A great deal goes into ensuring a smooth-running classroom when a teacher is absent. Mrs. Truman, a substitute teacher, highly recommends pre-regulated set-up and training in technology for substitute teachers.
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Ms. Truman is aware that a great deal of planning goes into ensuring a smooth-running classroom when a teacher is absent. Substitute teachers like Ms. Truman take on a great deal of responsibility based on high-expectations; or at least the good ones do. The school is counting on these substitutes to succeed. The administrative staff do not need to be called into every substitute-run class everyday with complaints that the students are out of control. To keep the students under control, the substitute teacher must show a high degree of withitness and regulation. In order for this to happen the substitute must know what he or she is doing and how they will handle what the teacher expects of them.
From her substitute teaching experiences from school to school during the past two months, Mrs. Truman highly recommends some form of pre-regulated set-up or training in technology for substitute teachers. Here’s why.
The following is a note left for Mrs. Truman by Mrs. Madison, the regular classroom teacher, who needs Mrs. Truman to cover a class for one day:
Mrs. Truman,
Thank you for sub’ing for me today. My students know the rules. Tell them I expect them to follow them or there will be consequences when I come back.
All I need you to do today is show them the video I left under this note. Take them to LGI 4220. It is down the hall on the right. To get the video started all you need do is turn on the computer, set the toggle switches on the computer stand to video not forgetting to adjust the sound on the computer, computer desk, and projector, set up the projector with the gray (not black) remote in the room, get the electrical screen pulled down (use the black remote for this), and don’t put the video in the computer DVD player it does not work, the DVD will become stuck, put it in the DVD/VCR player below the computer in deck 2 (it should be marked) for the DVD to work you will need to make sure that the DVD/VCR is plugged into the computer and that it is set to computer mode. This last part should be preset, but we have been having meetings in the LGI all week, so settings could be off. This shouldn’t be too hard.
If you need help try to find Mrs. Tech, our technological support genius. Make sure the students take notes and no one sleeps.
Again, thank you so much,
Mrs. Madison
At this point most any substitute teacher would be a little worried. While computers are pretty basic devices employed by most everyone in the United States, projectors and linked devices are not as common place. For substitutes that are retired, between jobs, or just learning computer technology like Mrs. Truman, the directions in the teacher’s note are not very helpful. There is a good deal of information left out. Cord types, plugs go in where? Where to find Mrs. Tech? Is deck 2 counted from top or bottom, and even which buttons to push on the TWO separate remotes?