Like many jobs, there is no typical day as a teacher and this is what makes the job exciting. I have been relief teaching for the last 2 years and honestly, I feel like it’s given me the skills I needed to feel confident about being a full-time classroom teacher.
Each day there will be light bulb moments and chaotic moments if you’re a relief teacher. I will share my 7 fundamental learnings from the previous 2 years as a casual relief teacher at a Primary School.
1. Be Early
Being early to school is a great way to start the day for a number of reasons. You may need to find the school you’re working at, you may need to find parking and when you’ve found the administration office to sign in, you need to find the class or classes you’ll be teaching in. This all takes time and it’s best to have the most amount of time you possibly can to set up for the day. If the school says to be there at 8:30 am, get there at 8 am.
Quite often the Deputy or Assistant to the Principal is the person who organises the casual teachers. Being early will impresses staff and teachers with your eagerness to work. This will show good first impressions to the right people within the school system.
2. Before The Bell
Before the students have entered the classroom my name and the day's agenda will be on the whiteboard. If possible and appropriate, pin the teacher’s instructions for the day on the board too. This extra step does two things. Minimises students saying ‘we don’t normally do literacy on a Thursday’ and it shows that their teacher is still somewhat in control. The day’s agenda also includes ‘packing up perfect’ and a section of activities for the Fast Finishers. If you have been left with a lesson plan and resources for the day you’ll have time to read and think through how you’re going to deliver this plan. I’ll come back to what to do if there is no plan left later in this vid.
Quite often kids will line up either at the main meeting point or outside their classroom. This is a great opportunity to talk to a few kids. If you’re new they will be keen to find out what sort of teacher you are. Are you the nice relief teacher or the cranky one? The technique I use is to let into the class a small group of kids who are at the front of the line. Generally, the students at the front are going to be the most well-behaved ones in the class. Ask them to silently read or draw until you’ve marked the roll. Before you let in the rest of the students, explain to them what you want them to do. “I need you to read silently until I have marked the roll” When they go inside they should then see students reading or drawing silently and hopefully they will start too. If they don’t, make sure you use a firm but calm statement like -” The class has started silent reading, I need you to grab a book and read silently, thanks.”
I will usually ask a student who I can see that is doing the right thing to help me mark the roll.
I do this as I don’t want to pronounce their names wrong so early on in the game that the student and I will tick or cross who is here or absent on the roll. Kids love to help the teacher so I use this trait to make my day a little easier.
3. Introduction
Once you’ve marked the roll and they have read for 5 to 10 minutes I will ask the students to stop what they’re doing. I might say “Stop what you are doing, eyes on me”. Once I have everyone’s attention, and I mean everyone, I’ll start with a quick introduction of my name. Then I’ll say ‘Good morning 5R” and they should then say, ‘Good morning Mr Mealor”.
It’s really critical that you achieve two things here; the first is the class performs the simple instructions so far and second when you talk to the class for the first time you get all of the students listening. You may have to say a few times nice and slow; “Books down, eyes on me”. For the younger group you may need to then say; “Stop what you’re doing, let go of what’s in your hands, eyes on me and listen, thanks”. Sometimes I will talk quietly on purpose. It’s a random way to get their attention. At other times I will make sure I exaggerate points. Kids react better to body language and tone. Make it fun, silly or serious when appropriate.
I will talk through the day’s agenda that I have written on the board. I will also add a comment about how their teacher (I’ll say their name) that Mrs Collins emailed me this morning and told me what we need to get completed. This is a great strategy for the students to realise that you’ll be letting their regular teacher know how they behaved.
Younger kids from K to 3 will usually sit in a group on the floor whereas year 4 to 6 will sit at their desks. Before going into starting the lesson I will talk to the class about my expectations. I usually use the school's values to reinforce my expectations as the values at schools in general usually fall into generic categories.
For example, at a school, I regularly teach theirs is the 3 R’s. Respect, Responsibility and Ready to Learn. I will talk through each value with the class. I will ask questions such as, What are the school values? what does respect mean? what does responsibility mean to you? Some kids will call out but this is a great opportunity to enforce the hands up if you would like to say something rule.
It’s best practice to reward students rather than focus on the negative. If I have multiple classes that day a simple way to get the student's attention is to draw up a T-Bar on the whiteboard. A smiley face column and a sad face column. Write students' names who are doing the right thing up on the smiley face column. Kids should react in a positive way once they see this happening. If I need to talk to a student more than 3 times I’ll put their name in the sad face column.
