Who / What is an Occasional Teacher?

In an effort to improve my ability to meet the needs of today's students, I am taking a course designed to help people become more effective occasional teachers.  Occasional Teachers (OTs) are fully accredited teachers that are eligible to work for a particular Board but do not have a full-time class of their own.  There are challenges unique to the position that I want to explore.   As one person put it, Every day is like the first day of class.  Being in front of a new class each day can be trying.

The class is broken down into units that build on one another.  The first step to betterment is understanding what it is you want to improve.

The Role of the Occasional Teacher.

Everyone comes into the teaching profession by being a student first.  It is likely that during your years of schooling you had a supply teacher.  So what do you remember that being like?  Do you remember the supply being some kind of monster?  Perhaps you saw them as someone you could take advantage off while your regular teacher was away? Hopefully you saw them as simply another teacher and afforded them the same respect and courtesy you gave your regular teacher.  Sweet dreams, I know!

I don't want to be seen as the creature, I want to be seen as the teacher.

I Am the Teacher

There are several organizations involved in the teaching profession at various levels.  The Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is one organization that has put together some resources to help OTs succeed in the classroom.  While reading this I realized a couple of things: first, being prepared is key.  The suggestion we discussed in class was to have some materials always ready to go.  Perhaps you have a kit in your car with some of your favourite teaching aids, include some lesson plans (tailored to the grade level you are going to be teaching if there is time), or a flash drive with lesson plans on it, and don't take for granted that even the most basic supplies will be readily available to you.  Bring them.

Secondly, make sure you let the teacher you are replacing know how things went while they were gone.  Leave them a note regarding the day and the successes you had.  Make sure you point out any changes you may have made from the plan and why.  If the teacher is comfortable leaving his/her class in your hands, you have a better chance of a return engagement down the road.

Understanding Your Role within the Collective Agreement

Many of the people coming into this profession have little to no experience in unions.  Myself included.  So becoming familiar with the collective agreement (CA) the union has negotiated on your behalf is both crucial and enlightening.  It is important that you understand what is expected of you.  But reading the language in these agreements can be like wading waist deep through mud.  As I was reading through the agreement I wasn't sure if OTs were actually covered by what I was reading.  It turns out that I had the wrong agreement and was pointed toward the CA that would cover me.

It was then pointed out that if an OT does have questions regarding the CA, the ETFO is available to help you interpret things.  That makes me feel a little more at ease.

Rights and Responsibilities

Just as there are several unions representing the interests of the various teacher's groups across the province, there are also several school boards that operate under a provincial mandate but all function fairly independently after that.  So just as it is necessary to understand how the CA impacts you, it is also important to understand how your Board expects you, their students, and the rest of their family to conduct themselves.

Someone once said that "All the worlds a stage...".  The code of conduct outlines the parts that the various stakeholders have to play.  Principals are responsible for developing their own vision of the acceptable behaviours in their own school and making sure that is communicating to everyone involved (teachers, students, parents, et al).  Teachers are responsible for modeling expected behaviour as well as explaining expectations to the students and their families.  Students are expected to come to school each day prepared, have respect for themselves as well as for others, and to take responsibility for their actions.  Parents / guardians are asked to help their children prepare for each day and to keep an open line of communication with the school.

I'll admit, I have come into this class with blinders on.  I was focused on me and doing what I can to get better at teaching.  So far, we haven't looked at teaching methodologies but we have talked a ton about the different facets of the teaching profession that I need to be aware of at all times.  That is my responsibility.

Character Development

We know about the three R's but is that all their is to school?  No and I was surprised to learn that a lot of the curriculum has some expectations around the idea of developing adults that are ready to be contributing members of society, not just life-long learners.  And there are some fantastic things going on out there.

We all agreed that the programs begun by students seemed to have more merit.  I looked at some of the programs Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute has offered its students.

For the past three years Laurier has sent students and teachers from all grades up to a camp in Algonquin Park .  This past year over 100 people attended the weekend long character education camp.  The students were divided into groups representing a character trait and then spent the weekend getting to know all about the trait, and each other.  Groups were then expected to return to the school and educate the rest of the population about what they learned.

There are other programs happening at Laurier that are going to impact the students that are involved in them in a positive way.  The key to each program that is being run is that the students have ownership over what is being done, at least partially.  What a fun place to teach at.  I can envision a much more collegial atmosphere to the school where students feel involved in their education as opposed to spectators.  Character education has been a focus of the province since 2008 and through programs like Laurier is running in Algonquin Park or simply through modeling, the teachers are getting it.

Teaching Defensively

We have also talked about some of the trials and tribulations facing those in the teaching profession.  Some of those challenges are more acute for OTs.  We discussed a situation in which an OT was accused of abusing a student.  Even though all charges were dropped and the student admitted to fabricating the story the damage was done.  The problem was that the OT put himself in a situation where he was alone with the student and it was his word against hers.  Teaching defensively is the concept that teachers, all of us, must consider at all times.  Keep in mind a few simple rules and you should be able to mitigate the risk: try to keep witnesses around, be wary of any amount of physical contact with students as your intentions may not be the same as their perceptions, and document everything.

We started discussing some potential scenarios that could present potentially tricking situations.  It is a slippery slope.  You can have a teacher helping a student learn a particular movement in a gym class and be faced with inappropriate / unwanted touching.  The same could be said for the teacher that hugs a student that is visibly upset over something.  Our desire to help and protect children could be turned against us if we aren't wary.  Fortunately, discussing these things brings them to light.  Sadly, we need to discuss these things as they do happen.

Work / Life Balance

We read a couple of articles that pointed out how important it is for teachers not to throw themselves into their work at the exclusion of everything else.  It isn't healthy and can't be sustained.  So we need to achieve a balance somehow.  For the OT, this may actually be a tougher challenge.  We may not know where we are going or what we will be doing on a day to day basis which can add extra stress into your life.  We all created our own top 10 lists of ways in which we thing we can help ourselves maintain that balance.  Here was mine (let's call it my first draft):

1. Squash on Monday with friends
2. Get the kids to help with meal prep and planning
3. Read - and not just in the bathroom
4. Book stores - make time at least every other month to browse the shelves for leisure titles, professional development books, and what might be the new thing for the age ranges I am teaching
5. Ask for help - I have some excellent resources and I should rely on them to do those things that they are good at and I'm not
6. Talk to other educators - I have friends that teach at different levels.  We play poker together.  What better forum to discuss current classroom situations or ideas that you can adopt for later on.
7. Sleep in Saturdays - turn off the alarm, wake up slowly, read before getting out of bed, make coffee.
8. Garden - we grow a small selection of vegetables.  Get out there and weed.  Very relaxing.
9. Don't over do it - Realize when you are spending too long trying to make things perfect.  Make them work and move on.
10. Remember why you are doing this in the first place - keep a record of all the good things and refer back to this often (a folder of warm fuzzies).

Then I read the lists compiled by my classmates and wanted to adjust mine considerably.  I have a tendency to be self-centered.  I should be thinking about trying to maintain that balance in my life by getting my students to help out more as well.

So far we have discussed the idea of who the OT is.  It is me.  Head swimming with all the things I need to keep track of but excited to start that process.

I'll be posting more in the days to come.  Feel free to follow along and, as always, respond.