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Saturday, October 09, 2010

Rovingest Sub…

The “roving sub” assignment is just school jargon for “scheduled wandering” from class to class to cover the time period necessary for teachers to conduct meetings or functions that can’t be handled outside of school.

Roving is usually a rare assignment, as I’ve previously experienced only one or two of these per year. This year seems to be an exception. I’ve had nine roving assignments in September and October so far. My record for the most classes covered in one day is eighteen!

Roving sub duty is usually easy. There is no preparation required. The first “assignment” usually starts a half hour after school begins and frequently ends before the final bell.

The teacher usually has you supervise work already in progress, do a short lesson like a spelling test or the favorite default, silent reading until her return. There is a lot of walking involved and if you take a “roving sub” assignment, be sure to get a map of the school so you don’t waste time getting lost.

Question: Is “roving-est” even a word?

6 comments:

Mamie said...

We have a team of roving subs come into our school for three days each month. This allows each grade level to meet as a team for a three-hour study group/planning session related to our new reading curriculum. I am so grateful for the wonderful colleagues who come in as part of these teams - their availability allows our team of 7 first grade teachers time to collaborate that we would not otherwise have.

Kat said...

18 classes covered in one day?! How long were the teacher meetings? 1/2 hour? 20 minutes? I wonder how much they accomplish in that time...

KauaiMark said...

"...eighteen (18) teachers in four (4) hours."

About 10-20 min each

NYC Educator said...

It sounds like something you could write a sea shanty about. But if you do, refrain from dressing up as a pirate and singing it in the hallways. Admin won't understand.

GT Goddess said...

Interesting! I've never had an assignment like that. I have covered for a teacher all day for an in-building project, but not for many teachers.

Veronica Chase said...

Wow! Usually when I'm roving, I only do 2 or 3. I think the most I've done is 4 or 5. I don't really like it. My lunch break always seems to get shortened and squashed uncomfortably between classes, and I never like entering rooms where I don't have time to learn the students' names. I like staying put.