Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It depends mostly on the grade level and if you're certified in the subject. I subbed for elementary and I was always expected to teach exactly what the regular teacher would've taught that day. I remember the day I picked up an elementary job early in the morning, maybe 5AM or so. I went back to sleep and shortly after my phone rang. It was the teacher who wanted to go over math lessons for the day. Elementary lesson plans are usually very detailed down to what you should be covering every minute of the day.
Middle school is more similar to elementary than to HS. I don't think I have ever had a middle school class where I didn't have to go over an assignment or had to cover some material. I subbed for a middle school class this week where they were starting Lord of the Flies. I covered vocabulary for the book and they read the first chapter aloud before asking for volunteers to read.
High school is different. I try to sub mostly social studies and some teachers will have me cover the lesson they planned. This past week I taught AP US History using the teacher's PowerPoint slides. I did the same for a HS econ class. I've had some teachers ask me to cover a specific topic such as Watergate and 9/11. Sometimes I'll pick up a HS science class and I'm usually not able to teach the subject. The easiest classes are the AP math and science since the students are the most intelligent in the school and work quietly the entire period on whatever the teacher assigned.
Yeah, I speak almost entirely from a high school perspective. That's the issue, again from what I experienced in state where subs only needed a high school diploma, most can't really even do what you did with the Power Point let alone lead a discussion.
I covered classes where I had no idea what was going on, usually an upper level Math. Now your experience is that those kids will self-regulate, ours did not for the most part because there was no leveling until AP Calc and Stats. Same with Science.
It depends mostly on the grade level and if you're certified in the subject. I subbed for elementary and I was always expected to teach exactly what the regular teacher would've taught that day. I remember the day I picked up an elementary job early in the morning, maybe 5AM or so. I went back to sleep and shortly after my phone rang. It was the teacher who wanted to go over math lessons for the day. Elementary lesson plans are usually very detailed down to what you should be covering every minute of the day.
Middle school is more similar to elementary than to HS. I don't think I have ever had a middle school class where I didn't have to go over an assignment or had to cover some material. I subbed for a middle school class this week where they were starting Lord of the Flies. I covered vocabulary for the book and they read the first chapter aloud before asking for volunteers to read.
High school is different. I try to sub mostly social studies and some teachers will have me cover the lesson they planned. This past week I taught AP US History using the teacher's PowerPoint slides. I did the same for a HS econ class. I've had some teachers ask me to cover a specific topic such as Watergate and 9/11. Sometimes I'll pick up a HS science class and I'm usually not able to teach the subject. The easiest classes are the AP math and science since the students are the most intelligent in the school and work quietly the entire period on whatever the teacher assigned.
I was a science teacher, I had to be very careful what I left unless I personally knew the sub coming. Until I finally gave up the ghost and only had full class period videos with worksheets that were filled out as it showed I had subs tell kids they weren’t doing my left assignment since science sucked, I had subs tell kids the wrong information, I had subs let the kids get into my lab materials, I had more than one idiot sub decide to make up their own “experiment” to do with the kids and plenty that would just basically do whatever in the heck they pleased. My English and Social Studies colleagues generally could leave an actual assignment if they were willing to plan one.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
I was a science teacher, I had to be very careful what I left unless I personally knew the sub coming. Until I finally gave up the ghost and only had full class period videos with worksheets that were filled out as it showed I had subs tell kids they weren’t doing my left assignment since science sucked, I had subs tell kids the wrong information, I had subs let the kids get into my lab materials, I had more than one idiot sub decide to make up their own “experiment” to do with the kids and plenty that would just basically do whatever in the heck they pleased. My English and Social Studies colleagues generally could leave an actual assignment if they were willing to plan one.
Pretty much agree. I found it a good time to assign reading from the textbook in most cases, and usually about astronomy, with work sheets so they had to turn in something.
I was a science teacher, I had to be very careful what I left unless I personally knew the sub coming. Until I finally gave up the ghost and only had full class period videos with worksheets that were filled out as it showed I had subs tell kids they weren’t doing my left assignment since science sucked, I had subs tell kids the wrong information, I had subs let the kids get into my lab materials, I had more than one idiot sub decide to make up their own “experiment” to do with the kids and plenty that would just basically do whatever in the heck they pleased. My English and Social Studies colleagues generally could leave an actual assignment if they were willing to plan one.
