Brief Report on the Substitute Teachers’ Conference 2012
Post date: 22-Dec-2014 17:45:24
October 19-20, 2012 Barnett House
This is my first time attending the Substitute Teachers’ Conference organized by the ATA. It was held on the evening of October 19 and all day Saturday, the 20th at the Barnett House.
Friday evening featured a keynote speaker on the nature of a substitute teacher’s work. The speaker approached the topic from a personal perspective and offered stories, challenges he faced, and actions he took in the hopes to better those who follow the same path. This gave some valuable insight to how an experienced substitute teacher responds to the ever changing demands of this profession. The evening ended with a Mix and Mingle.
On Saturday, the available sessions are more differentiated and we can choose to attend those which interest us. In the morning, there were sessions on de-escalating situations before crisis occurs, on the use of SmartBoards, and on using dominoes to teach math. I attended the session on de-escalation hoping to obtains some strategies on mild acting-out behaviours such as shutting down, refusal to do work as assigned, etc. Instead, the session mainly focused on and provided strategies for elementary students whose behaviour would often require the attendance of an Educational Assistant. Some of the substitute teachers, like I, frequent the junior and high school circuit and proactively asked for advice in these environments. We were able to obtain some diffusing strategies and phrases that could be used. What helped the most though was understanding the theory behind a student acting-out and the ability of an adult to diffuse the frustrations. This understanding allows us to devise our own strategies suitable to our students’ age group.
After lunch, while the rest of the substitute teachers attended a keynote session on Daily Physical Activity, I was invited to attend a private meeting with other Substitute Chairs from other locals. In that meeting, we discussed about privacy concerns when communicating with other substitute teachers. We also shared with others the work and projects we are doing within our Local. I have learned that there is much room for improvement for myself to serve my fellow substitute teachers.
The afternoon offered sessions on pension and how to get a contract. Although a session on pension sounds useful to me since I have accepted and chosen to be a career substitute teacher, attending the session on how to get a contract would be of more interest to my substitute teachers.
The session is held by someone who has been in the profession for over 30 years and has also been an administrator and is currently part of the ATA. He offered some common knowledge about expectations, behaviours, attire, resumes, and interview skills. The real insight comes from learning the fact that there really is no set ways to write a cover letter or a resume; what he personally prefers to see at an interview and the rationale behind those preferences. I also got to see how some of the other jurisdictions treat their substitute teachers whether it is about hiring, or conveying important information such as certification process. I chimed in with my experience on certification in the hopes of providing insight for other substitute teachers.
All in all, I went home Saturday afternoon feeling armoured with new knowledge and also the confidence that I am on the right path of becoming a successful substitute teacher, as well as a new found sense of direction.