First time subbing ever!

[sparkykandy]

Well, I survived my first time subbing.  I must say that it was quite the learning experience, and I now have a new refound respect for teachers.  I don't know how they get the students to be so well behaved!  Anyways, my first time was with third graders.  They weren't perfect little angels but they weren't too bad either.  They were also super helpful which meant that I got sucked into letting them doing things that they shouldn't have done.  Whoops. 

So, do any teachers or subs have any advice for how to keep students quiet?  (Because I had some issues with that.)  We did quiet mouse a couple of times which was really helpful.  I was surprised to see how quiet they were during indoors recess.  (Was kind of surprised that recess isn't necessarily a given right anymore too.  The teacher didn't mention anything about recess, but I let them have some as a compromise for not letting them outside to play in the snow.) 

I tried following the lesson plan that the teacher left behind to the best of my ability, but I hope that she doesn't mind if not everything got done in time or went down the way it should.  It was really nice having it though. 

So, for any teachers or subs out there, any advice?  (I'm kind of hoping for high schoolers next time.)

[cuddlebuggy]

The quiet sign! I have Girl Scouts that age and I've seen teachers use it as well. In the morning you tell them that when you hold your hand up in the air, everybody stops talking. Don't say a word as it can be a game for the 3rd and unders, just go quiet, put your hand up and watch. No one wants to be the person talking when everyone else is silent. One teacher holds up her hand and counts down on her fingers to one.

[kaoskat]

That sounds exciting! I'm sure you did just fine!

[Eily311]

Congrats on getting through your first day of subbing. I used to be a pre-k teacher and I used to put my hand up and say "123 eyes on me," and the kids would say, "123 eyes on you," and they would hold one hand up in the air and their index finger in front of their mouths to show that they were being quiet and listening. Before I started teaching I did a lot of subbing just to see what grades I liked teaching. The beauty of subbing was that you could pick and choose the grade you wanted to sub. Good luck with subbing

[Kiwi]

I'm not a teacher, but in grade 7 I used to watch the grade 1 class during lunch (before they went out for recess). If we had someone being really loud or crazy we'd write their name on the board - that was the warning. If it kept up, we started adding stars beside the name - each star was 5 minutes they had to stay inside after everyone else went out for recess. If they were good during the rest of lunch then stars would come off or their name entirely.

If it got really bad, then there was always turning off the lights in the room.

[melodys_angel]

Well, the stuff I know words well on smaller kids through it may also work on a problem third grader.  if someone is making an annoying noise for example and wont stop, take them aside and talk t them calmly, asking questions that empower them make them realize why its not a good idea to do it.  They usually stop when they understand.

[Haruna]

I'm not that great at keeping kids quiet, but the teacher I work with is. I do aftercare at a school and while I'm out on the playground with the little ones, he takes the elementary kids inside for homework room. I'm told it's silent as a tomb in there. I'm not sure quite what all he does, but I do know that if a kid is acting up he has to sit out recess for five minutes right after they get out of homework room. He can also be pretty strict in his voice tone (but he's not mean; just firm). 

[sparkykandy]

Well, I did highschoolers today.  I think I''l be sticking with elementary from now on.