I worked as a substitute science teacher several days this month experiencing the full spectrum from hospitable to hostile environments. I went to two public middle schools, let’s call them schools C and F with ratings in GreatSchools.org for school C scoring 7/10 and school F scoring 3/10. These summary ratings are based on “four ratings, each of which is designed to show different facets of school success: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating.”
For background, I've taught as a substitute teacher at several schools including in New Mexico, Colorado and beginning in March 2022 in North Carolina for WCPSS. I've taught approximately 35 school days in the Apex and Cary areas consisting of 27 assignments in middle schools and 8 assignments in high schools with my focus on math and science although I've also worked in other classes including special education.
Substitute teaching at school C, ten days so far, is consistently awesome. The administrators, teachers, and staff are friendly, helpful, supportive, and great educators. Four science classes per day with 25 to 30 students per class; some classes are quiet and some are very noisy. The students are mostly cheerful, making an effort to learn, and respectful. However, the resources are very scarce and are mostly provided by the teachers for their classroom.
When an eighth grade student asked me “How do fossils form?" I described the process but needed props. I didn’t see any rocks or fossils to show; so improvising, I found an old CD-ROM that could represent a fossil (see photo). Imagine the thick, red science textbook as a slab of billion year old granite basement rock. Over time, rocks erode, rivers and lakes form. A green paper plate represents a lake with mud on the bottom. The animal, disguised as a CD-ROM, is roaming around the area and falls into the lake eventually getting buried in mud. Only the hard bony parts survive and calcium gets replaced by silica contained in the groundwater turning the bone into a fossil. Then the lake gets buried in sand, dries up and sedimentary rocks form on top, each page of the book representing a rock layer. Maybe the buried fossil parts are found later in an outcrop, road cut, or in drill rig cuttings. We discussed other ways fossils form and it would be great to show real samples of a preserved insect in amber or a piece of an intact wooly mammoth that fell into an icy lake.
This is one example of creative, spontaneous lessons that keeps substitute teaching fun. We did a class review of landforms and geology before they took a test which the teacher assigned and I later found out the classes did very well; I also learned that I should be very selective as to where I go to substitute teach.
At school F, my brutal experience began with my assuming the middle school students would be open to learning. I met with the young teacher before classes began who left to attending meetings. I noticed as soon as the students filed in while I stood near the doorway that a dozen students walked by without responding to my hellos. Several students went to the back corner of the room and after the bell rang they didn’t take their seats or respond to me. So I walked back a tried to chat but they acted like a gang of hoodlums. Eventually, I got the class to sit and I started talking about the lesson involving the red planet Mercury. The assignment asked them to get information off the computer and build a table. This seemed as exciting for them as doing the dishes. So I tried to ask so questions and engage the classroom. Only two students appeared to be interested out of 30 in the classroom. Most students were talking so loudly above my amplified voice. So I went next door to get help from another teacher who seemed annoyed but came to tell students to listen to me.
As I went around making sure no one played computer games and stayed on task, two students ran playing tag or chasing to get something and I yelled for them to sit the F down! Well I lost it so quickly but they were very quick to send out messages on their computers and within about 5 minutes I go escorted out of the classroom. I had a discussion with the assistant principle who sent HR a letter of DO NOT USE this sub at this school as if I really planned to go back again. So choose wisely!