Lincoln Public Schools
Substitute Teaching Newsletter, Fall Semester 2015-16
LINCOLN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
“People are the greatest asset of Lincoln Public Schools. The mission of Human Resources is to facilitate the selection, support and development of all employees so that each student receives the maximum opportunity for growth.”
Substitute Teacher Conference
Monday, January 4
8:00 am – 11:00 am, LPSDO
High Volume Sub Dates
Watch SubFinder for great job opportunities during high volume days due to professional leave workshops. The jobs will appear in SubFinder as the schools enter their absence requests.
First Semester:
October
20th, 21st, 27th, 28th
November
4th, 5th, 12th, 18th, 19th, 20th
December
10th, 14th
Second Semester:
January
14th, 27th, 28th
February
3rd, 4th, 11th, 17th, 18th, 24th, 25th
March
4th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 31st
April
1st, 5th, 6th, 21st, 22nd
May
5th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th
Local Substitute Teacher Orientations
Local Substitute Teacher Orientations
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 8:00AM-1:00PM LPSDO Conference Rm C, 5905 O Street
Friday, December 11, 2015 8:00AM-1:00PM LPSDO Conference Rm C, 5905 O Street
Friday, January 15, 2016 8:00AM-1:00PM LPSDO Conference Rm C, 5905 O Street
Who can attend Local Substitute Orientations?
Persons with at least a bachelor’s degree in an area other than education OR seniors in a Teacher Education Program
SubFinder Tip
Did you know that SubFinder can send you email reminders for many useful reasons?
- When you’ve been prearranged in a job
- When one of your current assignments (future jobs you’ve accepted) has been modified
- When a job has been canceled
- To remind you of your teaching certificate expiration date, 90 days prior to it expiring
- To remind you (5 days ahead of time) of an upcoming sub job you have accepted
In order to receive these notifications, you simply need to add your email address to the “Address” section of your “Personal Info” in SubFinder online. You may use your personal email address, or your LPS email address, whichever you prefer.
Substitute Teacher Handbook
The Substitute Handbook is a resource to assist with various questions regarding dress code, duty time, and expectations for the job. Please visit the Human Resources website and view the substitute teacher web page. The handbook link is provided for you at this site as well as this newsletter: Substitute Teacher Handbook
Substitute Advisory Meeting:
Tuesday, February 9, 4:15-5:15 PM, LPSDO Room 326
2015-2016 Substitute Teacher Advisors:
Karen Beek (M/Mod/Elem) kbeek@lps.org
Shannon Binkley (Elem) sbottom@lps.org
Bev Dittberner (ELL/EC) bdittbe@lps.org
Pat Donahue (Sci) pdonah@lps.org
Sally Dunham (Secondary) sdunham@lps.org
Anne Forch (Eng/Soci St) aforch@lps.org
Gretchen Garcia (Media/ELL) ggarcia@lps.org
Les Gordon (Pri/Media) lgordon@lps.org
Thompson Herman (Econ/History) therman2@lps.org
Sally Jones (Lang Arts) sjones@lps.org
Nancy Lorenz (Science) nlorenz@lps.org
Bev Loseke (English) bloseke@lps.org
Tim Nathan (Soc Science) tnathan@lps.org
Mary Naumann (Elem) mnaum@lps.org
Susan Pozehl (Secondary) sseeman@lps.org
Becky Ritterbush (Elem) rritter@lps.org
Jan Rowe (Elem, SS) jrowe@lps.org
Marilyn Stadler (Elem) mstadle@lps.org
Diann Wolfe (Elem) dwolfe@lps.org
Substitute Programming
Dr. Nesha Schumann nschuma@lps.org
Substitute Supervisor
Dr. Nicole Regan nregan@lps.org
2015 Fall Substitute Kickoff Conference
250 substitute teachers attended the annual Fall Kickoff Conference at East High School. Many of the sessions were focused on technology and a road map of the mission and vision of the Lincoln Public Schools technology plan for the years to come. Thank you for your support and advocacy to learn and grow with the District. Our growth and potential is a success because of your willingness to grow and learn with the organization. We value your input and feedback on the training sessions, and strive to align district initiatives that are pertinent to your daily functions as a substitute teacher.
Mark your Calendar!!!
2016-17 Fall Substitute Teacher Kickoff Conference
Friday – July 29, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM at East High School
New Pay Rate for 2015-2016:
Human Resources has increased the daily rate for certified substitute teachers to $150.13, and local substitute teachers to $135.11. Nationally, the Lincoln Public Schools is ranked in the top ten school districts that have higher compensation for substitute teachers.
Sub Tips:
10 Back-to-School Activities for Kids
10 Activities to Help Break the Ice
Ways for Learning Students' Names Quickly
5 Highly Effective Teaching Practices
By Rebecca Alber
Edutopia Consulting Online Editor
I remember how, as a new teacher, I would attend a professional development and feel inundated with new strategies. (I wanted to get back to the classroom and try them all!) After the magic of that day wore off, I reflected on the many strategies and would often think, "Lots of great stuff, but I'm not sure it's worth the time it would take to implement it all."
What Research Says
We teachers are always looking to innovate, so, yes, it's essential that we try new things to add to our pedagogical bag of tricks. But it's important to focus on purpose and intentionality -- and not on quantity. So what really matters more than "always trying something new" is the reason behind why we do what we do.
This leads me to educational researcher John Hattie, who wrote Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning. Through his research, one of his goals is to aid teachers in seeing and better understanding learning through the eyes of their students.
Hattie has spent more than 15 years researching the influences on achievement of K-12 children. His findings linked student outcomes to several highly effective classroom practices. Here I'd like to highlight five of those practices:
1. Teacher Clarity
When a teacher begins a new unit of study or project with students, she clarifies the purpose and learning goals, and provides explicit criteria on how students can be successful. It's ideal to also present models or examples to students so they can see what the end product looks like.
2. Classroom Discussion
Teachers need to frequently step offstage and facilitate entire class discussion. This allows students to learn from each other. It's also a great opportunity for teachers to formatively assess (through observation) how well students are grasping new content and concepts.
3. Feedback
How do learners know they are moving forward without steady, consistent feedback? They often won't. Along with individual feedback (written or verbal), teachers need to provide whole-group feedback on patterns they see in the collective class' growth and areas of need. Students also need to be given opportunities to provide feedback to the teacher so that she can adjust the learning process, materials, and instruction accordingly.
4. Formative Assessments
In order to provide students with effective and accurate feedback, teachers need to assess frequently and routinely where students are in relation to the unit of study's learning goals or end product (summative assessment). Hattie recommends that teachers spend the same amount of time on formative evaluation as they do on summative assessment.
5. Metacognitive Strategies
Students are given opportunities to plan and organize, monitor their own work, direct their own learning, and to self-reflect along the way. When we provide students with time and space to be aware of their own knowledge and their own thinking, student ownership increases. And research shows that metacognition can be taught.
Collaborating with Colleagues
Great teachers are earnest learners. Spend some time with a colleague, or two or three, and talk about what each of these research-based, best classroom practices looks like in the classroom. Discuss each one in the context of your unique learning environment: who your students are, what they need, what they already know, etc.
How do you already bring these five classroom practices alive in your classroom? Please share in the comments section below.