CRT: How to stand out from the crowd

Welcome to the Relief Teachers Podcast brought to you by TradeWind Australia. My name's Ian McNally and this podcast is a recording from a live webinar in January 2021 with my colleagues and former principals Billy Green and Terry Toomey. In this podcast we'll be covering the tips and tricks of how to stand out as a relief teacher not only to boost your career prospects but also to improve student outcome. The webinar started with me asking Billy Green a hard opening question. Billy, as a relief teacher it is a hard job in the respect that sometimes you can go into a school have an excellent day really engage with the students and you finish at the end of the day everybody seems to have gone you sign out of the school leave your name badge and that's the end of it nobody sees you nobody sees the brilliant work that you did you're invisible how is it possible to stand out as a relief teacher. First of all is that schools are really dynamic places they're really really busy compared to most workplaces you could almost use the word frantic for schools there is just so much going on there's so much even in a relatively small school of one to 200 kids that is still a lot of people to bring together from a lot of different families it's a lot of staff involved there's a lot of resources involved and they do it over you know 200 odd days every year so schools are really dynamic places and you are looking after people who are in a lot of ways the most vulnerable people in our society that is our children so because of that there's a whole range of pressures on around schools that mean that sometimes you might put in a really great day of being a CRT but they are just so caught up with something else that's going on they might have had a you don't know they might have kid brushed a hospital with a broken arm and the principals had to go they might be able to contact the parents the office worker might have had to go home so there's just maybe no one around they might be a meeting on you just don't know why so I think first of all as a CRT if that happens to you I would see that as a pat on the back in a good day because and you've got to frame your own rewards quite often in CRT work is quite often you're not going to get really great rewards but look at that first of all as a good day now going to the bigger point about how you stand out and that is one of the key things because whether you want to stand out in the sense that you want to be a candidate for jobs that might come up in future or whether you want to stand out because if the school notices you they will invite you back more often it is actually a good thing to go away with the reputation that you are doing well and it may even as Terry I'm sure will talk to it in a moment you may just even form that reputation so that while a job may not come up in your school when the principals speak about other jobs in the area they might ask first of all have you come across any eye and they could pick up that role so standing out in terms of a concept and I'll talk about how you do it in a minute but standing out as an idea Terry is important isn't it? I'll look absolutely belly and I think just hitting back on that point that was made a couple of minutes ago I think if you're very pleased with your day then in a sense that should be enough don't expect people to be ringing you up and telling you what a great day you had and how pleased they are with you because as you say there is some million other interactions happening within a school in a day but rest assured that we're aware because schools know if you've had a bad day that is for sure and we're also aware of your body of work there over time in a sense Billy I guess every day is a bit of an audition if you're having a number of good days and there's an unexpected vacancy that occurs then you'll probably be the first person that we'll look at because you're already there and the one thing that we do like in schools Billy is a seamless transition and if we feel like that you can fit the bill we've looked at you first wouldn't we? Absolutely that's that's so true so standing out does it actually does matter and it'll leave a matter I would imagine in at the trade win office that when schools get back to you with some of the feedback as they do around teachers they will nominate those that they know are really good won't they? Yeah it's one of those interesting things which I didn't realise that it happened to the extent it does until I joined trade wind on the staff there we call schools all the time every day we're speaking to schools and asking how teachers how they went whether they enjoyed it schools give us feedback constantly and a good daily organizer they are looking for those good teachers because as you know organising good staff in schools is difficult it's even more difficult to get really good reliable relief teachers so when you get one you want to really hang on to them. Oh absolutely and look Terry's words seamless is the key word there I think schools are under more pressure now than they've ever been and particularly perhaps this year going back more pressure than they've ever before and that's the the pressure is very much around getting student outcomes and results now given what 2020's been like there's going to be a enormous rump of kids that have not achieved as they might well have in because of the way that 2020 unfolded so schools have got enormous pressure on them as never before and this was building right through my career in terms of student outcomes and student outcomes are absolutely crucial to schools so therefore if we have got in a school a seamless transition between you know your classroom normal day to day teacher for some reason can't be there and we've got the opportunity to put in someone there who can keep the program going and therefore keep the learning going then that's what schools will choose so as Terry said if you've got a good reputation of that school someone's coming up for long service or they're leaving the school or whatever you will be considered first off and even if you're only there for you only want contract work for short periods of time you will still be the first person chosen because school the pressure to get results as I said in 2021 has probably never been higher but with the pressure to get results to keep kids engaged to keep kids on track and learning the better we can make that the the less problem