I was one step away from having this day be a disaster. The plans that the teacher had out were from a few days ago. So I was about to have middle schoolers with nothing to tell them to do. Luckily it was band.
For every class I told them to get into groups and make something to play for the class. The 6th graders followed directions best. They either made up something new or made variations on things they were learning.
The 8th graders just wanted to play things they needed to practice for a concert. With one of the classes I let them get into their own groups and play. With the other we played as a group.
The 7th graders had basically the same thing, they just played things out of the book instead.
I also went and covered the orchestra class for 1 period. I told them they stunk. They told me thank you and that they knew they stunk, but the other subs usually told them they did well.
Overall, I did the best I could with this one. I don’t play band instruments at all. I barely play orchestra instruments. Considering all of that, I think I did a good job just getting them to play something and not sit around.
Viv
November 21, 2009 at 8:53 pm
You are a sub, not a music critic. Please do not tell the kids they “suck”. You are there for one day–how is that criticism (which was not at all constructive) going to help them?
I used to sub myself, when I was going to college for my Education degree, and professionalism earns the respect of the school and gets you invited back. That’s the route you want to take.