Web 2.0 and Substitute Teachers

April 6, 2008 at 10:26 am | Posted in relationships, substitute teachers, Web 2.0 | Leave a comment
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I’ve noticed that the post on my blog getting the most traffic is Substitute Relationships; so, I decided to revisit the subject as it’s a popular one

I mentioned in my previous post how schools and substitute teachers need to form positive relationships since the school districts rely on the subs to help educate students. To put that statement into “PR terms,” substitutes are one of the key publics for a school district.

As it turns out, a whole online community of substitute teachers exists – I discovered this when I found a link to my blog posted on the Substitute Teachers United forum. With that in mind, I started thinking about how schools could connect with substitute teachers using Web 2.0 tools.

So far I have one answer: develop an online social network for subs.

Obviously this requires some work on the schools’ part – it might not even be feasible for each school district to develop a network; but, maybe each county or even each state could. For example, the Stark County Education Service Center could place a link on its Web site to an online network for subs in Stark County.

On this social network subs could share information about various schools, such as where to find the main office or the easiest way to get there, discuss ways to keep control over a classroom, or what to do if the teacher doesn’t leave any lesson plans.

I imagine discussions would also include what schools are best to sub at and even which teachers are better to sub for than others. School officials should also join, monitor, and participate in the network to stay in touch with the subs working in their districts and to understand any problems the substitutes face when coming to work.

Providing substitute teachers a way to connect with one another and to the schools could help start improving relationships.

Substitute Relationships

February 29, 2008 at 8:47 pm | Posted in Education, relationships, substitute teachers | 4 Comments
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While I was looking around the education blogosphere trying to find inspiration for this post, I stumbled across a blog called, Just a Substitute Teacher. I’ve since added it to my blogroll because it was a fun read – the writer, KauaiMark, has a humorous voice. This post was a compilation of all the things that have gone wrong in his subbing experience over the years.

It’s a fairly long list – 15 bullet points – but two in particular stood out to me. The first was that one day when he was subbing there were no lesson plans left for him. When the absent teacher finally e-mailed the school’s secretary with the plans, they were printed in such a small font he couldn’t read them. In another instance he hadn’t been informed of the teacher’s schedule and didn’t know he was responsible for yard duty. He found out later when a teacher said she had to cover for him.

After reading those two points, it got me thinking about the relationship schools have with their substitute teachers.

According to this article there’s a growing demand for substitute teachers and the responsibilities of subs have increased, due, in part, to teachers attending more professional development workshops and conferences.

Obviously the relationship between schools and substitute teachers needs to be positive since schools are reliant on them to help educate students. Not taking the time to prepare materials for a sub or being understanding of the fact that he or she is unfamiliar with particular programs or policies doesn’t seem like a good way to develop a relationship.

As this article states most substitutes want to feel respect from school officials and other teachers, as well as a sense of appreciation. The article goes on to mention one woman who substituted for 15 years and only had one administrator thank her.

If a school can’t put the effort into developing a good relationship with substitutes, they might have to get used to more subs doing what KauaiMark mentioned in his last bullet point – he told a school district he would no longer sub there.

photo courtesy of http://www.lawrence.com

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