Teaching Ideas

As a casual it is useful to at least have a class timetable so I can follow the same routine to help the students be settled. Notes are very helpful and I always do what is left and leave a note to let the class teacher know what has been done and any issues.
I always take a bag of tricks but always try to do something to do with the current unit of work.
I don't think permanent teachers realise how difficult it is sometimes being a casual, I have been booked three weeks in advance for a kindy class then when I arrive at the school I am told to be on a year 6. Casuals don't carry a whole k-6 lesson kit with us everywhere we go! I do have a tub in the boot of my car with a little of everything but notes or a timetable is always good.

As a classroom teacher (now retired) of a composite Year 1/2 class I always left a complete programme for the day as a guide, as I was rarely absent unexpectedly. As I usually had quite a few 'challenging' students in my class I thought this would be most beneficial to both the teacher and the children. My philosophy was always- what would I like if I was a relief teacher taking this class. I always had lovely notes left by the teacher thanking me.
Having also been engaged in casual teaching I have been to classes where a programme was left, and others where absolutely nothing was left, not even a timetable. I would suggest that at the very least a teacher should leave a copy of the timetable and some idea of what the current theme is. Whilst casual teachers soon find out who the 'challenging' students are, if there are any for example who should not be seated together it would be handy to know and could prevent unpleasant incidents.
I have a folder of lessons and activities for each grade but like to know what the children have been working on and try to correlate my lessons. If absolutely nothing has been left one activity I use is to ask the children what topic they have been learning about- then get them to tell me everything they know. I use this as a shared writing activity. I also have a few story books which I use to base the day's activities around particularly Language and quite often SOSE.

The amount of pay isn't and shouldn't be an issue. We are all part of the same system - and all qualified professionals. It is a myth to think that casual teachers are well paid - afterall there is considerable competition, there is no pay for sickness or the likes of compulsory jury duty, the rapport you can build up with a school can be completely undermined after staff changes or due to increasingly tight budget cut-backs. There is no security in casual work - people only do the job because it offers part-time employment.

So the emphasis should be well and truly based on what is best for the students and expected by their parents - our clients.

Continuity is absolutely fundamental and a well organised caring classroom teacher would enable this. At the same time, a good casual should be able to provide additional work as changes often occur.

I think that it is wonderful to read that some of the schools have a proper system in place for teacher absences. I am sure most parents would think that would be the norm. That sort of system should be rolled out to every school IMO.

Sure, I love my program to be followed if I leave work to be done especially for more than two days. But, I find if the casual is prepared and armed ready with interesting activities a change is as good as a holiday and the children will talk and talk and want to discuss what they did (learned) with the casual.
I take my hat off to most casual teachers.

Hi
In the school I teach in and the past two, each class teacher provides two days of lessons for those days we are absent without notice (sick!). These are kept in the office and used as needed. Of course we update them as the year progresses. For any other day (PD, sport, camp etc), we are expected to leave work and the expectation in my current school is that the casual teacher will teach this work. This is because it allows for the continuity of the class programme. I have found it so frustrating to spend a lot of time preparing for a casual, only to find they did their own thing, which was not relevant for my students. As all teachers know, the the time taken to prepare a day for someone else is very time consuming.
Every school has their own procedure, but I always leave work, and appreciate that it is marked when I return. Also, a note on how the day went is also useful.

As a classroom teacher, I always make sure I have the day planned for a relief teacher. Having done relief work for several years, I know how much smoother a day will flow if there is routine and CONSISTENCY FOR CHILDREN. Whilst I do leave a fairly detailed plan for the relief teacher, I always ensure that they know that it is just a plan, and it doesn't matter if everything or nothing from the plan gets done. As a relief teacher, I always made sure that there was a fairly detailed note (where applicable) for the classroom teacher - highlighting what was covered, ch'ns behaviour. etc.

Hi! This is my fifth year as a casual teacher in NSW and there are very few teachers in my area that actually leave work prepared for a casual teacher.

Last week I was booked on a Kindergarten class for a day but actually ended up teaching the class for five days.

I tried to follow the teacher's program but I couldn't find it! There wasn't even anything written in her day book. I realise casual teachers get paid very handsomely and I don't do 'busy work' but as term 3 is the time that there is a lot of sickness around it would be good to be able to have something to follow for some consistency for the class.