that it becomes for the school that's what they'll always choose Terry that I'm sure that's going to be the case this isn't it oh look absolutely and I think that you know the feedback Billy if you get if there's good student feedback and there's good feedback from your colleagues at a school I want you back there all the time and I've been amazed even working with Craig we know over the last few years just the requests they get back that have the same teacher which you I know that that sort of makes sense but that you know terms of continuity but yeah some schools just want teachers back and back and back and that's because they're such a great fit for the school and the thing is if students like them then the parents will be happy anyway because they're only hearing positive things coming home and I think if colleagues are finding them good to work with then as you say that transition is more seamless from you know the teacher is away to the one who's replacing them on that basis though Terry that's kind of the end point isn't it when you're getting called back so Billy can we start strip this down to the real basics here you know how do you like walking into that school knowing that it's your first day there you've never been there before you're trying to make a good impression I mean before you even get to the school gates before you even leave the house what type of things can you do to ensure that you're going to be standing out yeah it's absolutely crucial that the biggest point in and I'll think about this over the break is punctuality there is absolutely no doubt about that if you nail that for a start you are one or two steps ahead the other side of that is if you get that wrong if you turn up late or very close to starting time no matter how good you are during the day you are going to be starting from behind and that's because again it gets back to that very first point that we made schools are enormously dynamic institutions if you like and what they can't afford and in the morning particularly like there's people going everywhere in the morning and what they can't afford is the stress the added stress of waiting around wondering whether the teachers that they booked is actually going to turn up on time so it's absolutely crucial that you are there on time so there's a whole load of structures you need to put into place there's a whole lot of routines that you need to put in place you are dealing with kids here and you are dealing with parents and you're dealing with other staff it is a really dynamic situation and what daily organisers and I know verses and principles absolutely hate is you know parents are milling around the school rather the classroom and you haven't got anyone to teach their kids until five to nine that is a really bad look and it's it will not do you any favour so my biggest thing is punctuality we'll talk about some of the structures you need to put into place to make sure that you are punctual but Terry that I would say that's one big one. Absolutely Billy I think as we'd appreciate the three of us between eight thirty and nine o'clock schools do a whole day's work the the interactions that take place the qualitative interactions the amount of information that's communicated the actual the things that occur expected and unexpected in relation to staff and students it's critical you know what it takes to get a school to start well at nine o'clock doesn't be thinking about so as you say if you can get there in plenty of time and greet the person in the office will be your first point of contact and believe it or that they may be the most important person in the school because they'll be getting the first impression of you and even though you're not aware of it they'll be communicating that over the phone rightly or wrongly to other people so if you're there in plenty of time you're asking the right questions about you know what I need for the day you know my is there a laptop how would you like me to mark the role if there's anything you're not sure about and they'll also know the availability of the daily organizer or assist the principal so if you're there in plenty of time because they'll be managing you at the same time that they're managing parents students and staff absolutely and the other thing that on that end there's two points there also it introduces that comparative thing so if I'm sitting around waiting for Ian to turn up but Terry's already arrived half an hour earlier Terry gets the big tick easily by a mile so Terry stands out Ian also stands out but for the wrong reason so that if you're talking about you know every day being an interview you can't afford but the other thing that's I think really even more crucial I suppose is that if you you're there to have a good day as a teacher and have a professional outcome you can't do that if you turn up late you you turn up stressed you can't get up the lady you get the less likelihood you're going to get a park particularly around a primary school where parents drop their kids off these days there's a lot of primary schools don't have car parks and maybe even secondary schools as well you you know so you're going to be driving around the block looking for a park so you turn up at 10 and 9 you can't even park the car so you're running in a rush it's just a bad look you haven't prepared any lessons you don't know what where you're supposed to be so you're going to get off to a bad start as well and when you get off to a bad start as we've said before there's every likelihood that the kids aren't going to behave themselves so there's it's an complicating manner is around punctuality it's absolutely crucial if there's graduates listening today particularly I would put that on in your checklist and priority list right up the very top anything else on it Terry. No look I think just bear in mind that it's not all about you on the day Billy and he might be in a secondary school he might be one of four or fifteen different CRTs in and it's just as you've said before it's that ability to fit in because somebody will be responsible for doing a bit of a collective briefing as well as an individual one and you only want to do that collective briefing once so you want to be there and make sure you get the good oil don't you? Absolutely we all frustrated when we wait around it and anything so I want to start I want to start I want to start well I have to start now and someone walks in it's frustrating so look so how do