I started field experience today at Tech High School. This week, my cooperating teacher is gone, so we get the experience of working with a cooperating teacher who is a substitute. In the future, I recognize I will be working with substitute teachers.
As I write this, I want to answer how I will be working with substitute teachers. Let's say a student with conduct disorder is educated in a 9th grade English class. Because IDEA requires all students are educated and the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA requires that students be educated in the general education setting at some point, so this is an example that could happen. The teacher has a baby and goes on maternity leave for 2 months which leaves a long-term substitute who may not know anything about conduct disorder. I have to go in to the substitute's classroom and offer her help with understanding conduct disorder as well as shaping her classroom environment so that it is the least restrictive environment for the student.
Substitute teachers are a very important piece of our education system. We, as teachers, are not immune to sickness, so we may need to miss school. And substitute teachers are there to help us when this happens. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that we, both regular and special education teachers, help the substitute teachers feel welcome in our school. We must accept that they may do things differently than we do them, but we must still help them and provide resources to help them successfully teach all our students.
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