By Sharon Wood
Much of the stress for supply teachers begins before they reach the classroom. In this series of articles looking at top tips for supply teaching, we look at practical ways to reduce this stress.
Improvisation is a skill. Do not think that you can not improvise – you can! You just need to practice some. I used to practice daily, and found that it really improved my confidence. It was just on the way to school in the car that I did it, looked out of the window, and (ahem, can I just say that there were a lot of traffic jams on my way into school!) thought of three things I could teach through the first thing I saw.
Do it now. Look to your left. What is the first thing you see? Can you think of one Literacy, one Numeracy and one Art idea? I bet you can! Take a look at this image, it’s a jewellery box really, but I bet the way it is presented (from someone’s imagination) helps you to conjure up a few lesson ideas? Have a go!
Many people think they have to have hundreds of ideas up their sleeves before they feel confident. If you know the curriculum well, and can improvise upon seeing a classroom display, then you will overcome this feeling. Practice makes perfect remember!
When it comes to time fillers, you just need 6: that’s potentially one for the end of each session of the day. Don’t panic if you don’t know hundreds of little games, a few tried and tested ideas will suffice. Preferably something that’s either known to the children already, that forms an additional plenary for one of your previous lessons, or that does not take longer to explain than play! Lower key stages, do try singing – have half a dozen songs up your sleeve / on your memory stick. For the upper key stages, try hot seating, keep the children engaged with open-ended questions the order of the day. If you have time to fill, keep it simple – don’t befuddle the children or you’ll lose them.
Following plans that have been left for you will be more appreciated than delivering a lesson that you have up your sleeve, no matter how fabulous it is. So don’t improvise too much, and stick to any planning that has been left.
If you’d like more advice on improvisation, take a look at our CPD for Supply Teachers course. One of the six modules is dedicated to improvisation, and you could purchase it separately.
Have you cracked it? Do you have as many tricks up your sleeve as you can have? Let us know your top tips for improvising on supply below, on Facebook, or on Twitter!