Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Tips for Substitute Teaching: Craft time

Our mission at the Fine Art of Substitute Teaching is to suggest many substitute teaching tips to enhance and improve your experiences. In your "Mary Poppins Bag" , be sure to include inexpensive items like coffee filters , Popsicle sticks,small empty spray bottle, a bag of "Googly Eyes" and other dollar store finds. Let your imagination go wild. Classrooms usually have ample construction paper you can utilize. For example: Man a craft station with each child getting a paper towel. Place coffee filter on paper towel and have students color the "flower" with bright felt pens. Squirt water on the filter and listen to their "oohs and ahs" as they watch the colors bleed. These dry fast. After drying, they can twist the bottom and open it like a flower. You can attach it to a Popsicle stick and they have made a lovely flower. Another simple project is teach them how to draw an animal or person on the white board. Have them draw/color theirs on a piece of white construction paper and use googly eyes! Hear them giggle with delight! There are many slim "Teach How to Draw" books that will be a good addition to your substitute teaching bag. Substitute Teaching Tip: Popsicle ( Craft Sticks ) are inexpensive, yet valuable in the classroom. If the classroom doesn't have Popsicle sticks or another method of choosing students, utilize yours by writing student names/numbers on one end and place in cup. When reading outloud or answering questions from an assignment, draw a student's stick and it's their turn. Set aside each drawn stick until everyone has been called on. This is handy when I'm in a class for a few days. When I leave, I pass out the sticks to the students who can use them for a bookmark later.
 
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