Teaching School is a Scream! Confessions of a Career Substitute
By Judy Woods-Knight
A Review by Richard R. Blake
The Art and Challenge of Creating a Win/Win Teaching Situation
Using a memoir writing form Judy Woods-Knight tells of her experiences as a career substitute teacher. Her book Teaching School is a Scream! Confessions of a Career Substitute is filled with practical advice, lots of humor, and actual classroom experiences.
Judy’s enthusiasm, optimistic spirit, and subtle sense of humor help her face the uncertainties, and hassles so often prevailing in contemporary classrooms. Judy tells of the excitement and challenge “of daring children to cooperate and have real fun learning.”
In her preface Judy talks about the reasons she chose to become a substitute rather than having her “own classroom and all the benefits that go along with a full-time job.” She goes on to develop some of the advantages for anyone who may be in the process of change or in the early stages of preparation for a career in teaching.
In a natural and logical progression Judy offers recommendations for creating a “Tool Kit” as well as back-up plans for your first day as a substitute. She then moves into Part 1 of the book which is filled with practical ideas for dealing with unforeseen dilemmas, with humorous and heartwarming stories, and with those unexpected miracles that bring joy and hope back to the classroom.
The final sections of the book deal with hands-on suggestions and illustrations for defusing problems and preventing disasters; she concludes with dozens of resource ideas and valuable suggestion for making learning fun.
Whether a Regular Classroom teacher or a Career Substitute you will resonate with Judy Knight’s heartwarming stories, real-world examples, and fun-loving sense of humor.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided for review purposes. The opinions expressed are my own.