with that class for 6 weeks . Great learning experience .

I found most of the teachers in the school very supportive and encouraging. One older teacher in particular took me under her wing so to speak and showed me some great classroom management skills. I will say that as an unqualified teacher you should be ready for some bad vibes from some quarters (as above), but you will always have that.

I am doing my PGCE now and I think my time subbing will really stand to me during my teaching Practice.

I would say though that subbing for a day or two could possibly put you off teaching. I was lucky in that I had time to get into the swing of it, find my feet and I saw that I would enjoy it.

I would advise you to approach schools and offer to sub teach for free. As far as I know paid Subbing has been cut for sports outings etc so you would be doing a great service for the school.


I am always doing what I cannot do in order that I may learn how to do it -Pablo Picasso

hgf

teednab-el wrote: »

hey guys, I was thinking of going primary school subbing for a while if I can get some. Just wondering what is it like to sub? how do you know what to do in the classroom etc.? Basically I fear the unknown. I have fears that I wouldnt know what to do with the class. Would welcome any advise given.

thanks

this says it all!!! i agree with previous poster. why should vulnerable immpressionable children be "practised" on by unqualified teachers.???

if you really want to see how things are done and gain some experience, you should volunteeer to help out in a classroom and leave the actual teaching to the professionals.

marvin2k

In a situation where the teacher is out , it is much better to have the children kept together where they can at least be supervised by someone who has a lot of interest in getting into the profession . Much better than having the kids dumped in pairs down the back of Junior infants or sixth class IMO . Subbing is a chance for someone to get a look at what the job entails before making the big commitments while also helping out the school who are stuck for an adult .There were moves to stop sub teaching by unqualified teachers but they were soon binned when it was realised that there would be a massive shortage of subs for the massive demand for subs .

byhookorbycrook

There are now plenty of subs who are qualified and unemployed. If someone wants to gain experience, they could do unpaid helper to a teacher.

teednab-el

hgf wrote: »

this says it all!!! i agree with previous poster. why should vulnerable immpressionable children be "practised" on by unqualified teachers.???

if you really want to see how things are done and gain some experience, you should volunteeer to help out in a classroom and leave the actual teaching to the professionals.

And do what exactly? Keep the classroom tidy for the teacher? And what will any post grad students thinking of doing teaching supposed to do? They must get experience of teaching unqualified or not.. I am even considering doing it voluntary.

byhookorbycrook

Post grads do NOT have to teach in a class, there are plenty ways to get experience, it would be interesting to aks the parents on the parenting board how they would feel about someone totally untrained taking their children, just so they can get a post grad place. Go to your local GAA club, offer to help, what about the scouts/guides/beavers?

Is there a dyslexia workshop in your area? I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I have seen what havoc an untrained sub can cause and the anger from parents.I don't think a class should be guinea pigs for someone for whatever reason.

I had a girl shadow me the week before midterm, she worked under my direction ,she did not end up brushing the floor or anything else. She listened to reading groups, worked with children at the computer, drew up a sample set of IEP targets, timed the tasks for the dyslexia screening test and helped with the peer tutoring and shared reading programmes.

You may find this link helpful:
http://educationposts.ie/forum/viewtopic.php?id=22007

Catari Jaguar

teednab-el wrote: »

And do what exactly? Keep the classroom tidy for the teacher? And what will any post grad students thinking of doing teaching supposed to do? They must get experience of teaching unqualified or not.. I am even considering doing it voluntary.

The fact that you think shadowing a teacher will involve her/him asking you to clean the class is HIGHLY insulting. You would be lucky to have a teacher allow you into their class to see them teach.

Become a summer school teacher, sports coach or tour guide voluntarily. IF you manage to get into a school just observe and do as you're asked by class teacher.

Mrs OBumble

teednab-el wrote: »

well im sorry but i'm possibly thinking of doin teaching next year and im considering doing the interview for primary teaching...Therefore, it is essential that I get experience under my belt otherwise i'm only wasting my time doing the interview as most candidates will have subbing done....and i must get experience somewhere..

and im not asking you of my entitlement of being in the class..im asking you to describe what subbing is like..im not interested in anything else only besides the topic here.

It may be that you have English as a foreign language, and are wanting to teach your own language as a specialist subject. If that's the case, good luck to you, although I have to agree with the other posters, you should not be left unsupervised with a group of children unless you are qualified.

However if that's not the case, may I suggest that you enrol in night-school or some-such, and bring your own basic English up to standard before you think about teacher training.

NB This comment may sound cruel. But I have a cousin whose written English is similar to yours: she was most upset when she couldn't find a teaching job, but no one was brave enough to tell her that it was due to her very marginal literacy. (Yes, she qualified as a teacher, we're not exactly sure how!). Better to be honest about such things now.

teednab-el

JustMary wrote: »

It may be that you have English as a foreign language, and are wanting to teach your own language as a specialist subject. If that's the case, good luck to you, although I have to agree with the other posters, you should not be left unsupervised with a group of childrenunless you are qualified.

However, if that's not the case, may I suggest that you enrol in night-school or some-such, and bring your own basic English up to standard before you think about teacher training.

NB This comment may sound cruel. But I have a cousin whose written English is similar to yours: she was most upset when she couldn't find a teaching job, but no one was brave enough to tell her that it was due to her very marginal literacy. (Yes, she qualified as a teacher, we're not exactly sure how!). Better to be honest about such things now.

That's great JustMary and will take your advice on board. I didn't read my post to prefection and it reveals a false sense of my own ability to write basic English sentences properly. But, at the same time, I think you're acting a bit silly. If I may comment on your own English, it is not up to scratch also and you may need to enrol in night-classes as well. Look at the above examples and see what I'm talking about. Make sure your own English is to prefection before criticising someone elses. Now, I don't go on here to pick on other people's spelling mistakes or whatever, but if that's the game you want to play well then fine.

