5 Great Workbooks for a New Substitute Teacher
Being a new substitute teacher can be a bit overwhelming. These 5 workbooks are inexpensive and are a wealth of information and ideas.
The Substitute Teacher’s Organizer K-6
ISBN: 1-57471-795-2 from Creative Teaching Press
2001, Jan Herbst
This guidebook is great for record keeping, tips, behavior management, and sets of ready-to-go activities. Its chapter on How to Create a Professional Binder’ is one of the best guides I’ve seen on constructing a proper teacher’s organizer. It has everything from financial record keeping to calendars and schedules.
Behavior Management – You can have all the stickers and worksheets in the world but if you have a disruptive class it’s this section that will help you out. Also included here is a great “reward system” to use. Things like book marks and cutouts, to extra free time are included.
Pages 47-76 are great to duplicate. These are reproducible with ideas on how to use them. My favorites include:
Practical Proverbs- good whole class use and interesting for younger kids
Find Someone Who…Questionnaire- Gets everyone in the class involved. Can get competitive, I’d make it into a scavenger hunt.
A+ Ideas for Every Student’s Success
Robert A Rohm, Ph.D. 2003 Personality Insights
ISBN: 0-9641080-9-7
This is helpful in a clinical “get into their heads” feel. For more practical applications I’d go with the other books first.
There are 12 sections in this workbook:
1- Lower Elementary
2- Upper Elementary
3- Middle School
4- High School
5- Personality Blends
6- Combinations
7- Additional Insights
8- Teaching to the 4 Personality Styles
9- Understanding Parenting Styles
10- Understanding, Accepting, and Affirming your Childs Style
11- Understanding the High D-I-S-C Child
12- 101 Ways to Praise a Student or Child
Although I’m not sure about labeling a child into a group classification, the book does have an exceptional Chapter 12. The different ways delivered do well when you’ve muttered “good job” for the twelfth time.
Also, Chapter 9 will help give insight to a sub’s dealing with kids as they are reflecting the parenting style they were raised in.
What Are the Other Kids Doing While You Teach Small Groups? Grade 1-3
Creative Teaching Press, ISBN 1-57471-293-4 1997
Donna Marriott
This book is extremely adaptable to the substitute teacher with word games, map activities, writing exercises, and even bingo. These I’d recommend for sub’s doing a multiday assignment so you have a longer timeframe to work the literacy centers.
The word bingo featured on page 54-58 comes with a reproducible bingo card and a sample word bingo card. These pages are my personal favorites and you can use these as a fun game no matter what class you’re in. Tell the class that if all the assignments get done then a game will be played. They’ll be having fun AND learning.
The book is 160 pages with explanations of how the literacy “workshops” work.
Campbell’s Middle School Quizbook #4
John P Campbell, Patrick’s Press, 2001
ISBN 0944322352
Box 5189, Columbus GA, 31906-5189
Designed in 25 sections this is arranged in preparation for academic bowls. Each section has 20 questions with answers and four tie breaker questions. The books totals 252 pages and incorporates math, history, literature, popular culture, English, geography, and science. It also has a well-defined index to specific topics in the quizzes.
Teachers and subs can use this for its intended purpose, academic bowls, but can also use the index to find and design their own subject specific quizzes. A great way to review or use as a competitive form of learning.
The author, John Campbell, is the pen behind well over 30 quiz books ranging from Elementary to college. With this background you can see that he does well thought out quizzes with thorough answers. Some answers I saw have listed alternatives that also are correct.
It is a complete and well useable book for any need. AIA Substitute Teaching (http://www.allinfoaboutsubstituteteaching.com) gives it four out of five golden pencils for a good well done book.
I’m Through What Can I Do? Grade 3-4
Linda Schwartz, Learning Works, Inc.
2002 ISBN 0-88160-360-0
There are 91 pages of activities (over 80 of them) and 4 pages of answers in this workbook. My favorites are in pages 34 and 35. “Mutt Match and Twin Frogs” is good to reproduce extra of so that you can have your kids color them. If you have kids in class that are named the same as the mutt or frog, have them keep that particular one!
Pages 74-75 is “”Build a Robot”. Artistic way to engage a class if you have a bit longer time to kill. I like the robot because it works well for boys and for girls. I will have them color this one too.
I’m through what can I do?’ are always great variety books targeted to grade levels. Use for learning extras, time fillers, or engaging the class in a group assignment.
Highly recommended for:
Number of items to do
Fun and insightful worksheets
Priced affordable
Ease of copying
This workbook is also for other grade levels such as Grade 5-6, that workbook has the same sections but different items in the sections. If you can, get one for every grade level.