This can work well for the classes that have ClassDojo. (You can google Class Dojo if you want to know more about that).
If I have a class for the whole day I have two good behaviour strategies.
The first one is; I have two ‘Golden Tickets’ that I will give out to the students who are constantly making good choices that day. I will put up the Golden Tickets on the whiteboard so it’s visual. If they are chosen, that student will get 10 minutes of free time. Kids get excited over this so I found it to be useful in addition to the class own specific behaviour management system.
The second is similar to the first as the reward is free time. What I will do is play the game ‘Beat The Teacher’. On the whiteboard, I will draw up two columns and label them the class name and my name. Then I will use the ‘clap for quiet’ for the game. The game is after I have clapped within two seconds the class needs to be absolutely quiet. Not a sound. If that happens, the class gets a point. If there is still noise then I get a point. If by the end of the day they have more points we will either go outside for a game or some free-time. Whatever it is that they get excited about. I will have a practice run of the game just so everyone understands what they need to do.
After this, I will then talk through the good and bad behaviour consequences. For students making good choices, the consequences could be a number of things.
Classes usually have a chart or a peg-up or down system when they make good or bad choices. If you can use the class's specific method this will be your best way to manage their behaviour. I will ask a teacher or the contact person at the school what is the school’s procedure for students who are not making good choices with their behaviour.
Another idea of rewarding the good choices students make is a simple ‘thank you’. ‘Thank you for getting started on your work’ or say loudly to a table how well they are working.
4. Behaviour Management
This is a huge category and will most likely require another video specifically on it but here are a few time-tested strategies to add to your skills as an effective teacher.
Start out with clear intentions on how the day is going to go and set the expectations early. There will always be however a few students that will challenge you. This is normal. With the limited time you have, you can’t be expected to solve those students' overall bad behaviour in one, two or three days of being there. You can however create a firm but a fair day for all students. You just want to create a space that has those clear messages that you and they need to follow. I will keep talking about the school values in conversation with the class or individually throughout the day.
Another piece of advice is to start getting to know those ‘problem’ students. Talk to them by coming down to their level and slowly over the day find out what makes them tick. What games do they play? What sport do they play? What music do they like? The best advice I got when dealing with challenging kids is to remember this ‘the problem students are often the students with problems. I keep that in mind when dealing with them. Instead of butting heads with them, get to know them.
Be on them early about their behaviour and those expectations. I have a 3 strike rule. The first is a verbal statement, the second is moving them to another table and the third is a time-out. I don’t let the student know this but I follow the 3-strike rule with each school I visit. Once I have exhausted this I will go into the school’s procedure. It might mean the student goes into another classroom for a while or has a time-out in a designated area.
My first warning statements are:
I understand that you are excited but right now I need you to...blah blah blah
You need to… or I need you to...blah
This is a verbal reminder that I need you to...blah
Second warning statements: I will come down to their level physically -
I’m moving you to the table over there I’m reminding you that…blah
When you talk when I talk, I have to stop my teaching, which frustrates me.
Johnny, the rest of the class have all started working now. You need to stop talking and start too.
Third warning:
Try to find out what the school system is. A school I work at has an incident form that you hand into the office and the student will usually receive a lunch detention with the Deputy or Assistant. If you don’t know and you have the class for the day I will let the student know that they can spend lunch with me to finish their work. To be honest this usually works as kids love their playtime.
Again, I have found it best to reward rather than penalise students to promote good behaviour. When students are working well either individually or as a group I will walk around and thank them for doing their work and making good choices. I will do this constantly throughout the day. For the students not make the right choices I will let them know they have the opportunity to turn it around. If they get to the 2nd strike, I will talk with them about what they are doing, what they should be doing and the consequences of making good or bad choices. I will then tell them they need to come to me when they feel ready to rejoin the class.
5. General Tips
Be prepared for no lesson plan. After you have had a good look I have a generic lesson plan made up. Keep this plan open and not too detailed as it needs to be just a guide. It’s best to break it up into 3 big chunks as there is usually a morning session, a middle session and an afternoon session. Start writing down your plan in this order. I put the academic subjects in the morning session. This is literacy and numeracy. Have a look around the room and you should find both English and math books. Pick some pages that you feel comfortable teaching. I will then do Art and a computer/iPad session in the middle and finally outdoor games in the last session. Remember in each of these sessions you have to include setting up ie kids handing out the books and the pack up perfect. Plus to break up each session I will take the students outside or play a game inside as a brain break. It just needs to be a break as kids sitting in one spot for 2 hours is a big ask. They could run around the oval, play on the playground equipment or play a quick game of bullrush.