you manage that in? What what you've got to do then is make sure I think that you've got to do a routine or a checklist and if the more information you can get about the school particularly about Helen it's going to times going to take you to get there what the parklings likely to be where the office is these are all things that chew into your time who are you supposed to talk to when you get there what questions do you need to ask when you arrive these are things that will actually chew in your time and and and put you off but also if you get all those things right and you do them really well and you turn up and you've got a really professional approach that you're not only on time you probably did early you ask all the right questions you look like you've got your little bag of tricks and yet whiteboard markers and you know you're able to ask about student welfare you know you'll ask about behavior management you're able to ask about curriculum it makes it look as though you are completely in control and then that sends the message not just to the you know the staff the daily organiser the Prince of whatever but they can be the kids are going to be safe in your hands and that's a another great way to to stand out and look belly you can also introduce yourself I think if you're there early to other staff around you who can be critical as the day applies out anyway if you let them know that particularly if it's the first time you've worked there introduce yourself let them know that you're teaching on the other side of the corridor or the room next door I think that is a really good icebreaker and they'll keep an eye out for you too yeah well again it's about trying to build those relationships as quick as you can and you can't build relationships if you've got no time so you've got it you know and as we've said before if you can ask the right people the right questions which which is about time then you're going to have a much better day if you have a much better day you've turned up you've asked the right you've formed the relationships and the kids have a great day that will absolutely make you stand out from the crowd so my first thing is always around punctuality it is so important that you're there and apart from anything else it's just a professional courtesy to everybody else that they're not waiting around for you I think one point to pick up though which you've hinted on is just around what you bring into the school in terms of your personality in that first instance is so important if you arrive on time you're well dressed your clothes are neat and tidy and clean you look like a teacher and you have to also empathize with the daily organizer or the business manager or the assistant principal whoever's organizing the relief teachers chances are their morning has been very stressful you don't want to go in there and add to their stress you're there to relieve their stress that's why they've called for you so going in and being as helpful even though you might have had a stressful morning getting ready yourself once you go through those school doors you have to think okay I'm here to solve the problem not cause a problem so trying to ask offer your help offer to do extra yard duties that goes a long way no one likes doing yard duty really but it can certainly put you in good books for future shifts etc and just be as amenable as possible in your demeanor I think that really really helps and and you can really help yourself stand out in the first two or three minutes can't you that's a reality isn't it yeah I mean it's all that is all attitude and I mean if you're going to take on the role as a CRT and let's we've always considered that it is a difficult job there's no doubt about that but the tradeoff is there are a lot of things that you don't have to do you don't have to attend meetings you don't have to write reports you don't have to be in schools for long periods the time that you may not like you may have to cope with behavioral management issues but you don't have to cope with them long term quite often when you think of behavioral management you think oh god that kid well that kid for example for their classroom teacher might be for 200 days a year and that and that's hard work so you're not having to deal with those issues and I'm not don't get me wrong here it is hard work but the tradeoff for that is I think that you have to go in with that mindset of I'm here to help this school out today and to solve the problem if you go in with them being a bit silly but if you go in with the attitude of a quarantine tennis player at this tray and open that you know and demanding more and more each time that's probably not going to work you've got to go in with I'm here to help you out what can I do now that's attitudinal yeah schools typically won't ask you to do more than you can they will ask you to do quite a lot of yard you unfortunately but there's only so much they can ask you to do but if you go in with that attitude all right what what can I do how can I help how can I do this the best possible way that will also help you out and it'll help the school out and it'll give you a better day for sure yeah it makes some great points and I think Billy pretty my principal had on I reckon the last thing we need in the school is somebody else's high maintenance we've probably got enough of those people here anyway so I think yeah what I said before if you can come in it'll look like you're there to help because if you're high maintenance chances are there won't be a lot of work at my school for you and I think helping also means you know you don't have to be helping slash annoying which for example some parents might be they say I want to help you out today and what I'll get they've got to find a task for you you know that's actually harder work you've got to do something with them but you know judiciously and diplomatically seeing an issue or suggesting look I can take those if you like do you want to hand with this I'm happy to do that yeah particularly if you're working in an open classroom work don't don't take over and take control of everything let the let the normal procedures unfold but if you can see a chance to get in and help somebody out definitely do that and I think the other thing that's really important is be prepared to ask questions no one likes to turn up into situations and not know what they're doing but I think if we can see when we start we don't know everything about that