"Yo're a Sub? Awesome!"

"You're subbing for him? This is the best day of my life!"--anonymous student

DISCLAIMER: I'd been subbing for three weeks when I landed, unexpectedly, a long-term sub position. Yes, only three weeks. Consider this my working notes, to be updated as more things occur to me.

So I am one of those masochistic people who enjoyed my taste of substitute teaching. Why? It gave me a feel for the school--a limited one to be sure--and some idea of non-math classes (albeit only two, as they kept calling me in for math). It didn't involve any planning. It let me keep my hand in, so to speak; substitutes inevitably suffer worse disciplinary problems with kids (unless they've been around a while and the kids know them), so I thought it'd be a good chance to work on classroom management skills. And, of course, I'll be frank: income is good. It pays the rent and fills the belly and keeps me in books.

Trial by fire? Maybe. Arguably what I'm doing right now is more difficult...but that's another story.

Tentative Thoughts on "How to Sub"

First rule: Stay calm. Ruthlessly, deadly calm, no matter how badly your knees may be shaking. (Possible exception: emergencies, like students with weapons. I have yet to experience such a situation, though.) Students with an untried sub are like sharks. Show them blood and you'll fall prey. This is not to denigrate the students. They have already had their daily routine disrupted by a probably-unfamiliar presence, and may show it by acting out. Doesn't mean that you put up with stupidity, just that you expect it and deal with it accordingly.

Second rule: Follow the plan. If the regular teacher wants you to do X, Y and Z, do it as best you can. You don't know what the Big Picture is for the classes; the regular teacher does. Support it.

Third rule: Be consistent and fair insofar as possible. Don't let the kids rattle you (corollary of the first rule). Especially, unless someone is insulting someone else, don't take things personally. (If a student is being denigrated, I'll take it very personally.) I can reprimand a student and loan him/her a pencil in the next breath, no hard feelings. I even accept apologies. There are all sorts of practicalities in here, like only one hall pass at a time. But the consistency is key.

Strong recommendation: Don't sit for more than five minutes at a time (as health permits--I'm young). Even when I teach a regular class, I'm rarely in one place for more than a few minutes (unless it's at the whiteboard; I'm hoping to phase the lecture out somewhat in favor of group projects and other modes of student-centered learning, once the kids know me better). Honestly, you can see an awful lot of what students are doing when you trouble to walk around the room; it helps reduce the front-row-back-row dichotomy of which students are well aware. It also sends a message that the teacher-figure is paying attention to what they're up to. I admit I did sit down to read a book--when subbing for a programming class of five students, on whom I could keep an eye from where I was sitting. But otherwise, if you have any inkling of the subject matter, involve yourself.

Strong recommendation: Write a report on the day's doings to the regular teacher, who will no doubt appreciate it. Disciplinary problems, students who did especially well, questions that came up, things you'd like to pass on...that sort of thing.

Helpful, though not required: a sense of humor. I mean, really. When you were a kid what did you do to subs? (I was one of those boring "good" kids, if a sullen one.) Life can be funny. Caution: don't laugh at kids. They need to save face and they can be very touchy. I have a sarcastic streak that I need to keep in check with students (unless I already know them well). Putting a student down is a lose-lose situation.

Guiding principle: Kids are people, too. Really. And they deserve respect as such. Yes, they can be irritating. (So can grown-ups.) The difference is, the kids are kids, and probably should know better; but a substitute or other teacher-figure must know better, and has far less excuse. It isn't about the popularity contest; they don't have to like what you're doing, but it should be reasonable. And no matter what, be polite in all things. A "please" and a "thank you" at appropriate and regular intervals can smooth things marvelously (though it's no panacea).

A Substitute's Perspective

As a substitute, I discovered that there were some things that I appreciated (and this weekend I'll take a crack at emergency/substitute plans for my own current classes):

Seating charts. Oh, absolutely. Especially when you have no way of attaching the correct names to the correct faces, as a newcomer to the school.

A lesson plan. As a math-competent person subbing sometimes for math teachers, I appreciate some notes as to where the class is going so I can reinforce or supplement it as best I can. (Yes, subbing for math teachers, I really taught except in the C/C++ programming classes, where I was effectively clueless.) And as for subject areas where I'm clueless (I couldn't remember enough on two-point perspective to explain it to a drafting class, and I'm not sure I'd've wanted to try, for fear of screwing things up anyway), even then I appreciate a detailed lesson plan (err on the side of more, just in case) or some notes. I can babysit, but I'd rather feel more useful.

Teaching style: If the teacher prefers lecture, I'd like to know that. If the teacher lets students work in pairs or groups, I'd like to know that. This way, as a sub, I can be as consistent as possible.

A Teacher's Perspective

It is perhaps silly of me to be writing this, as I hope not to have to call in sick for a long time to come--but emergencies happen.

A letter to the sub just so the sub knows how I teach, what the classes' goals are, things like that. I realize not all subs will have time to look at this in detail, but for the ones who are curious, it might be handy.

Follow the plan as much as possible. When I get around to it, I'd like to make emergency plans that are in two parts, a long one for the math-savvy sub and a short one for the non-math-savvy sub.

Write me a letter about what happened. If any kids were troublesome, I'd probably be in a better position to deal with it effectively. And besides, I'd like to get to know the sub, though that's not always feasible. Heck, tell me what I could've done to make the subbing experience easier or more pleasant.

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