Hi everyone! I am a substitute and have been having a hard time getting students to quiet down. There was one time the kids were talking loudly walking to their special and my class actually got yelled at my another teacher- I was SO embarrassed- I tried over and over to get them to walk quietly but it finally took another teacher yelling at them to quiet down. Can anyone give any recommendations or strategies to use to help this situation? I am so afraid that I will be looked at as an ineffective sub.
I'm not sure what age you're working with, but this might help for elementary. I started doing it in my classes because my kids were shouting out ALL of the time. I literally couldn't even get through a sentence with my 6th grade group without someone shouting out or talking to someone next to them. I give them 3 unifix cubes at the beginning of class. Every time they shout out, I take one away. If they still have at least one left, they get to do a preferred activity for 5 minutes at the end. I can't believe how well it works. My kids who were shouting out 20-30 times in one lesson are now only doing it once or twice, and some not at all. I've been doing this for two weeks and I've only had to take all 3 blocks away from two students, and they both improved the next day. It's also nice because I don't have to stop teaching to tell them to quit- I just walk over and take a block and they immediately stop talking. To me having the ability to easily get through the lesson without interruptions is valuable enough to sacrifice the 5 minutes of "instructional time" at the end. You could easily do it as a sub if you bring your own cubes or whatever you want to use. They could work for 5 minutes of "talking time" or whatever you decide at the end.
Wow that's a great idea, I love it! I sub in any grade k-5 and cannot wait to try this! Thank you SO much!
Waterfall, that's a great idea! I'll do that if I still have to sub after my LTS/Maternity leave assignment. nyteach89 - I've been working as a sub for over a year now. Sadly, kids like to take advantage of subs, no matter what you try to do. I have shut down quite a few times and all I was able to say towards the end of the day is "Stop talking!!!!!" It can happen :/ But either way, I always leave a note to the teacher. Most of the time they are happy that I inform them of any mishaps. Always tell your kids that you are going to write a report to the teacher/have in contact with her or him.
MissPapa its tough! There have been times where I would get a headache from reminding them they shouldn't be talking- it would basically go in one ear out the other. I get frustrated with this but luckily the talking doesn't prevent me from getting through the days work.
When I sub in an elementary classroom I always tell them that I will do things slightly different than their regular teacher. I explain that I have a roll of tickets (you can get these at office supply stores), and that when I randomly catch them doing what they are supposed to I will give them a ticket. For every three tickets they will get a prize at the end of the day (lately I have been using either stickers or Red Vines). If I see some students talking, I pull out the tickets and give one to some near by students who are behaving, that usually quiets down the talkers. I have even handed out tickets in line - just make sure the students know your expectations before leaving the room (single file, no talking, no stomping, etc.). I hope your next sub position goes better for you.
One thing I use that has always worked for me is silent soldier. When we're standing in the hallway... whether it be walking to special or lunch, or taking a bathroom break (this especially works for bathroom breaks) I pick one student to start. Everyone else must be silent. The student is the soldier. The soldier patrols the line and tries to catch the most quiet student or the student looking the best in line (standing tall, facing forward, etc.) and then picks a student to take over as the soldier. The variation of this for bathroom breaks (say if they're standing against the wall) is to have the kids do the best poses when the soldier says "Silent Soldier!". They still have to be silent. So the kids will catch on if they're making a good pose but are giggling about it... They won't get chosen. Hope it'll work for you : ]
Things I do as a sub-- firstly, make sure I'm utilizing the teacher's classroom management system in place; moving clip down, etc. I also try to build incentive and reward good behavior with table points if the classroom has table points, moving clip up, adding marble to the classroom marble jar, etc. I also start moving the talkers and have them switch out with other students for the day. A lot of time that helps me to move the talkative students next to quiet students.
Great suggestions! I am definitely going to try the ticket thing Oregon Teacher- my cooperating teacher used this last year and it definitely worked! I never thought to use it for subbing! I have never heard of silent soldier before. msmac21- i will definitely need to try that! cali*teacher i always try to follow teacher systems as best as possible but sometimes i have bad days and find myself saying the same thing over and over! I like the idea of rewarding tables for good behavior, I will definitely need to do that. thank you all!
I'm sorry I didn't read your original post carefully. I have seen teachers stop the class, walk them back to where they were coming from, and start them all over again, if they aren't following line procedure rules. If students are talking excessively in a line I stop the line, do the no talking signal, and wait for them to get absolutely quiet, and if necessary will continue to stop the line until they realize they aren't going anywhere until they are quiet. Sometimes if drastic measures are needed a loss of some recess time threat works, lol. But usually if need be I keep stopping the line, doing a zero noise signal, until they realize they will continue to keep stopping and stand there until zero noise works. Now of course I'm talking about elementary students. I don't sub middle school or high school, in that situation I would have no idea!
One benefit of being a sub, is I've seen lots of strategies by teachers at different schools. I get very uncomfortable at a school if I see teachers and staff yelling at the students. That tells me they are not in control. I rarely see really well behaved students overall at schools where yelling is commonplace. I sub a lot at this one school and it's a very calm atmosphere. No teachers yelling. They are firm, with procedures in place and well implemented, lots of positive reinforcement, but of course consequences if need be. It's a great school, I love subbing there. It's not always a piece of cake, but it's generally a peaceful atmosphere I enjoy, and things like line talking aren't too hard to manage. The reason that is, is they have lots of procedures in place and implemented, and a positive type atmosphere. I never see any belittling or yelling at the students. In fact, I have never seen one teacher or staff member yell at any of the students. I feel like I have really benefited as a teacher to watch and learn the way they do things. I will add, though, that a teacher/classroom/school with lots of procedures in place in the classroom and expectations make for a very pleasant day as a sub, makes our job much easier!
I agree cali*teacher, thats why I love subbing too. It definitely makes it easier when teachers and classrooms have procedures in place- it makes for a smooth day.
Hi Waterfall, i really like your idea and have a question. Do your students stay for a period or the whole day? I'm self-contained so have the same students all day. Guess i can use Natural breaks in the schedule to start a new "period". What so you think?
My kids only stay for one block, but if you have them all day it makes sense to just use the natural breaks to set your day into different "class periods."
