10 Must-Know Substitute Teacher Tips

substitute teacher tips

As a substitute teacher, you need to know your responsibilities in that position. A substitute teacher replaces a regular teacher temporarily for some valid reasons. Their responsibilities include maintaining the decorum of the classroom, continuing the lessons, and revisions. In addition, if any work is not pending, the teacher may conduct extracurricular activities. In this blog, we will primarily speak about ten substitute math teacher tips. Let’s get started.

10 Best Substitute Teacher Tips:

1. Connect With The Students

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Students rarely accept a new teacher. Especially for math teachers, students are preoccupied with being very strict. Therefore, the foremost of all substitute teaching tips for substitute teachers is to familiarize themselves with the students. Please introduce yourself to the students and ask them to do the same for you. Change the intense conversation to some jolly or interesting one. It will help to create a comfortable environment between the teacher and the students, and they will be able to understand better.

2. Motivate The Students 

Most students generally hate math due to its difficulty level. At this point, if they do not get supported by their teachers, they feel discouraged. So, motivating the students by providing positive comments is the most important tip from the substitute math teacher’s tips list. Substitute teachers can be precise with their guidance, and the students might listen to them. 

A teacher should always appreciate the students’ efforts in learning; they should understand their issues related to the subject and acknowledge the same.

A teacher should not remark negatively if a student cannot do well. Instead, they should give them time to understand the concepts and ask them to share the problems to be solved by teachers. If a teacher mentions students some demotivating words, they will doubt themselves and start grudging against the teacher. 

Students usually hesitate to share their problems with the regular teacher because they fear how the teacher will treat them. But with someone they meet briefly, they feel relaxed as their thoughts will not affect them much.

3. Familiarise, The Students With The New Concepts

Since students have been studying with a teacher for a long time, they have some specific learning methods. The regular teachers had their ways of teaching the students, which the latter are used to. Therefore, as a substitute teacher, the best advice is that the teacher first needs to understand the student’s understanding of a concept and try to use the already adapted teaching method for students.

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If that is not possible, the teacher should try to familiarise children with the new way of teaching and learning instead of just starting with their practice without considering the student’s feedback. Try to implement a technique in favor of students to overcome their previous weaknesses and continue the powers. 

For example, suppose the regular teacher used to explain math theorems and give the exercises as homework to students. In that case, the substitute teacher can try for the students to solve at least half of the questions in the class itself. It will enable the teacher to understand how much he has succeeded in his work by checking whether the students can solve the questions. And this will also raise the confidence of students as they will quickly solve the questions with the teacher’s guidance.

4. Move In Sequential Order  

One of the best substitute math teacher tips is to start from the beginning. If the base is unclear, the students can never have a firm grip on the topics. Ask the students about every topic from the beginning. If the students claim to know them thoroughly, you can question them politely, not to challenge them but to make them realize their actual ability. 

If the students can solve the questions, you can move on with the syllabus after revising the previous topics. Start with where the previous teacher left off by giving an overview and start the new topic concerning that. 

If the students cannot solve the questions, try to clear their previous topics instead of teaching them further. It is possible that due to some reasons, students would not have understood what their regular teacher taught. It can be a mistake from either the teacher’s or the student’s side for not attentively listening or even both. But a substitute teacher should start fresh without confronting them because an experienced teacher’s ability cannot be quickly confronted. 

A substitute teacher should focus on students only. If the student’s basics are robust, it benefits you as your efforts would also not be wasted in repeating things. On the other hand, if you teach a new topic to the best ability, but because the students’ basics are not straightforward, they do not get the topic, your capability could be questioned.

5. Use Nice Handwriting

substitute teacher tips which include nice handwritting

A math teacher needs to use good handwriting while teaching the students. A because correct font size and font style are necessary. If the teacher writes extremely small, it would not be visible to students. If the font is too large, then the steps of the questions might get missed or overlapped. 

