Comments on: Students as Substitutes

By: Kate Olson

Kate Olson — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:49:29 +0000

Sylvia – I’m coming to this post rather late in the game, but I just wanted to mention that I used this technique when I was student teaching and had to leave notes for a sub (another student teacher who was new to our classroom). I was teaching all computer lessons at the time and the students were very familiar with the program. I assigned 3 students to be the assistants and told the sub in the notes to have students A, B, and C assist with any tech issues, and student D could explain the lesson. It was very effective. Oh, and this was an 8th grade classroom!

By: Sylvia Martinez

Sylvia Martinez — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:39:38 +0000

Wow, Bob! Thanks for the comment! Isn’t the Internet cool?

I would be happy to give you space on our blog to talk about what you are doing. Let me know!

By: Bob Brems

Bob Brems — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:22:38 +0000

The first time I used this approach the substitute thought it was a joke. Afterwards, the substitute wrote a three page letter explaining how impressed he was with the attitude of the students and the seriousness of the instruction. He related how the students were talking about concepts covered in class that he was not prepared to discuss with the students. This was taking place in a class where 95% of the students are students with special needs, at-risk students, or students currently on parole/probation.

If you would like to know more, please contact me at brems.bob@iccsd.k12.ia.us

By: samccoy

samccoy — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:43:27 +0000

Thought provoking blog posting.

So, I am inferring that there is an “official” adult (substitute) in the classroom while these eighth graders are in charge of the lesson and other various duties that need to be accomplished; yes, many of us have done that unofficially by nominating a different student to “help” the substitute.

I wonder how that technically works in the classroom and what the substitutes think about it? I would be very interested to learn about the procedure used to introduce and accomplish this peer teacher system in the classroom.