Update

Just thought I would take a minute to update.  I've been extremely busy between two jobs.  Subbing has been going great so far.  I had a placement at middle school yesterday.  It was my first time at that level, I had been getting called for the elementary school prior to that.  It was extremely chaotic in the morning because there was an overflow of subs in the office due to a teacher training workshop going on.  Time was ticking and I was waiting to get my assignment.  I like to have enough time to prepare and read over the plans.  One of the most stressful things is only having 5-10 mins to prepare.  So, I was thrown into an eighth grade English class!  Not as scary as I thought, being that I almost look like a student myself.  First period went great and as the day went on, the students got more rambunctious.  I had a few challenges with students who were being inappropriate and just talking about things that weren't related to the lesson.  All in all, it wasn't bad; I was able to maintain control and get through what the teacher had left, for the most part.  I like subbing at the middle school level because of the way the day is broken up. I like having new sets of students and being able to refine my lessons if I know something did or did not work well for a previous class. 

 I've been trying to find more educational pages on Facebook to follow.  Here are some I will share:
National Geographic
The Teacher's Hub
Social Media in Education
Edutopia
Verizon Thinkfinity
Gateway to 21st Century Skills
I am Teacher

There are tons of great resources and information for teachers on these pages.  

A New School Year, A New Experience

I am both nervous and excited to start substitute teaching.  I have been reading a few books to help prepare myself:

• Substitute Teacher Handbook K-12
• Substitute Teaching from A-Z

I've also purchased some books such as Mind Joggers! 5-15 Minute Activities That Make Kids Think.  I want to be as prepared as I can.  I have looked at the district's website and printed out information on the school policies and also found some really neat web resources there.  This blog is full of resources :  Teaching 2.0  A Professional Development Resource Blog.  There is an infinite number of tech resources out there for the new school year!

Right now, I am in the process of making a binder to organize everything that I will need to carry with me, such as my assignment logs, teacher reports, student activities, school calendars and locations, etc.  I will be subbing mainly for elementary and middle school students and need to have a variety of plans.  If there is time to fill, I want to have something that I can implement and that is educational.  I've continued to build my book collection for different levels.

I have read tips for substitute teachers on management and organization.  I plan on going in with an open mind and getting the most out of my experience.  I will keep a notebook of different ideas I see in classrooms that I may want to use in my own one day.  I know that there will be good days and bad and will use each day to shape my teaching style.  I can read different tips and strategies but won't see the reality until it happens.  Being prepared and organized is the first step! :)