Return of the sub

A few weeks ago, I posted about a particular substitute teacher who was not well liked by the student body (or myself) because she was strict. However, yesterday, there was a different sub in my first period sped math class who was also quite strict but extremely effective. This is a class that is composed mostly of low level learners, most of whom have behavioral problems. We rarely get through a lesson without the lead teacher or myself asking (practically begging) students to be quiet 5 or more times. As a result, they are slightly behind where they should be.

However, yesterday the sub held no punches. The first thing they do every day is log into a program called Fast Math which tests how fast their mental math skills are. Usually they do this for 10-15 minutes, however long it takes them to finish one session. But the sub said to do it in 5 minutes, no more. And they did. Then they are handed a warm up that reviews skills from the previous day, and after I reviewed the first problem on the board for them, they were very well behaved. They even had time to start on their homework, which never happens, and some of them even finished their homework. There was something about the sub that let these students know that he would not tolerate any deviation, and that he wouldn't give them attention for negative actions. It was really amazing how smoothly the class went.

Also, for those of you who know me, you are probably aware of my intense dislike for former DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee due to her ridiculous and ineffective policies. This article does a really good job of summing up what she attempted to do. I particularly like this paragraph:

"Rhee is promoting an agenda that many educators see as de-legitimizing the teaching profession; making standardized tests a holy grail of assessing students, teachers and schools, allowing private foundations to set the education agenda; and inviting for-profit companies to come into the public sector with programs that are designed primarily to make money for investors, not help kids."

The article also mentions that she's starting an organization dedicated to education reform that is doing the exact opposite of what she did in DC. Awesome.