Hey Cuthie!

I am a pretty seasoned sub from my days prior to teaching a behavior management focused class - so I feel pretty confident in this area!

I think it's nice to work toward something like a fun game - but I try to earn it 2 times per day to keep the incentive high even in the morning! It stinks if the class fails the group goal by ten o'clock - so I have them try to earn a privilege starting fresh after lunch/recess, too!

Games my kids have enjoyed (in all classrooms up to and beyond 5th grade):

Spelling Bees
Seven Up (or thumbs up - email me if you don't know how to play this - I'll write it out!)
Trivia - pick 2 teams - put on opposite sides of the room - have the 1st kid in each line come up to your desk - ask the question, and see who gets the answer - score the point for the team of the correct responder. Then those kids go to back of the line - 2nd kid in each line is now 'up'...) for this game, you can even use whatever the unit material was that was covered most recently, or multiplication facts, or whatever you want!

I really think that behavior management is the primary skill you need to have for subbing - and the best way to do that is usually through incentives to be good, like earning these short games.

If a particular kid is NOT earning the game, I will usually quietly let them know 1st as a warning. If they continue making bad choices, I write their INITIALS on the board (for some kids, seeing their entire name on the board is too stressful, I have found this out!!) and then as they do better, I erase their initials.



Oh - just reread your post, and see that you're already doing fine! Good for you. I'll bet you're great!