The Substitute Teacher Guide to Classroom Observation (page 2)
Look, listen, and learn—very good advice for even the most
seasoned substitute teacher, and a crucial guideline for those
of you who are just starting out. Someone once said that half of
success is showing up. I contend that the other half is just
paying attention. Observation is another way of saying the same
thing. How Can I Get the Most out of my Subbing Experience?
Every day you walk into a classroom—look, listen, and learn. By
applying the powers of observation, you’ll walk away from your
subbing experience with ideas that you can reuse in other
classrooms and with other students. I recommend that you keep a
spiral notebook in your bag of tricks. When you observe a good
idea, write it down. And don’t confine yourself to observing
only full-time classroom teachers. You can learn many tricks of
the trade by observing other experienced subs. You might argue
that you don’t have time to observe other teachers because you
have a classroom of studen