Science teacher here.
I rarely ever need subs. But when I do I just leave an online assignment on Canvas and make it an independent work day. Subs appreciate not having to do anything and if are science teachers they can help kids if they want. about 5% of the subs out there are actually science teachers so the chances of getting one in your classroom is pretty slim.
It would be different if I was going for a week or so but I've never been gone for more than a day at a time in 15 years of teaching.
Ok. Daughter is a VP at a Parochial School in Maryland and there are no Subs, non to be found. Teachers are taking off time due to the Illness they catch from the kids and there are no subs to be had, even the public school system is having the exact same problem .
I was a science teacher, I had to be very careful what I left unless I personally knew the sub coming. Until I finally gave up the ghost and only had full class period videos with worksheets that were filled out as it showed I had subs tell kids they weren’t doing my left assignment since science sucked, I had subs tell kids the wrong information, I had subs let the kids get into my lab materials, I had more than one idiot sub decide to make up their own “experiment” to do with the kids and plenty that would just basically do whatever in the heck they pleased. My English and Social Studies colleagues generally could leave an actual assignment if they were willing to plan one.
I can't imagine a sub doing any of the things you describe. The science teachers I have subbed for are the most conscientious about leaving assignments. I once had a middle school science teacher leave an experiment to do. I would prefer not having to do that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phetaroi
Pretty much agree. I found it a good time to assign reading from the textbook in most cases, and usually about astronomy, with work sheets so they had to turn in something.
I have found that students do not read textbooks. I don't agree with this trend. Schools usually only have a classroom set of textbooks and students don't even want to use them to look up answers. They prefer to use their phones to access an electronic version of the textbook. I actually have an astronomy class this week. I'm pretty sure there is not an astronomy textbook in the classroom.
Quote:
Originally Posted by texasdiver
Science teacher here.
I rarely ever need subs. But when I do I just leave an online assignment on Canvas and make it an independent work day. Subs appreciate not having to do anything and if are science teachers they can help kids if they want. about 5% of the subs out there are actually science teachers so the chances of getting one in your classroom is pretty slim.
It would be different if I was going for a week or so but I've never been gone for more than a day at a time in 15 years of teaching.
This has been the trend since Covid. Most of the schools in my area use Google Classroom. There is one school district that uses Canvas because they got a new superintendent who switched several things to what his previous district used. The teachers were not happy to be forced to change to something new and move their materials over.
Ok. Daughter is a VP at a Parochial School in Maryland and there are no Subs, non to be found. Teachers are taking off time due to the Illness they catch from the kids and there are no subs to be had, even the public school system is having the exact same problem .
It seems to vary from school to school across the district. The ES where I worked and now mainly substitute has very little difficulty getting coverage and rarely has an unfilled job. It’s in an area that has a relatively high number of households with stay-at-home parents that decide to sub or apply to be monitors. They often become regulars. Unfortunately schools located in areas that aren’t as strong economically have a tougher time filling vacancies. It also seems to me that schools on an earlier bell schedule do better getting subs.
It seems to vary from school to school across the district. The ES where I worked and now mainly substitute has very little difficulty getting coverage and rarely has an unfilled job. It’s in an area that has a relatively high number of households with stay-at-home parents that decide to sub or apply to be monitors. They often become regulars. Unfortunately schools located in areas that aren’t as strong economically have a tougher time filling vacancies. It also seems to me that schools on an earlier bell schedule do better getting subs.
Even many in education fail to recognize the stay-at-home mom factor when discussing subbing shortages. There are elementary schools in my district that have no problem getting conscientious reliable subs by recruiting from the parent pick-up lane and the PTA. Sadly, those subs tend to only sub at that one school so you end up with schools who have so many subs they can be picky who they call while others can’t get even crappy subs to show up with enticements.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
This has been the trend since Covid. Most of the schools in my area use Google Classroom. There is one school district that uses Canvas because they got a new superintendent who switched several things to what his previous district used. The teachers were not happy to be forced to change to something new and move their materials over.
I spent 10+ years working with Google Classroom. Google has basically let it atrophy like they have done with other peripheral systems. Remember Google+ ??? Now days it seems like they mostly just use Google Classroom as a means to force all school children in the US to get Gmail accounts.
