This school year, four of Northwood’s classes were taken over, part way through the year, by new or substitute teachers.
Both science teacher Natalie Grace and social studies teacher Sarah Keever left at the end of last semester on maternity leave, leaving their classes in the hands of substitute teachers. Distance education teacher Shannon Wolfgang took over online classes recently, and after math teacher Jeanette VanVickle left Northwood, her classes were taken over by certified teacher Richard Bakaylan.
“There is a distinction between someone who comes in for you when you’re sick for a couple of days, versus someone who takes over a class for six weeks [or] 10 weeks,” said principal Chris Blice. “We try to find someone who is certified in the same [subject].”
In Keever’s case, the school was able to do just that.
“We were actually able to find two people who were both social studies certified and they kind of split the time that she was out,” Blice said. “We’re very fortunate. That’s hard to do.”
For Grace’s class, however, the school was unable to find a replacement certified in the sciences she was teaching, so they asked Denise Webster, a frequent Northwood substitute teacher, to fill in.
Webster has been a substitute teacher for the last seven years, in every subject, and usually fills in for various teachers about three to five days a week at Northwood. She decided to take over the classes after Grace asked her to. Being a frequent sub, Webster was able to quickly pick up on how the classroom ran differently when she was in charge daily.
“It’s a whole different level, because as a sub, you’re coming and going,” Webster said. “When you’re in the classroom every day, you have to maintain that classroom control. It’s not as easy to maintain it and I think it takes longer to get to know [the students].”
Advances in technology, however, have made the process of substitutes taking over classes much easier.
“Everything is online,” Keever said. “So every day, everything we did was supposed to be online and all set up for [the students], and I worked very hard to do that.”
Webster agreed that having the internet made being a long-term substitute much simpler.
“You take what the teacher gives you,” Webster said. “You do your best to follow it, make sure that the learning process is there, interject real world examples and just hope that they’re getting it.”
Keever and Grace sent lesson plans, note guides and tests to their substitutes to ensure the students were getting the correct information.
When a sub fills in for a teacher, there are many challenges.
Ellie Frost, a freshman in Keever’s spring semester class, said having a sub at the beginning of the year was detrimental to her ability to understand the information being presented to her. She felt that the entire class was at a disadvantage.
“We didn’t really learn anything,” Frost said. “Mrs. Keever is a lot more organized than the substitute was and she definitely has a plan in mind for what she wants us to know. The substitute didn’t really have [a plan] in mind.”
Keever agreed that having a substitute start the semester for her was less than ideal.
“[Having a sub is] not my favorite because I didn’t get to do everything the way I wanted,” Keever said.
Webster believes that when teachers have a substitute fill in for them for a long time, teaching styles are just different.
“My way of teaching might be different than [the regular teacher’s] way of teaching, so [the students] are going to learn it from me, but they would also learn it from her,” Webster said.
Although some students believe that the transition back to their teacher can be difficult, Keever said that her classes made it go smoothly.
“I think I have really good students and that they’ve really sort of jumped in the game with me,” Keever said. “They’ve let me come in and say, ‘Okay, this is the way I want things to be’ and I think they’re doing great. I’m very proud of them.”
Bakaylan, a full-time teacher who took over a math class, also agrees that Northwood’s students made his February transition easier than it could have been.
“Northwood High School students behave much better [than other students I’ve taught], and the administration and the teachers work very closely together to make sure that the students are always on task,” Bakaylan said.
Although Bakaylan’s assignment was only from February until the end of the year, he says that his experience at Northwood has impacted his decision for next year as well.
“I would have plans to stay here,” Bakaylan said. “[I’m] definitely happy. It’s a very good school.”
–By Caroline Schneider