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Guest Teaching: My Own Experience

© Melissa Sztuczko-Payk

"I don't like white people."

That's how I was greeted last Friday when I began what has now turned into a possible six-week assignment. I'm teaching second grade in one of our cities most economically-disadvantaged neighborhoods, and this class is tough. Most of the students are very undisciplined and have very low comprehension skills, which I suspect is simply because they don't sit still long enough to "get" any given lesson.

One thing's for sure: the next few weeks ain't gonna be no picnic.

One of Friday's tasks was a spelling test. Among the eight words: man, can, an. Students shouted at me to slow down as they spelled these words. Yet twice that day, I found a word meaning "female dog" spelled (very nicely, thank you) on the chalkboard. The "Mrs. Payk is fat," note was also properly spelled.

Now, as a sub, I could easily walk away from this job. I don't think it would shock anyone if I did; this class seems to have a reputation for being wild. But, I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. Actually, I'm looking at this as my own personal challenge: If I can succeed with this class, then I know I have what it takes to be a great teacher.

I guess it helps that in between the tough assignments, I've also had many great ones. For me, a great day happens when the kids are well-behaved and the teacher obviously prepared for my visit.

When I arrived for my current assignment, I did find that day's lesson plan. But, the lesson book ended on that day. So, I spent the weekend preparing lessons for this week. I spoke to the principal to determine how much flexibility I had; she immediately agreed that reading comprehension and discipline should be my first priorities. "In fact," she said, "it would be just fine with me if you did nothing but spelling, reading and comprehension, all day, everyday." And that's just what sort of plan I created; everything revolves around reading activities.

Best of all, each part of the plan will work great as "time fillers" when I have shorter assignments.

For example, this weekend I found a great kid's local history book for just $9.00, and it's even a hardcover--durable, timely (autumn and Native Americans just seem to go together), and can be modified for every grade level. I'll be reading a chapter a day during Social Studies; I've created a worksheet for students to complete as they follow along. This will help them understand why they need to listen, and will help me assess their ability to comprehend what's being read.