Substitute Teacher Training

I arrived at my county’s educational service center about 7:40 a.m. one recent Thursday and patiently waited for the woman at the front desk to put down her phone. When she recognized my presence, the woman pulled the phone from her ear and pressed it her neck. She whispered, “Substitute teacher training?”

I nodded affirmatively and she pointed toward the direction in which I had just come. She whispered, “Go back out and take the door on your left.” After walking down a staircase and through several hallways, all helpfully labeled with “substitute teacher training” and directional arrows, I found a large room with several tables and chairs. At the head of the room was a man, who introduced himself as Harry, and a woman, who he introduced as Susan. Both smiled at me. I was early – about 40 minutes early.

I recognized Harry’s name from several stories I had written about his wife, who organized a trip for area gifted high schoolers to Washington D.C. for last year’s presidential inauguration. Susan seemed familiar, too, but I couldn’t place her.

The training last about eight hours and consisted of watching short video segments and a very long Power Point presentation. My classmates and I (about 22 of us) learned the the basics of how to handle a classroom full of kids and the mechanics of substitute teaching.

About five of the eight hours of training consisted of learning about interpersonal skills and de-escalating situations. I’m a natural escalator. I’ve also studied argumentation for years. And, as a reporter, I was taught to challenge sources when they lied. So, this idea of avoiding conflict was very foreign for me. It was a very positive thing for me to learn; however, and I feel this is personally the most worthwhile thing I absorbed at substitute teacher training.

I feel as though the training was highly successful, although I know there is so much that I don’t know about teaching. Despite the training, I’m still not really prepared to deal with a disruptive class. I’m not sure any amount of training can prepare a person for that. Rather, I think it is something a person must experience. From that experience I believe a teacher develops strategies for future crises.

At the end of training, we all filled out applications for our licenses. I’m seeking a five-year long-term substitute teaching license in language arts for grades seven though 12. I’m currently waiting for my license to arrive in the mail. When it does, I’ll begin the process of approaching area school districts. I’m excited for when that time comes.

Another Step Forward

I’ve previously written how I found an online program that will allow me to take the classes I need to become a teacher. Well, I’ve started the program, and am taking educational psychology and integrating technology across the curriculum.

Educational psychology is great so far. My professor’s personal qualifications are impressive and she’s been very clear in what she expects from us. She has a good sense of humor and seems very fair.

My integrating technology professor, however, isn’t a professor at all. Rather, she’s a 7th grade science teacher who is working on her masters who was asked to teach the class. On the first day, her academic mentor (adviser) was forced to teach the class because my technology professor couldn’t figure out how to log-on. The second day of class, my technology “professor” was more than an hour late and an hour-and-a-half long class.

She showed up just in time to answer a few questions about the assignment that was due and next week’s assignment. Both have been relatively easy, but also frustrating because it’s unclear exactly what she expects.

The truth is I’m really happy to be taking the class despite the frustrations. I know that I’m working toward something, while as a reporter I was going nowhere.