school or those kids and we ask the right questions that is actually being helpful and flexible just added to that as well just a simple thing you know as a relief teacher you're going to get a yard duty the maybe two but by asking for it upfront you you're showing willingness but also don't be afraid to ask some questions that a daily organiser might be a bit run off the feet in the morning but you actually help them out you know where where should I leave the marked work or where should I where's the where's the staff toilets those type of things that they might just forget or skip over they'll be grateful that you're asking those questions because they don't want to be hassled also later in the day kind of playing catch-ups so it is a really important time in terms of on that note the questions to ask it's a bit of a tricky balance isn't it because I think you don't want to ask too many questions to appear needy but you also want to cover off all of the bases for you to be able to have a good day and show that you're interested and proficient at your role how do you strike that balance it's a bit of a tricky one isn't it yeah I think what you've got to do is is listen and observe so if the daily organiser knows that they're a crop you know pretty much can they're across what they're doing or the the verse or whoever it is gives you a CRT folder gives you your your timetable gives you a note or something where you yeah and if they look to be totally across all of those things you can probably assume you that in the CRT folder there will be everything so you don't want to start asking questions about stuff that the verse or the vice prince was gone and put together because that will get their nose out of joint a little bit but you can just ask some simple questions around student wellbeing around health issues and around behavior if necessary would that be the same in a second or two yeah look Billy that's right and also it's what's so important to be early as you mentioned before because then when you are given something you've got the time to read it and digest it take it on board and and understand it and then you won't have to ask about it again during the day when you know if you had it been there a bit earlier you could have gone over it yourself so I think yeah spot on the other thing Ian is and I don't want to have a go at schools here hello some schools I've seen their CRT folders for their policies and all sorts of stuff I think oh my god who would ever read this you know I can run to 20 pages some of the stuff so you've also got to know what to look for so as a again make get yourself a check this your job there is to teach but to teach well you need to understand what the program is for the day and what you're going to do the sorts of lessons you're going to teach whether that's primary annual secondary and the other one you need to know is around student well-being classroom management behaviour they're the main ones that you need to know so look for those first you know time-tabling and just even things in a primary school if you're going to take the kids to art or if the kids go to art after recess just check in with the person next to you do the kids come to the room first and I take them over or do they line up at the art room door because if you get those things wrong you will stand out for the wrong reason so if the kids are told together their classroom and Billy will normally walk you over to the art room and the kids turn up the classroom and you have assumed that there are no still in the staff room that's a terribly bad look so you've got to be across all of those things what are the structures that the schools got in place and try to follow them as well as you can and what do you think regarding flexibility often we are very comfort driven in our lives that we want to you know teach and exist in our comfort zone often you know we might go into a situation where at a school where they might just set us aside at the reception area and say we don't know what you're teaching yet just wait for ten minutes it certainly happened to me or they give you a plan of the day you read through it and then they say hang on I've got a swap that you're actually teaching grade six not grade two and that can happen at a moment's notice what's the guidance on that because that's not a very nice thing to happen to you at the start it's not a very good start for your day of a school does that to you or also interrupt your day maybe you know you might be teaching prep all morning and then they come in and say oh well actually you're going to teach grade five this afternoon how should we approach that in terms of mindset that can happen because you know what goes on at schools unfortunately we can't script it as well as we'd like to every day I think Billy's got a saying you know expect the unexpected and he'll never be disappointed and I think that's that's true yeah look ideally if it's the first day in a school and it plays out the way you know you've just indicated not a great start but also bear in mind that you are really helping schools out in that situation and they will be aware of and appreciate the fact that they've had to make changes at the last minute or you haven't had much if any notice in terms of what you're doing and will provide more support but I think it gives you something in the bank there and if you can operate well in that situation for a school then I think that they'll be bearing that in mind in terms of wanting you back or even considering you for a position if something pops up yeah I think what you've got to do in is look unless you go and put yourself in a situation where you might feel there's a health and safety issue and sometimes that may come up I know in science classes they for example don't want to see RTS to use funds and burners and things but even in phys ed classes and primary school they would be the only times where you would you might just highlight without winging but I think always do things with good grace you know for example if someone said to me right I'm fortunate we're going to pop you into music for the afternoon you know I might laugh at my arch music oh well I'll give that a go I let's have a crack at it and I think that's the attitude that you've got to take and always remember as we keep coming back to you have got a body of skills there that you can draw on now whether you are teaching music or whether you're teaching science you know learning