Week 10: EdCamp

Today was our “official” EdCamp after our practice one a few weeks ago. For the two sessions I chose to attend sub life for the first one and mental health/work life balance for the second one. In both sessions I was the note taker, so I wasn’t able to contribute much to the conversation as I was so focused getting information down. However, I wasn’t in the headspace to analyze and discuss, so it nice to listen to what others were saying and soak in that information. I think sometimes we just need to be able to listen to a group of people chat in order to refuel our own communication abilities. And sometimes it is more important to listen.

In the sub life session I was able to take away some really great tips and things to think about when I become a sub. One tip was to make yourself a sub-bag with everything you might need during the day when subbing. Here is what a sub-bag should contain:

• Art activities
• Picture books (which can become a reading or writing activity)
• P.E. games 
• Stickers (bags of stickers from Amazon)
• Puppet
• Paper and pencil games 
• Journal prompts 
• Hot seat game where the kids can ask the sub anything that is appropriate
• Spare set of clothes/P.E. strip
• Runners
• Warm coat or sweater
• Snacks
• Water bottle

Another thing we talk about that I thought was really important is that sub’s are not expected to be perfect. A sub’s responsibility is to supervise and keep the students safe and busy throughout the time that the teacher is away. Further, the curriculum should not be a first priority when subbing, especially if a day plan is not given. Your priority should be doing whatever you need to make the day go smoothly. Some people in the session wondered about how to work with older grades that might dread having a sub come in for the day because the sub might not know what they are doing and the day feels like a waste. In this case, we talked about coming in and setting expectations for the students first thing. Write your name on the board and chat with them about the day and how you are there to support the students. Another point worth mentioning is when you are a teacher, you should foster respect and positivity for subs in your classroom. And if you know your students struggle with a sub, prep fun activities that they can do to stay busy while the sub is there. My final takeaway from this conversation was to make sure you always leave a note or email the classroom teacher at the end of the day letting them know how it went and what you did. This is in general the responsible thing to do as a sub, but could also lead to that classroom teacher really liking you and making you their “go to” sub.

In the mental health session we talked a lot about breaks and what that really looks like as a teacher. I know even for school, I find it really hard to turn my brain off or create separation between school and life. One strategy we talked about it setting a time that you stop looking at emails, working on marking, or dealing with school work. Say the time is 6 pm, once the clock hits 6 pm no more checking your inbox or prepping for the next day. I think this is really important because even if you need to bring work home, it still creates that separation and an opportunity to turn that part of your life off. Another strategy is to teach mindfulness and the importance of breaks in the classroom. Students need to take break as well no matter the grade level. Learning is often a rigorous and intense process even if the students love what they are doing. This means we need to give our brains and bodies time to recover and recoup from learning. Teaching mindfulness also means that you, the teacher, are allowing yourself a chance to have a break during the school day. Another subject we talked about was encouraging emotional expression in the classroom, while teaching resilience. One of our groups members spoke about their conversation with a school counselor. The counselor expressed excitement about new teachers coming in because we are aware of so many issues and are really open to mental health in the classroom. However, she worries that we might be too sensitive at times, which results in students not learning the coping skills they need to deal with life’s challenges. While the opinion is a bit of a generalization of teachers, I do agree that we have to teach our kids how to tackle challenges. Part of that is teaching the skills and having conversations, but the other part is supporting and uplifting your students. Students need to know that their teacher is in their corner and fighting for them because for some students their teacher might be the only one in their corner.

Overall, I really enjoyed our EdCamp sessions. I feel I was able to absorb a lot of information from my peers and look forward to putting some new tips and tricks into action.