Most of you know that I have had the privilege, yes, privilege, of being able to be a substitute teach in the local schools. Practically all the time, it is in the high school. Being there frequently has allowed the kids to get to know me. This allows for me to have a certain sense of respect. During my time, I have not had to give anyone a detention. Part of that is due to that punishment not being that effective, in my opinion. And two, I don't resort to that until they are defying me. Occasional talking, I can handle. Being defiant, I can't.
I think, in the two and a half years that I have been doing this, I have filled in for almost every teacher. The only one I can think of that I haven't filled in for is the driver's ed teacher. This has allowed me to be in a variety of classrooms. Each classroom brings its own sense of challenges.
Last week, I was in the band room. I didn't have to do anything musically with them, but their freedom brought boredom and boredom brings trouble. The school has a cell phone policy. I was never told about what the policy actually is, so I have my own. It is based on me catching them and their honesty. During that period of forty-four minutes I confiscated three cell phones! Kids trying to text because the were bored! In the middle of the week I caught two, in another class. The first one gave up without a problem. The second one didn't want to give up his phone too easily. I asked for it, and he said "no". We visited, but he still wouldn't give it up. I gave him until the end of the hour (about 6 minutes) to decide if he was going to give it up or not. I even started to write a detention slip, and at that point, he gave it up. I drew the line, and he had to decide which side he was going to be on. That is a "secret" to my success, giving students a choice and then sticking with it.
I also do the same with the class, as a whole. Depending on the situation, they have the choice, as a class, to behave or not. Sometimes they want to go to lunch early or they have to read the entire class period. In these two cases, I will put up numbers from highest to zero. These numbers represent how early they can go to lunch or how much free time they have after reading. I tell them that they've already been given a warning. Then, if even one student is not doing what they are supposed to be doing, I mark a number off. They now have less time for free time or to be able to go to lunch early. It is very effective. Kids have the choice and they take care of each other to win the reward. I don't believe in warning kids over and over. I draw the line and they have the choice of where to stand.
Subbing has given me great opportunities to make Kingdom impacts in the community. Much of the time, the community doesn't even realize it. I love to observe what kids are going through and try to help them as they go through. I like to reach out to those who probably never get reached out to. I enjoy seeing them learn. I enjoy seeing them in the community. I enjoy congratulating them on their achievements. I enjoy meeting their parents. I really have enjoyed subbing and look forward to today, when I get another chance to be in the classroom having many more experiences! I could write about so many things, but this was long enough!!!
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