The Job of Substitute Teaching

Part of the challenge of being a substitute teacher is the unknown that you face each time you go into a classroom. This is obviously true for any job, including the teacher who has her own classroom. As a substitute, though, you go into a different classroom almost every day, where you face different students, different rules, and different routines. The variety of routines and rules can be a problem, especially if they are complex and/or the teacher does a poor job of communicating them to the sub.

The biggest unknown, as it can be with any job that involves interacting with people, is the kids. As a sub, you can be walking into a situation where they all know each other and you know none of them. First, you have individual kids. How well does each behave? Do any of them have personality "issues"? Does someone have a disability that isn't obvious? Is "odd" behavior by one tolerated by all because this is just how this kid is? Is there a student you just don't confront, or push, or discipline, or (fill in the blank) because otherwise he goes ballistic, has a meltdown, escalates the disruption, or (fill in the blank).

Second, you have a group of kids. How do they interact with each other? Are there groups that gang up on someone or exclude someone? Are there any on-going feuds? How do the students act when their "boss", their regular teacher, is away?

The classroom teacher presumably has strategies, routines, standard responses, and consistent consequences that everyone in the class is used to. The degree that this is true of course depends on how long the class has been together and how long a particular problem has been around. The substitute, no matter who he or she is, reacts differently than the teacher does to everything. This typically has the affect of causing the students to act differently and to see what they can get away with. The older they get the more they test and challenge.

My job, and challenge, is to get through the day accomplishing what the teacher wants to accomplish without chaos, meltdowns, or major injuries. Most subs manage this by being rigid, strict, firm, and grumpy, or, as the kids say, "mean". That's usually not my style. Although I am strict when it comes to behavior that is disruptive, I just don't put on a mean face. I think the kids enjoy me when I sub for them because I smile, make fun of myself, use humor, and have animated reactions to certain comments and situations. of course, this can backfire because some will take this as a signal that it's a free-for-all, so I have to do other things to make sure they know that IT'S NOT.

The thing about subbing is that you generally don't get the satisfaction of helping students learn and grow over an extended period of time. You know that you're not going to be there to repeat corrections and reinforce the accomplishments and successes that they have. A sub has limited impact and can only do so much. Really, you are pretty much at the mercy of whatever the regular teacher has put in place. While frustrating at times, you also don't have the on-going responsibility that the teacher has. At the end of the day you go home, eat dinner, and wait for the phone to ring.