Leaving Notes For Class Teacher

When I had my own class, I wanted to hear about everything that went on in my absence. While I wasn't  looking to read a novel upon my return, a paragraph or so letting me know what happened was nice. I want to know if my kids did a good job because it makes me feel really proud of them and I can lavish them with praise upon my return. I also want to know which students were challenging for the relieving  because I may need to sort that out.

Its also imperative to be careful with attendance records, i.e. letting teachers know who was late or absent. Schools legally need to maintain accurate records, so not making note of these sorts of things is really bad.

Above everything, teachers want to leave their class to a relief teacher who cares about their students and their classroom. I always loved hearing my students tell me that the relief teacher chatted with them, got to know them, and asked how I usually handled certain things if they weren't sure about the procedure.

Now as a casual I leave a little note in this format I whiz up in word- it's really easy and looks lovely all printed.

Sight words

I've been lucky enough to be working with a group of lovely Year 3/4 kids to help them with spelling for the next few weeks. They are mainly working on Dolch Sight words. I wanted to do something a bit more enjoyable than Look, cover, write, check and also bring in as many multi-sensory experiences as possible too. 

Some of the ideas I came up with were:

Word erase: write a list of words on the board, have three ways of spelling each words, two wrong and the correct way for each word. Children erase the incorrectly spelt words and are left with their correctly spelt words to do the next activities with. 

Using the fridge magnets interactive media in Smart notebook (this is a smart board school but all the interactive whiteboards have a similar programme)

Memory games, where children turn over cards and match them or they can play snap. 

Word bingo

Cut and paste sight word sentences 

Finger spell with sign language 

Scavenger hunt: we use photocopied pages from readers to highlight out spelling words when we find them

Buddy highlighting: a buddy 1 reads the word, buddy 2 spells or writes it. If it's correct, buddy 1 highlights it on the sheet to mark it off. 

Magic words: Kids write the word in white crayon, and then colour over it with marker to make it appear.

Puzzle maker: there are loads of make your own word search sights. Children can type in their own words, make their puzzle and find them in their word search.

Skipping: we did this years ago at one of my schools in the outback. Children jumped rope and spelt out their spelling words at the same time. So good when kids have been sitting at a desk far too long! 

Dominoes: it takes a little while to prepare, but why can't the kids help make it? It would give them so much ownership over the game. Just have some oblong cardboard strips, draw a line half way and write a sight word each side of the line.

Figure Me Out

I recently stumbled across a nice idea for maths. Kids base a heap of problems on questions pertaining to things about themselves and then have their partner solve the problems and vice versa. They might also like it if the teacher does one too. 

Shadow puppets

A nice way to tie in visual art, drama, story telling and story writing is to get the children to work in groups to make a story then make some puppets on black card and make shadow puppets on the light from the white board projector. 

A simple activity the children get so much from.

The Bean Game

Simple and fun game I've used with kids from Reception/Kinder/Prep through to Year 2. They love it.

It's a warm up game for PE and a lot more fun than running a lap around the oval.

All you need to do is call out the name of a type of beans and the children do the corresponding actions.

Jelly beans: wobble all over like jelly

Runner beans: running on the spot or to a certain place

Chilli beans: Shake as though they are cold making the shivering noise

String beans: stretch up tall like a piece of string

Broad beans: make yourself as wide as possible

Frozen beans: stand perfectly still

Beans on toast: lie on the floor

French beans: say "ooh la la" 

Mr Bean (my favourite): in a Mr Bean voice say "Aw Teddy" whilst pretending to hug a teddy

Jumping beans: children jump on the spot

Canned beans: children make a can all squashed together (sensibly)

You can also make combinations of those bean types eg jumping mr beans! 

Numbers and symbols groups

An effective yet simple activity to get children moving in their maths starter is to hand out numbers and symbols that make equations. 

Give them a timer (5mins) and don't let them look at each other until the timer stops. 

Feedback

It's awesome when teachers you're relieving let you know you're doing well, it also gives you a good idea of what you know to keep doing to be a good casual.

One of the teachers I relieve for sent me a beautiful email to tell me I was doing well and to assure me of more work coming my way. 

The key things she mentioned were:

1. Marking all set work. This is something I learnt to do back in my London supply days  and the advice I was given was to use half of lunch for marking (if you don't have a duty). It also helps you get home earlier.

2. Work ethic: do the job you're paid to do. Don't take short cuts and treat the day like you're being observed.. Because in one way or another you will be! 

3. Classroom management: use sanctions, set your expectations, reward/praise positive behaviour immediately and encourage more and more of it.

4. Leaving notes for the teacher: this is another habit I got into in London. It also helps the teachers remember who you are when they want you back! 

It's good to have a little reflection on the successes and challenges of your day and think about how you might do things better in future. A journal was one of the best graduation presents I got upon leaving uni :)