Let's say a student misbehaves and you had to take a disciplinary action such as: a verbal warning, writing his/her name on the board or a referral to the office. Hopefully you already had a classroom management plan based on your knowledge of the classroom, teacher, or school disciplinary procedures. (Arrive earlier if you don’t know).
    During your next free moment, write down an incident report: who, what, where, when. Write down any possible witnesses that could testify to how you handled the misbehavior. If a concern is brought up later through a principal investigation or phone call or unsatisfactory evaluation. You now have the notes from that incident and a list of witnesses you can offer to the principal. The principal has 10 working days from the assignment to make a reasonable effort to inform you of his/ her concern either through a face to face meeting, a phone call or an unsatisfactory evaluation. If you are first informed of the incident after the
ten working day rule, the unsatisfactory evaluation violates the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and you should grieve it. If you receive an unsatisfactory evaluation, you have the right to appeal the principal’s decision and the unsatisfactory evaluation but you have a better chance of success if you have the
factual evidence behind the incident.

Ben Ibale
SEA UniServ Director
Liaison to Substitute Educators