is learning you know we start with the least difficult and we move through the more difficult tasks you you always engage with the kids you still build relationships find out what they're doing what they've been doing and if you know if if it's something really complex and you can't do it you can read imagine it into your strength so one of the things that I picked up when I was doing some research around some CRT work in secondary schools was that if you were an English teacher or humanities based on a teacher and you were thrown into a science class you just was completely out of your depth you can actually bring your English teaching skills to science bring up the topic in the way that you can teach it so I think you can do those things with good grace but again it gets back to a little bit of preparation what are you good at what are your skills how would you apply into the whole range of different ways Terry what would you do for example with with your background in the humanities I guess in politics and science how would you you know if they threw you into a year 10 science class how would you go about yeah look for a bit of a hook belly in terms of getting the kids to explain what it is they were doing I'd be looking was there something in there that's of general interest or controversy that we could get a bit of a discussion you know going about where you've got different kids giving different viewpoints and you know a bit of evaluation and and that sort of thing going on because you know obviously I'll be useless in terms of doing anything their practical sense in the school wouldn't expect me to so you know I'll be trying to you know use my communication skills I think to advantage in terms of getting the kids to talk about what it is that they have been doing you know you're smart enough as a teacher to direct those conversations and those communication tasks in a certain way so the kids think it's just talking but there's a lot of thinking going on so you can actually make the most of those situations I think at this stage as well it's important to highlight the role at trade win plays trade wins play an important role in terms of the expectations you know if you go to a school in the CRT provision or the booklet isn't sufficient or it's too big or too small or not very useful give us a call tell us about your experience we work with the schools who have a good relationship with the schools we can work through those problems if there's anything that you think that teachers should be made aware of for example it might be that there's a car park at the back of the school or all day street parking that could be put on the notification on the app all those bits of information let us know because we know our schools well we know our teachers well but we don't always know the little nuances in every school that we work with across Melbourne so those little things in really help out and also tell us about your experience from the day I think this is an important one as well which Terry you might be able to speak to which is if you have a bad experience at a school there is a temptation to go into the staff room at lunchtime and tell everybody what a terrible time you've just had period four and what a terrible children are in this school and things like that you shouldn't do that should you no it's not record not recommend it at all and I mean I think you'd be better off forming some sort of good professional relationships with other people that you're working with and asking them how they handle this student or that you know what works with with that particular class what works with these kids look you know save your sounding off for when you get home if while you're at school try and maximise the opportunity to learn about the students that you're working with because if you have had a terrible time with a class that maybe because of something that you've done that you can learn from that maybe have nothing to do with you so sometimes it's just good quietly if there's someone there that you know maybe to you know do you breathe over time but but sounding off I mean I think you're just sort of you know big noting for no reason and the school wouldn't be keen to get you back picking up that point we start going into saying to the teachers the kids behaviour isn't the best it's like well yeah thanks mate I've got them for 200 days yeah great we already know that that's really helpful so that's not going to help you know stand at all but what you might want to do is just consider you've got to build relationships with staff whether you work as a Seattle you work in a school currently and if you're a you go in and you're at the critical of the school or you're difficult to talk to or you you know you have a couple probably a bit different in COVID times anyway but if you you know you have your lunch and your life stuff lying around everywhere and you make a mess or you make a mess of the the classroom that you're in that does not indeed to the staff at all so you've got to be really diplomatic and you've got to be really you don't want to go in there and start yapping and you know chewing everyone's ear off but also you know if you sit near someone introduce yourself again listen observe if it's a really quiet staff room that's fine you might just have a quiet word to the person next to you so you've got to try to judge the situation don't overplay your hand but then don't be rude don't be standoffish don't get stuck in the staff room for too long I mean if you know you've got a class coming up straight after lunch don't be the one that's in there last never a good look if you're the last to leave the staff room so there are all these sorts of little nuance behaviors if you like that will set you up to be having and being regarded as a really successful person that they want back or there may be things that you make a mistake in you think well we don't want that one back again because you know if you pull out you know even in the classroom and you know don't come across a packet of unopened materials and think oh this this paper will be good for a task and rip it all open you know that the teacher was saving that for their Christmas special at the end of the year so you've just got to be really careful about all those sorts of things about how you're alike and you just need to be a bit diplomatic about it the analogy that I found really useful when I was relief teaching just to that point was treat