By now, I'm sure you've met those subs who have either completely moved away from the subfinder system to get jobs or they say nothing when you mention how difficult it is to get jobs through subfinder as there always seem to be none available. Yet there are 7-14 subs in any given high school in our district on any given day. Those jobs come from somewhere and go to somewhere. HOW are they getting those jobs, when it's a struggle for you to fill two or three days of your week?
That's an awesome question, with an even more awesome answer: Subs who get asked back make less work for the teacher - networking is a blessing for both substitute and teacher. The more teachers who feel comfortable contacting me at home via email or calling me on my home phone, the better. Lesson plans over a glass of wine the night before? Sure!
Well-networked subs that are good get more jobs than well-networked subs that are bad. Even well-networked subs that are bad get more jobs more easily than less-networked subs. Better, those networks mean that when the teacher is in a moment of crisis and can't remember her own phone number, she remembers your name and slugs it into the subfinder system. She may be able to find nothing more than her phone (maybe) to deal with the situation, or place a single phone call to school "Get Susie!), but you'll be the one they call because they know you can do the job and their normally well-prepared students will be well-cared-for in their absence.
This emphasis on networking has landed me paternity leave stints, a couple of surgery long-term jobs and one emergency injury day that turned into 8 weeks through the end of the year.
On the FTE teacher side, networking with subs is something that may not even cross their mind. Do yourself a favour and head to that faculty room for lunch, and let them see your face and know that you know their building and the kids in it. Give them your card (or two!) and invite them to call you if they ever need a sub. They all say they never need subs, but that's kinda like saying you never need a spare tire. Nails in the road of life happen, and your card may be the one that's tucked in their purse or wallet. Being the teacher who can step in for them is a blessing to them.
Giving them the time to worry about their families, children, life situations and whatever else may be taking them away from the job so suddenly is a blessing, and that starts by being there before they need you to say hi and introduce yourself. Knowing that they won't come back to a stack of grading, an inbox full of angry parent emails and a note from the principal saying "See me" is a blessing. Doing all you can to ensure that they come back to as little work as possible is a very meaningful thing.
What's stopping you from networking? Make it your New Year's resolution to jump start your career by shaking a few hands and saying hello! You'll never know what kind of dividends each handshake will pay.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Feedback Loops in Substitute Teaching
It's one of my favourite parts of the job: I'm really my own boss, and I make myself work harder if I don't do the job right, because then I have to do it again with another teacher's kids and I don't get invited back. It's a nice feedback loop, actually. Unfortunately it's too late to do much about the situation that caused you not to be invited back once the teacher has returned to the carnage, but what can you do?
First, look for your instant feedback. What are your students doing? Do the "right" kids like you and seem to be working? Are the "button-pushers" complaining about you? You're probably doing your job just fine. Teachers actually expect certain names to find their way into the sub note. Tell them what you did to deal with those kids instead of just saying "Johnny Migrainebestower was in fine form today, flinging dry erase markers at the board to see if he could get them to hit just right to make a mark when uncapped." Please tell me you dealt with that issue on the spot! "Johnny was attempting to throw dry erase markers. I removed the markers and moved him to the isolation desk to work, then had a hallway conversation before I sent him next door to work."
No, those feedback loops are available immediately when the kids who want to work can work and those who don't want to work aren't disrupting anything else. That's a nice status quo for the room. If you can get those other kids to turn in *something* (really, anything) you're leagues ahead.
Another good longer-term feedback loop is your return-request rate (RRR). I keep a job log that's rather ridiculous, but effective. It gives me a very good snapshot of what I'm doing and how my averages are moving in terms of the health of my "business" subbing. I look at the year in total, and the last thirty days for "growth."
Over the first 30 days of the year, my RRR was 26%. It's not stellar, but the first thirty days of the school year are always a bit dicey because nobody is necessarily sure you're still subbing. Heck, if you're good, maybe you went and got a classroom of your own. It happens! Our district specifically forbids using the District email system to ask for work, so I make sure to stop in and say hi to teachers I know and love working for at the start of the year, just to let them know that I'm around.
The next thirty days will end at the end of this week. This one is much more telling. My RRR has moved to 63%. That represents 19 days of work from 8 teachers. All are good, rarely take days off, and plan well when they do take them. That's a HUGE jump and a nice bit of relaxation for me. 5 of those days are with kids who I will spend 12 days of their school year with for this teacher, and am working on six for another with them.
By using my feedback loops to get better, looking critically at what worked to get my good kids able to work and my disruptors to be less-disruptive, I was able to move the pendulum of my business MUCH further to the favourable and much faster than I ever dreamed.
When the semester ends, I'll have another 30 day mark to look at, and I expect that it will show a movement much closer to 80% RRR. To me, that's actually ideal. It keeps you available to other teachers and at the last minute if an office manager needs to scramble to fill. It lets you get into other rooms once in awhile, but 4 out of 5 of your work days are spent with kids you know, love, enjoy and are building trusting educational relationships with. That's a winning combo.
Now, my challenge to you: What feedback loops are most useful to you? Are they personal observation or external observation? Do you seek out principals and other colleagues to observe you?
First, look for your instant feedback. What are your students doing? Do the "right" kids like you and seem to be working? Are the "button-pushers" complaining about you? You're probably doing your job just fine. Teachers actually expect certain names to find their way into the sub note. Tell them what you did to deal with those kids instead of just saying "Johnny Migrainebestower was in fine form today, flinging dry erase markers at the board to see if he could get them to hit just right to make a mark when uncapped." Please tell me you dealt with that issue on the spot! "Johnny was attempting to throw dry erase markers. I removed the markers and moved him to the isolation desk to work, then had a hallway conversation before I sent him next door to work."
No, those feedback loops are available immediately when the kids who want to work can work and those who don't want to work aren't disrupting anything else. That's a nice status quo for the room. If you can get those other kids to turn in *something* (really, anything) you're leagues ahead.
Another good longer-term feedback loop is your return-request rate (RRR). I keep a job log that's rather ridiculous, but effective. It gives me a very good snapshot of what I'm doing and how my averages are moving in terms of the health of my "business" subbing. I look at the year in total, and the last thirty days for "growth."
Over the first 30 days of the year, my RRR was 26%. It's not stellar, but the first thirty days of the school year are always a bit dicey because nobody is necessarily sure you're still subbing. Heck, if you're good, maybe you went and got a classroom of your own. It happens! Our district specifically forbids using the District email system to ask for work, so I make sure to stop in and say hi to teachers I know and love working for at the start of the year, just to let them know that I'm around.
The next thirty days will end at the end of this week. This one is much more telling. My RRR has moved to 63%. That represents 19 days of work from 8 teachers. All are good, rarely take days off, and plan well when they do take them. That's a HUGE jump and a nice bit of relaxation for me. 5 of those days are with kids who I will spend 12 days of their school year with for this teacher, and am working on six for another with them.
By using my feedback loops to get better, looking critically at what worked to get my good kids able to work and my disruptors to be less-disruptive, I was able to move the pendulum of my business MUCH further to the favourable and much faster than I ever dreamed.
When the semester ends, I'll have another 30 day mark to look at, and I expect that it will show a movement much closer to 80% RRR. To me, that's actually ideal. It keeps you available to other teachers and at the last minute if an office manager needs to scramble to fill. It lets you get into other rooms once in awhile, but 4 out of 5 of your work days are spent with kids you know, love, enjoy and are building trusting educational relationships with. That's a winning combo.
Now, my challenge to you: What feedback loops are most useful to you? Are they personal observation or external observation? Do you seek out principals and other colleagues to observe you?
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