Introducing, Mr. Bruce Davey, occasional teaching extraordinaire!
On January 12th 2012 I, along with all other primary/junior teacher candidates at Brock, attended the Ministry of Education's Building Futures professional development workshop. The program began in 2004 with the sole purpose of establishing support, guidance and resources to new teachers getting ready to launch into their new careers. The workshop provided us teacher candidates with the information we needed to develop and understand the use of effective teaching strategies that can be used in our future classrooms. We were able to talk to professionals in the field who have been there, and rather than the intimidating suits we were expecting, were on the contrary a smiling face to tell us it was all going to be okay.
Here is where we met Mr. Davey, a retired occasional teacher who had nothing but good memories and tricks of the trade to share with us, as many of us have come to the realistic conclusion that occasion teaching (previously labelled "supply" work) will be a part of our future before a contract job.
The topic highlighted in this session was not applicable to teaching in a sense that it would be something I would lead a lesson on in my own classroom, however, I do think that that information is highly valuable to new teachers, which is what I will focus on here.
Mr. Davey made, in my opinion, some excellent points about occasional teaching which from the reactions of those attending the session, were news to many of us:
1. Occasional teaching is not something to be disappointed about if you cannot land a contract position right out of Brock - occasional teachers get stable amounts of work, and are able to create their own schedule by accepting/denying jobs. This also allows teachers to maintain another job.
2. Occasional teaching is excellent exposure! Teachers move throughout the board, being introduced to new schools and administrators, teaching multiples grade levels and subjects, collecting resources and practicing a multiple amount of teaching and classroom management strategies
3. Occasional teaching is a the ideal place to make those mistakes. Of course, no one wants to make a mistake, but as Mr. Davey stresses, they happen, and that's okay as long as you can admit the mistake and learn from it. Administrators are always looking for contract teachers consistently developing their professional practice, and this cannot be done without some bumps along the way!
Mr. Davey also gave us the "tricks of the trade" and insider secrets for getting that job, what to expect and tips for making your life easier:
- be ready and make yourself available (you never know when you're going to get that phone call!)
- have lesson plans and extra activities ready in a portfolio for multiple grade levels and subjects, more often that not teacher's may leave you with no instructional plan to follow
- leave lots of "oops" room and do a dry run (leave early, expect traffic, know exactly where you are going)
- make LOTS of friends (create a good rapriore with the secretary, custodial staff, principal, resource teacher, etc.) You want to be remembered!
- expect the unexpected. If you are supposed to teach grade six science, you may be teaching kindergarten. Be ready and willing for anything - that will be recognized!
Mr. Davey also shared what he felt to be essential OT teaching strategies for survival in a supply classroom
- know all the students names and where they sit
- familiarize yourself with classroom routines
- do not allow students to work in the hall, unless the teacher has left instructions
- keep the students engaged! Break the "we're not going to do anything today because we have an OT" cycle!
- if there is time to be filled at the end of a lesson, have "fillers" ready - classroom management problems will begin when you let students "have free time until the bell"
- make it seems as if you and the regular classroom teacher have a relationship outside of the classroom (students will watch their behaviour if they think their regular teacher will know about it)
- don't be the student's best friend for the day: you are their teacher and it is your responsibility to facilitate their learning
My favourite part of Mr. Davey's session was the "occasional teacher's toolkit". This kits is filled with various must-have items that every OT should have up their sleeves.
1. running shoes (you may have to teach gym!)
2. extra clothes (yard duty can be cold)
3. back up lesson plans and resources
4. games and activities (mad libs, word searches, sodoku)
5. dice and card (probability exercises)
6. your own supplies (you may not be invited to use the teacher's - paper clips, stapler, pens)
7. rubber chicken! (the possibilities are endless)
The session was lead by powerpoint, but Mr. Davey had us all so engaged, I believe it wasn't even necessary to have the presentation going in the background (however it was beneficial for those taking notes).
After the session and having a chance to talk with Mr. Davey personally, my thoughts on occasional teaching have completely changed. I would happily accept and almost prefer an OT position in order to find my teaching feet before finding myself in my own classroom. More importantly, Mr. Davey was an all around stand up guy that made us all feel welcome and prepared for the near future!