the school like you're going into somebody's house that you kind of you you want to make yourself feel at home and comfortable but you're not going to just open the fridge and start you know just helping yourself to everything and going through the drawers and the cupboards you kind of have to tread softly you you go gently and you also want to leave the place as it was or better than what you found it when you arrived so you know taking all of your resources not leaving a mess and on that point as well about invisibility what are some of the things that teachers can do relief teachers to make themselves visible maybe even you know after school or the day after when they're not in the school what type of things can they leave for the teacher that would be really almost like a calling card that would stand them in good stead for being booked again hand over notes are absolutely crucial as we've said right at the very start you know the seamless transition from one teacher to another no one wants their teachers their class the kids don't want their classroom teachers away the parents absolutely don't want the classroom teachers away nor do you know the other colleagues so when it does happen and it has to happen because that's just the nature of you know people have other things on our illnesses or bereavements whatever but the more seamless that you can make that transition so the more that you can address the ongoing curriculum the ongoing needs of the students the ongoing protocols around the school the better and one of the best ways to do that is to leave not overly detailed but certainly comprehensive hand over notes at the end of the day where you talk about what you were able to achieve with what was left or if nothing was what was left what you did in place of it how the kids reacted to it if there are any behaviour issues just anything that came up on the day so the teacher can walk in and quickly have a look think right oh good okay they did that that's fantastic I can pick up on that and we can keep going was if you just walk out they've got to come in they don't know where the stuff is they've got to ask the kids what happened oh no we didn't yes we did so yeah I think hand over notes if you do them really well and really professionally that definitely helps your case too yeah I absolutely believe and I think thank the you know you like this to the thank you goes the long way if the teacher's got into the trouble of you know leaving some really high quality work there for you to deliver thank them for that they will actually appreciate it now make sure that they do that in in the future if you're taking the class but also if they've left some work there that you've not been able to get through with the kids for a whole range of reasons just put that in the little explainers that you leave in the hand over notes so I think that is really important because sometimes in order to see your organisation like try when we get feedback that you know teacher problem wise well the kids didn't do the work or they didn't finish the work or they didn't do much of the work or whatever and if that's the case and there are reasons for that then if you just include them in the hand over notes I think that's well worthwhile you definitely don't want to come back in and find that you've gone to the trouble of preparing quite a lot of work and the hand over that I didn't get around to cover this but up on the wall you've done finger painting and the wall why did they do that I've left all this work and they went and chose you know so you know you've got to be professional about you know at the end of the day if you're not coming in the next day you've gone to the trouble of staying back an extra half hour or an hour to prepare stuff I would expect that it was done and if it wasn't done that at least and it was attempted or part of it was done and then it was explained I don't want to come in and find that an alternative day was organised that said you know we'll get back to your question in a minute but we'll also talk in a minute about what you should have up your sleeping case nothing's left for you just on that note in terms of leaving hand over notes for relief teachers are I found it really important and clever strategy to use to be writing those hand over notes whilst you're in the classroom with the students because it also created a sense of accountability and also marking work as you walk around the classroom that you know there's that old saying about a teacher on their feet is worth two in a seat and being active and engaged walking around the classroom marking work that's a really positive sign to students that you're taking notice there's accountability but also if there's any students having any issues or any problems you can say I'll leave a note for your teacher I'll write that down you know helps with behaviour management as well but it also creates that link between you and their regular teacher so I think that's a really important point to pick on. Ian look there's two absolute no-nose I think for CRTs and some people may not like this but one is your mobile phone is now even used in the best of places for the rightest of reasons for artists to work is fraught you know you've only got to have the wrong person walk past you know the parent or a grumpy teacher as I'm a walking past and sees you on your phone you might be doing the right thing but that that is that's that's real you've got to explain that and the other one is sitting at your seat for long periods of time sitting at your seat obviously if you're reading to the kids or obviously you know like the kids are up there talking about their work how would you manage if that's fine but if you're just sitting at your seat staring out the window or we're still staring at your phone and the kids are all sitting at their you know working way that's a disaster you you don't know the kids that well so therefore you really should be forming relationships and the best way to form this by the work if you're like so you should be giving them feedback on what they're doing can you help circulating sitting at your seat for long period of time is is and not not a good look Terry oh look at absolutely Billy and everyone spots that in in a school like you know I think we people are experienced look they're always people walking around I mean certainly if we had a if we had days at my school where we have a whole range of CRTs and one of the best ways to