The clap pattern to get the class to stop.
Get kids to go to the office to photocopy for you. Also, kids love handing out books or worksheets to the class. If you say ‘Who would like to volunteer” or “I have a job for a lucky someone”. Again, kids love to help out at the Primary School level.
Leave at least 10 to 15 minutes to pack up after each session. It takes time for kids to pack up. Some classes I’ve had take ages to pack up and you don’t want to be left with cleaning up the room at the end of the day. Having said that, some classes are very organised and know what they need to do without mucking around. Packing up perfect after each session of all their pens, paper, rubbish on the floor, chairs tucked in, notes or homework handed out etc. You want to leave the classroom after these sessions nice and tidy. I call it ‘pack up perfect’ and it’s written on the whiteboard along with the day's activities. The students setting up and packing up is just as important as the lesson itself.
Don’t get caught up with the student who doesn’t do much work. As a casual teacher, I don’t have background knowledge of who he/she is. As a general rule, if the student is not being disruptive to the class I will not be too concerned with it. I will casually talk with that student to find out more or have a look through their books to see their previous work. Just be positive and show respect and that is a great way to get through the day. If they are not being disruptive it’s ok to not make it into a bigger issue.
The afternoon kids have a lot of energy. Kids in the last session will be very hyper. I have found it very hard to do anything academic in the last session so it’s totally ok to take them outside for a game or two. Generally, you’ll only need a ball of some sort and if you plan ahead I will organise two students to go grab some basic equipment from the sports shed at lunchtime or during a lesson. Each class will have a few games they all like to play. DodgeBall, Snatch and Soccer are my go-to’s. Ask a student what games they like to play.
If you can’t go outside you could instead do an art or music activity or fun online learning like Prodigy, ABCYA, Mathaletics or Soundwaves etc. As we know, kids love screen time.
An online timer on the smartboard helps for the ‘pack up perfect’ time and most activities. The students will often all count down when it gets to 10 seconds left. This is great because the kids all counting down saves you trying to get their attention. It really gets the students to hurry as I have found even when you tell kids to pack up, it’s nearly home time, and they don’t go as fast as you think they would...If they pack up and you still have a few minutes to spare I will play ‘silent ball’ or read a story with them.
Lastly, one thing a principal said to me which I think is great advice. She said, “It’s not about you, It’s about the kids”. I think about this when I’m in class and how I can make a positive impact on them. Read the play of the situation. If in the afternoon the kids look tired as it’s a hot day or they are restless do what is necessary. Have an afternoon inside watching a Mr Bean cartoon on Youtube or take them outside for a game of soccer. Again, read the play and do what you feel is best for the kids. Be flexible.
6. Flexibility
The typical day is not always a typical day as you might already know. There will most likely be many moments in the day when you will need to be flexible. There are a number of things that can happen with kids, teachers and in-class that will require you to remain calm and think on your feet. Don’t stress, just learn to adapt and go with the flow.
One of the biggest problems you’ll face is the regular teacher has not left you a lesson plan for the day. I have been in this situation many times and the reason for my ‘bag of tricks’.
7. My Bag
I’ve found I don’t need as much paperwork, as many worksheets and folders as I packed into my bag initially in my career. In my bag now I have a file folder and it consists of a range of Word Searches and Mindfulness colouring in. I use these primarily for after students have finished their work (Fast Finishers) or when I need to fill in some time. I have found students love word searches and colouring in. Have them printed out I can just put them on a table and students can simply grab them if they have finished their work quietly.
I have the usual whiteboard markers, pens, pencils, and a whistle, and will pack my lunch which is muslie or protein bars, a sandwich and my water bottle. I also have a tennis ball in my bag. It’s great for many situations in class and outside games too.
Lastly, I have a CRT Handover sheet which I will link in the description. Basically, it’s an A4 template that has sections for the date, what went well, what didn’t go well, stand-out students and challenging students. There is also a section to personally thank the teacher for letting me have their class for the day.
For any questions or to share your tips and tricks please comment below.
Have a good one :)
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