BoozyBabe

The OP didn't come on here & ask whether or not it was right for him/her to teach unqualified.
The question was:- what was it like to teach for the 1st time.
This thread is pathetic!!!
I'm not going to side with either camp on how right or wrong it is for unqualifieds to be in the class, as this was never what the topic was supposed to be about.

I for one would like the original question to be answered.

I am a student teacher & will be on my 1st placement in a few months, & at that stage I'll be perfectly entitled to be in that classroom.
& I would like to know:-
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TEACHING A CLASS OF 30 FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME?

Is it really that difficult to just answer the question asked?

Op, you'll find people more than willing to answer the question you actually asked over on www.educationposts.ie
(There will be those who will also go off on one about how you shouldn't be there, but you'll get enough responses to your actual question to make it worthwhile)

The best of luck to you.
BB

byhookorbycrook

Boozybabe, I wonder will you have the same opinion once you qualify and find all the subbing is taken by unqualified people?

BoozyBabe

That's the thing!
I didn't give my opinion, as my opinion was never asked for!
what was asked for was a description of how you felt the 1st day you taught a classroom.

& why attack the unqualified sub?
surely it's the fault of the principal who is hiring unqualifieds over qualified subs.
Surely it's them whose actions should be attacked.

hot chick

Perhaps you should post this over in Teaching and Lecturing.
Most teachers start getting subbing/observation experience as unqualified persons thinking about going into teaching.
The Dept of Education allows you to do this.
If you are looking for more support on this please go to education.ie and see the message boards in the primary section.

byhookorbycrook

It's not really accurate to say that the DES allows this, it is a last port of call for any school to use an untrained sub. The teaching council was established to stamp out untrained people from the system.

dna

honestly subbing isn't the best indicator to what teaching is like and its only part of the experience you should be looking to gain if you want to go into teaching. During my undergrad degree I volunteered with a homework buddy group with secondary kids in disadvantaged areas in Dublin, I worked in summer camps, childminding, helped run an activity centre during summer hols and during my final year I had less hours and didnt start lectures til 4 on Mondays so applied to every primary school in my area of the city for work experience on Mondays. Was lucky to get into a great local school who took me into first class all day every Monday for the year to listen to reading, help the teacher etc, basically work as a teaching assistant (in the UK sense). I even got a few days subbing out of it which was great, as I knew the kids names, routine, timetable, abilities and what they were currently working on.
My sister is in a similar boat, wanting to be a secondary teacher, applying for postgrad at mo and has worked her socks off getting experience for last four years which has been positively commented on by the courses she has applied for.

squishywishy

marvin2k wrote: »

Subbing is a chance for someone to get a look at what the job entails before making the big commitments while also helping out the school who are stuck for an adult .There were moves to stop sub teaching by unqualified teachers but they were soon binned when it was realised that there would be a massive shortage of subs for the massive demand for subs .

If that is your attitude then you are very very wrong.

Schools are not stuck for adults and certainly will not be stuck next year with so many teachers out of jobs.

If you are not Garda vetted or qualified you should not be allowed into a class. Kids are better off 'down the back' of the classroom of a vetted and qualified teacher than in a room with someone who is neither of the above

I understand Boozybabes anger at the post not being answered but the OP said they are 'thinking of going primary subbing for awhile'. This is very different to being in the process of completing a recognised course.
I dont feel that people should be allowed sub before they start a course as the have no qualifications and are not vetted. I would rather go to school on my death bed than leave my class in the care of someone who has not been garda cleared and who technically could fail a garda vetting check.

Children only get one chance at education, we owe it to them to make it the best it can be

Catari Jaguar

BoozyBabe wrote: »

I am a student teacher & will be on my 1st placement in a few months, & at that stage I'll be perfectly entitled to be in that classroom.

You won't be entitled no. Only if the CLASS TEACHER allows you into his/ her class. You won't be allowed to be left alone with the children either and more than likely you will have to follow the class teachers rules, termly plans etc.

Catari Jaguar

teednab-el wrote: »

hey guys, I was thinking of going primary school subbing for a while if I can get some. Just wondering what is it like to sub? how do you know what to do in the classroom etc.? Basically I fear the unknown. I have fears that I wouldnt know what to do with the class. Would welcome any advise given.

thanks

You go to teacher training college. Or shadow the class teacher while volunteering.

Unless it's maternity cover or you're very lucky, subbing is usually for a week or less. It's not your class or your plans, you breeze in and just use a sub folder of photocopiables or follow work left in the teacher's plans.

The children will probably behave like brats and tell you "we always do art/watch a video/ eat crisps on X day you're in". Best thing to do is ask the principal what behavioural system is used in that classroom/school and let the kids be aware that you won't be fooled and won't take sh1t. Than again, you could just put the video on :P

hot chick

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

It's not really accurate to say that the DES allows this, it is a last port of call for any school to use an untrained sub. The teaching council was established to stamp out untrained people from the system.

It perfectly accurate. The DES permits anyone with a degree to sub. I know people without degrees subbing but I don't know if this is strictly allowed. Whether or not the principal is in favour of taking on unqualified people is another matter entirely. I know several schools who have unqualified subs they trust and they can rely on, and they wouldn't dream of taking on qualified people who are only around for a day or two and grumble all the time that they should be full time.
There are plenty of people who will tell you that you can't work in a school unqualified but that's BS at the moment. The TC currently have no legal power to stop you. If a Principal is prepared to take you on go for it, it's how a lot of people figure out if they are suited to teaching.