My district switched to Canvas two years ago and it is a vastly superior platform to Google Classroom. There are reasons why nearly every university uses Canvas instead of Google Classroom. I'm 60 so not some young techie but I easily mastered the transition. Learning new technology is part of the job of teaching. So I frankly have ZERO sympathy for cranky old teachers who refuse to adapt to changing technology. Find another job if you can't master the tech. The job isn't about you, it is about your students. And they deserve to use the latest tech and have no difficulty mastering it, trust me.
For example, one thing that Canvas does that Google doesn't is integrate with textbook publishers. My students have access to their online textbooks directly through Canvas with no need to go to some other textbook web site and log in with some other user ID and password that they will forget. Boom, it is right there.
Another thing that Canvas does is let you import and administer secure tests which Google Classroom does not do. You can type quizzes into Google Classroom by hand but it is a tedious process whereas Canvas lets you import texts directly from software applications like ExamView, which is what most textbook publishers use for their question banks. This also lets you administer the same test on paper or electronically which you can't do with Google Classroom. You would have to create two completely separate versions.
Another thing Canvas does is interface with all the common grading and gradebook software applications that most school districts use. So you can enter grades directly into Canvas when you read assignments submitted to Canvas and they automatically sync with your gradebook software. You can't do that with Google Classroom. You have to enter the grades twice into two different systems.
Canvas also has superior scheduling and calendar features to Google Classroom. So, for example, students can go to their Canvas calendar page (or make it their home page) and see a sophisticated color-coded weekly or monthly calendar of all their upcoming assignments with assigned dates and due dates that are neatly color-coordinated by class. Google Classroom doesn't do that nearly as well and doesn't let students edit their calendars with their own notes so it is less useful.
All of this is due to the fact that Canvas is a relatively small and hungry company out of Salt Lake City that is devoted to the education market and dedicated becoming a world-leader in online education. Whereas Google is Google. The don't really make any money from Google Classroom so why bother keeping it up and adding new features to keep up with Canvas?
I spent 10+ years working with Google Classroom. Google has basically let it atrophy like they have done with other peripheral systems. Remember Google+ ??? Now days it seems like they mostly just use Google Classroom as a means to force all school children in the US to get Gmail accounts.
My district switched to Canvas two years ago and it is a vastly superior platform to Google Classroom. There are reasons why nearly every university uses Canvas instead of Google Classroom. I'm 60 so not some young techie but I easily mastered the transition. Learning new technology is part of the job of teaching. So I frankly have ZERO sympathy for cranky old teachers who refuse to adapt to changing technology. Find another job if you can't master the tech. The job isn't about you, it is about your students. And they deserve to use the latest tech and have no difficulty mastering it, trust me.
For example, one thing that Canvas does that Google doesn't is integrate with textbook publishers. My students have access to their online textbooks directly through Canvas with no need to go to some other textbook web site and log in with some other user ID and password that they will forget. Boom, it is right there.
Another thing that Canvas does is let you import and administer secure tests which Google Classroom does not do. You can type quizzes into Google Classroom by hand but it is a tedious process whereas Canvas lets you import texts directly from software applications like ExamView, which is what most textbook publishers use for their question banks. This also lets you administer the same test on paper or electronically which you can't do with Google Classroom. You would have to create two completely separate versions.
Another thing Canvas does is interface with all the common grading and gradebook software applications that most school districts use. So you can enter grades directly into Canvas when you read assignments submitted to Canvas and they automatically sync with your gradebook software. You can't do that with Google Classroom. You have to enter the grades twice into two different systems.
Canvas also has superior scheduling and calendar features to Google Classroom. So, for example, students can go to their Canvas calendar page (or make it their home page) and see a sophisticated color-coded weekly or monthly calendar of all their upcoming assignments with assigned dates and due dates that are neatly color-coordinated by class. Google Classroom doesn't do that nearly as well and doesn't let students edit their calendars with their own notes so it is less useful.
All of this is due to the fact that Canvas is a relatively small and hungry company out of Salt Lake City that is devoted to the education market and dedicated becoming a world-leader in online education. Whereas Google is Google. The don't really make any money from Google Classroom so why bother keeping it up and adding new features to keep up with Canvas?
I am so damned glad I retired.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