support them is to have people out there making sure they've got a strong presence so kids can see that the CRTs are being supported by other people but also we would be picking up all that sort of intel that you're mentioning and discussing it later on in terms of you know the value of that CRT to the school yeah I remember I worked at a school with a relief teacher who'd worked there regularly and the principal came in the staff room one day and said to the daily organizer we don't want that teacher back because I've just walked past a classroom and she was on her phone and I argued with him and said that this was quite unfair because she'd been a great teacher up to that point and chances are she didn't use a phone all the time because she was engaged with the students but he drew a line and said no I'm not willing to that was a deal breaker so it does go to show how important just the perception of you know being on your phone or not being engaged with the students is and also just moving around the classroom it gives you a chance to get a sense of the students it gives you a chance to comment on praise their work I think one thing I found really effective is walking over because this is also standing out to the students as well not just how you stand out to senior leadership although that helps your career prospects but standing out to the students they will tell their teacher the next day if they felt cared for if they felt engaged all of those type of things but going over to a you know somebody who sat at the back of the classroom and holding the piece of work up to the rest of the class and saying what a brilliant example this is sets a precedent for you know what the expectation is amongst the students and it's a really good kind of cue to everybody that you are taking notice you are engaged in what they're doing and you care about the quality of work that they're doing just before we were coming to a close of this webinar the time has flown by there's a couple of I'll tell you a little story about one thing I did when I started relief teaching which just I don't know if I did this consciously to stand out but it worked which was I would turn up to schools being a male primary school teacher I think that made me stand out anyway because there's so statistically so few men in primary but I used to carry a guitar with me a guitar case I almost never played it so I just used to carry it around and I didn't think it had an effect until one day I got a call from the agency in the UK and they said they said do you have a guitar and I said yes and they said oh well the school wants you back so they'd obviously said oh that guy we had three weeks ago he had a guitar even though I never played it so maybe things like that maybe that's possibly not the right way to go about things but it certainly did make me stand out which was which was quite nice and beneficial for me. Well, part of the thing how should you always put the lunch in there? It's just full of shredded newspaper. Well the other thing that makes you stand out as a CRT and we absolutely embrace these sorts of CRT's because occasionally things carry you in, you know, all that listeners would know, watches, whatever you call viewers. Things just get out of hand and someone's gone home in a rush or someone is rung in early the kids sick, they can't come to school, you've turned up unavoidably at 10 past nine to take the day and they'll be happy to see you but there's been no work left. So one of the things that we really indeed do to a school is if you've got strategies and a capacity and an attitude to take on all that situation. So I think for all CRT's and particularly if you've got younger graduates today have some strategies and tricks if you like up your sleeve about how you approach that. So you might walk into the room and tell you this is slightly different in high school but in a primary situation you might walk in and quickly look around the room, quickly see what the kids are doing, you know, hopefully the teacher to the school will give you a bit more but you can just pick up from walking in and even having a quick look and a chat to the kids about what's what they're doing and then think right that's my launching point. I've got some strategies up my sleeve, I've got a task that's going to get them underway for the next three to 20 to 30 minutes and that'll give me a chance to catch my breath and find out what we're going to do for the rest of the day. So it's really important that you've got something that's going to usefully manage the kids productively for the next 20 minutes and so you're actually teaching, you've got a presence, you take the role, right we're going to do this, I'm going to get you started on this and that gives you time to catch your breath and get started. Is there a similar sort of thing that you would need to do in a second reason? Yeah, look, I think definitely Billy and I think at some stage, you know, we all need that little survival lesson that we may or may never need it but it's sort of there. You expect that at least for part of any day that you go into a school, you might actually be covering a class for part of the time that no one's given you anything for because that absence was completely unexpected. Might be teachers had to go home unexpectedly. There's a kid injured or real that someone's had to take care of. There's a whole range of scenarios and basically we just need to put someone who's warm and vertical in a classroom to manage the kids as best they can while we deal with that sort of situation. So if you've got something that can be rolled out, just in a general sense that will give you some breathing space in terms of what you can do with the kids. I know you're huge on games and, you know, they're absolutely fantastic. You've got to have the personality and the skills to pull those off. You know, I think in a secondary setting, if that's occurred, then we will also get another teacher to come around and check on you and the daily organisers or assistant principal would come around with some work to support the class. But just bear in mind that you might be thrown in there any class for 10 or 20 minutes. You know, while we're working out, what's going on behind the curtain. And Ian, it could even be just something in a, you know, primary setting. If you take them, you can't say you're walking late and you just say the kids are sorry, your teachers had to call in. I'm going to take over