Jae Holt's Blog

How to Find Your Holiday Happy Place

Image by Marcos Garzo from PixabayThe holidays are a stressful time in a normal year, but this year hasn't been exactly normal. My family had to cancel our yearly trip to visit family and friends in Hawaii, we spent Thanksgiving jumping from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting, and we couldn't have dinner at the table because that was my new office. When expected routines get tossed out the window, it

Giving my Novel Some Much-Deserved Love

Image by fotografierende from Pixabay
Since this pandemic started, I’ve been staying mostly at
home to minimize the risk of someone in the household getting sick. Which means
I’ve gotten to catch up on some things, like decluttering the house, doing DIY
projects, and reading.

I started reading the ebooks
and paperbacks I'd purchased but didn’t get to yet. But one book sitting on my shelf

Communication and Teaching: Dealing with Challenges

You've prepared for your assignment as best you could and
piled your bag of tricks full of useful stuff to help keep students on track.
You've utilized every method possible to help students stay focused or return
to the task at hand. But you are still experiencing a few hiccups with a
student or two that is making class time distracting.








My typical classroom

At this point you could

Communication and Teaching: In the Classroom

So you made it to your assignment early and you had enough time to get to know your surroundings. You got this, right? Well, yes you do…until you don’t. Which means once class has started, what are you going to do to keep students engaged and cooperative?




Image from OC Register

While you may be a guest in the classroom, these are your students today and you are responsible for
giving them

Communication and Teaching: Arriving Prepared

In an earlier post, I discussed how a substitute’s day
isn’t always “typical.” However, arriving early and being prepared for your
assignment will help you have as typical a day as possible. Here are a few tips
for arriving early and what to bring with you to prepare yourself for the day.






Explore your surroundings



Arrive early to your assignment so you have time to find
the school,

Communication and teaching: Arriving Prepared

In an earlier post, I discussed how a substitute’s day
isn’t always “typical.” However, arriving early and being prepared for your
assignment will help you have as typical a day as possible. Here are a few tips
for arriving early and what to bring with you to prepare yourself for the day.






Explore your surroundings



Arrive early to your assignment so you have time to find
the school,

Communication and Teaching: A Substitute's Typical Day

So what is a substitute’s typical day like? The answer is
simple: there isn’t one. A day may start like this. You wake up and get a call
from the sub system or directly from a school. You accept the assignment, get
ready for your day, and show up to your assigned classroom. That is about where
the “typical” day ends.





Classroom image via Pixabay


“Typical” depends
on attitude

Every class

Communication and Teaching: Why be a Substitute Teacher?

When students first discover there is a sub in their classroom, one of two reactions occur: “Oh, no, a substitute,” or “Oh yeah, a substitute!” Yet both reactions usually point to the same student expectation – the class is going to be…different.



via Cliparts Zone






“Different” is going to depend on the sub

Dealing with one or two children can be difficult. Dealing with twenty to thirty

Communication and Meaning: Not All Words Are Bad

This is a ninja (clipartion.com)

I really enjoy substitute teaching. Even when I am in a "difficult" class I have fun. Perhaps it is because I have a little bit of evil in me and relish in the challenge of an upstart student or two. I also enjoy not having to deal with school politics. I don't plan on being in one place long enough to get sucked in to any drama.

Until one day I inadvertently

Communication and Kendo: Part 3

Here is the last post, unfashionably late, in my "Communication and Kendo" series. I tied communication to the art of kendo in Part 1 by talking about kendo and self-improvement. Then I introduced the idea of "Ki Ken Tai Ichi" as the second point that brings kendo and communication together. Now I want to tie in the final point of kendo - respect yourself and others. Showing respect equates to