As for any query, it is significant to understand only by having every solution stage in front of the eyes. If any steps are missing, students get confused about where the answer is moving. If the teacher uses creative calligraphy, the students might face difficulty analyzing the question. Therefore, the handwriting should be clear and straightforward.

Also, different cultures have different meanings for other symbols and words. So, the teacher should not include irrelevant characters or words while writing. Instead, the teacher should use a versatile and universal language that can be easily understood by every student equally.

6. Use Highlighters 

Use Highlighters 

It is one of the best substitute teaching tips elementary teachers can use. They used colors like highlighted pens, markers, or chalk while teaching, and will be pleasing to students’ eyes, and they can easily differentiate between the various parts. 

For example, if teachers introduce any theorem, they can draw a shape and divide it into multiple segments. It would be easier for the students to understand if you used different colors for different parts. However, some teachers use different patterns with the same color to make a difference, which often creates congestion.

7. Use Relatable Examples

One of the essential substitute teaching tips is using real-life examples that the students can relate to. It does not matter whether the teacher teaches elementary or high school students; examples exist for every topic.

If teachers are teaching elementary school students, and the topic is, say, linear equations. The question is 2x+3y=12 to find x and y. Then you can give an example like; suppose ‘x’ is a toffee called ‘eclairs’ and ‘y’ is a toffee called ‘pulse,’ and you have in total 12 rupees where you can spend only 2 rupees on eclairs, and 3 rupees on the pulse, both of them costs 1 rupee each.

So, how much quantity of eclairs can you get? And how much of a pulse can you get? It is a fundamental concept and an easy concept to relate to real-life problems. But when the students are new to an idea, they find these terms out of the course because elementary school students know that math requires numeric calculations, and they are unaware of terms like variables and constants.Therefore, teachers must give excellent and relatable examples to students for better understanding and productive learning.

8. Create An Interactive Environment

It is essential to interact with the students and teachers. Ask students if they got the concept, if they have any doubts, try to solve them, and ask for feedback on their teaching style. It will create a sense of involvement and importance for students in class. In addition, ask for their opinions which can enhance their learning. This tip is the most important among all substitute teaching tips.

Make mistakes willingly to let them correct you; this will boost their morale. They will not often lose their confidence after this, as you show that irrespective of the experience, anyone makes mistakes. Even if it is the teacher or the student, it is not uncommon to have errors while solving math. Show them how to react to mistakes, not to be impatient, and not be infuriated after errors. Tell them to deal with their mistakes calmly and learn from them maturely.

9. Play Math-Related Games

A tip for a substitute teacher is to try playing some fun but analytical games with students to enhance their thinking power in their free time when they are done with the concepts, revisions, etc. 

Many logical and mind-testing games involve creativity and logic, especially for math students. Examples include tic-tac-toe, sudoku, chess, dot and boxes, and many more. All these games require mathematical understanding and strategy. These games are played and loved by every student, which will help you create a bond with students and also help them develop their intellect.

10. Allow Mistakes 

Allow Mistakes 

It is usual for students to make mistakes. And teachers should allow them, as the more they make mistakes, the more they learn. Please give them the initiative to solve the questions. Ask about their pre-knowledge of the concepts, they will make mistakes in the beginning, but towards the end, they will become proficient. 

Call them to solve questions on the blackboards after assuring them they need not fear even if the solution is wrong. Appreciate them for their attempt. Take frequent tests to keep them engaged and in touch with previous and current topics, but only after sufficient preparation. Because without giving enough gap between the concepts and the tests, it would be difficult for the students to revise the images, and they might not take the best out of them. 

Even if they make mistakes in those tests, rather than giving punishments to failures, reward the toppers, and it will stimulate their competitiveness.

Also Read: 10 Tricks On How To Get Better At Math [ For Students]

Takeaway 

A substitute math teacher must create good strategies to let students value and listen to you seriously, and they should not find you unsupporting. Using the above-discussed substitute teaching tips will help you significantly impact students as a substitute teacher quickly.

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