for the day. Wow, it's a bit hard being late and you just build something on the wood late. Who's ever been late for something? You know, let's talk about how that might make you feel. What might be the cause of that? How could you, what would be a bad outcome from that? How could you apologise? Can anyone think of a story that you might then model something on the board for them and say, right, all right, that's great. That's my thing about late. I want you guys to have a go at that now. We then choose another concept, if you like. Or let's swap that around. Have a think about early and get them to start doing something like that. That will just give you a bit of time to catch your breath. They're doing something. You can pull them back together. It's a pretty controlled sort of activity. You can probably get it over and done with them 30 minutes. It gives you the chance to go around and see what some kids say, wow, look at the ends done. He's done early. He's come up with so many ideas. That is fantastic. What's something that you can't do early or, you know, and all that sort of stuff, you just get started and teaches, you know, the other stuff and the school will be forever grateful if you can walk in and just take control as opposed to going in and saying, oh, there's been nothing left. What am I supposed to do? That's a black mark. Yeah, and look, the thing I used to do, Billy, when I was teaching, it was nice to throw it back on the students and just say, then we'll look in in two minutes time. I'm going to get 15 of you just to talk for 30 seconds about this. They're all of a sudden the pressure's off me and they've got to start thinking about what it is that they're going to say. And then when they start to talk, then that creates another dynamic that you can build the next part of the lesson off anyway. Yeah. So what it is, you've got to have your little tricks up your sleeve. You've got to be forever flexible and you've got to be positive. If you're going to go in and think, oh, well, this is an ideal, but let's make the most of it. I'm going to get to learn a little bit about the kids now. You know, you can have whatever suits you best. We're not prescribing anything, but don't, but, but it's attitude and you'll do something that you like that's engaging that you get to know the kids a little bit. It gives you a bit of time to catch your breath and then once you get going, you're up and you're under way as opposed to going in. You don't want to go in. Never go in and start, you know, flicking through papers at the front of the room looking for something to do and the kids are running right for 10 minutes. Your eyes will not turn up. Yeah. And I think also giving structure to different tasks. If it's if you want them to do some drawing, we'll give them a little bit of guidance on that. What you want to see, what the expectations are. You know, make sure you make it clear so that it's not just busy work. It should be focused and it should be interesting and engaging task. We just had a quick question here from Leon, just about what the most common learning management systems that schools use. Obviously, as graduates and relief teachers, I think generally you can't be across all of the different online systems that schools use. The most common one is compass. I'll put the link to compass in the chat. If you'd like to have a look at that, that is the most common. There are also other ones, sector and so on, but school box and things like that. But sometimes schools don't give you the login. Sometimes you'll have a guest login. I don't think you need to dedicate too much time to learning them because they are fairly intuitive. They've based upon kind of social media principles as well where you can navigate around. But just a question to finish on. Thanks for that question Leon, but just a question in terms of you Terry, who are the most important people to make an impression on? Who are the critical and key people as a relief teacher that I need to make a positive impression on? Apart from the students, to make sure that I get asked back at a school and that I've made a good impression. Believe it or not, your first point of context is going to be the office people that I mentioned earlier on. So the better that starts, I think the better for you in terms of how you work at the school because they're under enormous pressure all in the day when you come in. There's nothing they won't know. They are the gatekeepers and the better you get on with them, the easier it will be for you. So point one, I try and make the day start well with a positive interaction with the office people. Get to know their names, use the names when you come back to the school. I think the daily organiser, because all the feedback will go to them. You might work with curriculum managers and level coordinators and that sort of thing. That's great. But the feedback actually in secondary schools goes to the daily organiser because they are the person that oversees the bookings. So rest assured if people are happy or unhappy, they will be communicating with that daily organiser. So I think they're the person that you really want to impress. Yeah. Yeah, in the secondary or rather in the primary environment fully agree with the office people. The next people probably, you may have something to do with the assistant principal, the principal, not guarantee but possibly. The next ones are your colleagues and particularly the team leader in that area in a primary school. So if you are working in a four or five team, teacher team and there's and you get on well with that staff, particularly the team leader, the show initiative, you take control of the class, you ask the right questions. That person will then think we want them back. Thank you, gentlemen. Hopefully our relief teachers who attended this session will be standing out like bright beacons when they go into schools in turn one. Thanks so much. Thank you so much for listening to the relief teachers podcast brought to you by Trade Wind Australia. Please do share this podcast with anybody who you think might find it useful and do refer to the show notes to record it as part of your professional development hours. If you need any help or support as a relief teacher, please get in touch with us at Trade Wind through our website or call us on 1-800-192-195. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time for another episode of Australia's Leading Relief Teaching podcast.