Tips for Supply Teachers

Q. Could you give me any tips for supply teaching? I'd welcome any advice on good books, ideas for games, that kind of thing.

A. Supply teaching is perhaps the hardest kind of teaching of all, especially day to day supply. You don't know the children and they don't know you. And it's only natural for them to try and get away with things they might not try with their usual teacher.

Arm yourself with a copy of 100 Ideas for Supply Teachers, published by Continuum. Thispage, although not from the UK, has some useful tips for both permanent teachers who have a supply teacher due in, and also for supply (or 'substitute') teachers. The website www.supplybag.co.uk has some good suggestions.

Some supply teachers I've met, those who havebeen doing it for a while, get themselves one of those crates on wheels and fill it with activity sheets, props, resources, etc. Go online to download and print out some photocopiable sheets, wordsearches, join the dots activities - anything that willl get you through where the teacher hasn't left enough/any work.

Behaviourwise, my top tip would be to adapt your approach to the kind of school you're working in. As soon as you walk in the building you will be getting a 'feel' for what this school is like, what kind of ethos the staff and children will have, how likely they are to 'try it on' for a supply teacher. Just by looking at the displays, and at the behaviour of the students in the playground and in the corridors, this should become clear to you pretty quickly. Adapt your whole approach and demeanour to try and work well for that particular school.

When you meet with the manager who has booked you, ensure that you get hold of a copy of the school rules or the behaviour policy. If there is a specific rewards system, hook into that quickly. For instance, if the school gives out yellow slips for good behaviour, you could walk into your classroom and say "I've got three of these yellow slips to give out today, let's see who wants to earn one".

Refer to the normal teacher in a way that suggests that she/he and you know each other well. Make passing remarks about how you will be reporting back on their behaviour and work ethic during your lesson. Where possible, go in quite strict, to show that you are not to be messed with. At the same time, if you're in a school where you can see that this would lead to confrontations, then I like to try saying "come to the front if you'd like to learn something today".

Finally, it can work well to have a 'wow' starter activity to use with classes, especially if you are working at primary level. This might be a giant puppet, a magic trick, an unusual language, wherever your expertise lies, hook the kids in by showing them that you are someone special. Good luck!