“You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Having been a student once, and having now gotten an opportunity to see things from the other side, I understand just how challenging it can be as a substitute teacher. There is a certain stigma that comes along with it that somehow, because you don’t have your own classroom, you are inferior to the teachers you are taking the place of. This stigma is generated not only by the students, but also by other teachers. And as a result, being a substitute can feel like a burden, especially for someone like me who is trying to get an actual teaching position. But at the same time, it is an incredible learning experience, and an opportunity to improve upon classroom management skills. Here are just a few of the main challenges a substitute must contend with:
1) They are only there for that single day, or for that single class period. Unless you happen to score a long-term subbing position, you are typically only in that classroom for a single day unless you get requested by that teacher to come back. The students are perfectly well-aware that you are only there temporarily, and so feel that they can do whatever they want, regardless of whatever supposed consequences the teachers have threatened them with (hint: most teachers don’t really do much if students act out with a substitute, unless they do something absolutely awful).
What this means is that classroom management because incredibly difficult when you’re a substitute, because the students feel like there won’t be any consequences to acting out. Now, don’t get me wrong: most kids are still fantastic, even when you are just a substitute. But the students who might already been a handful when the regular teacher is around treat substitutes like an opportunity to go wild. And as a result, many substitutes I’ve had the opportunity to talk to say that they will typically just ignore those children or send them out into the hall, basically to just avoid giving them the attention they want or to just get rid of them.
The problem with treating the misbehaving students that way is that it doesn’t help anyone. By ignoring student misbehavior, you are telling all of the other students – including those who were acting well – that you do not care about them, and that they, too, can get away with misbehaving and not suffer any consequences. That can just lead to a classroom getting out of hand very quickly. Sending misbehaving students out of the classroom doesn’t help anyone, in this case especially the regular teacher; if the student has been sent outside, there’s a good chance they won’t get any work done, and the regular teacher will then have to come back and either try to re-teach the material or have to do an extended review, taking up time they otherwise would not have had to had the substitute handled the situation properly. Obviously there are some cases where you *have* to send a student outside – either their behavior is extremely bad, or it is simply part of the school’s misbehavior policies. But for the most part, ignoring a student or sending them outside the room does more harm than good.
Many classroom management issues as a regular teacher are solved by getting to know the students on a personal level. Knowing their interests, asking gauging questions, and showing interest in their activities lets the students know that you are there to help them and that you actually care about their well-being. As a substitute, you do not have that luxury of time; you are there simply to fill the role of educator for that day or class. Rather than treating as a burden, however, subbing can (and should) be treated like an opportunity for growth. Since you are there for that single day, you don’t know the students very well, and things are constantly in flux, you have to think on your toes and adapt to any situation that occurs. Really, one could call subbing a kind of extreme sport. Extreme teaching. I like the sound of that.
2) As a substitute, you are also very likely to be subbing for a class whose subject you do not know very well. For example, I have an English degree. I can dabble into History and the other Social Studies, but when it comes to Math and Science (especially Math)…well, there’s a reason I chose an English degree.
But, of course, you rarely know what subject you’re going to be subbing for unless you happen to know the teacher or they’ve been kind enough to tell you beforehand. And as a result, I’ve had to go outside of my comfort area a few times and dabble in the math and science. It isn’t horrible – most of the time it just involves watching a video or having them take a quiz – but occasionally you are asked to teach a lesson as if the regular teacher were there. And that’s when the classroom management can become even more of a problem; when you know the subject, you can teach it just fine and act as an actual teacher would, as an expert in that field, in such a way that the students will treat you pretty much like they would any other teacher. But when you don’t know the subject matter, it becomes very obvious to the students right away; you’re either having to read word-by-word what it says on the teacher instructions, or doing less guided practice and focusing more on their independent practice. And that can be terrifying, because you don’t know whether you’re even doing things properly, and the students might not respect you the same way they would their teacher.
The best way, I’ve found, is to admit that this isn’t your subject area. Especially when I’ve gone into a math classroom or a science class, I will admit that my specialty is in English, and typically ask that the “good students” (typically there’s always one or two helpers the teacher notes in their instructions) help me out if I miss something. That not only shows the students that you aren’t trying to fool them – you’re letting them know upfront that this isn’t your specialty – but that you also still want to help them in spite of your weaknesses. So far, that’s worked out really well for me.
3) Most of the time, when you accept a subbing job for a day, you are subbing for just one teacher, in one classroom, for that entire day. However, occasionally schools get swamped with a bunch of teachers needing substitutes, and they can’t find enough to fill every spot. That puts the pressure on the substitutes, who then are tasked with taking control of different teachers’ classes throughout the course of a single day, sometimes even having to juggle between two classrooms during one class period. At that point, the substitute is being put to the test: you have to read the instructions, take attendance, and complete whatever instructions the teacher has left for you, and every hour you are having to adapt to something completely different. Thankfully, I’ve only had to do this once, and it’s made me appreciate the substitutes who have done this over and over again because it is incredibly challenging.
If you are a substitute, and you are ever faced with this sort of situation, my best advice is to remain calm. Panicking because suddenly you are switching classrooms – switching grade levels, or subject areas, or what have you – is only going to make things worse, and neither you nor the students are going to enjoy that time. Taking a breather before taking attendance, sitting down and taking a deep breath…whatever it is that calms you down, try to do it before the class starts. You don’t want to be that substitute all the students laugh about and call crazy because you were too stressed to handle anything well.
Overall, being a substitute has, so far, been one of the greatest education experiences I’ve had so far. It gives you an excellent chance to look into the methods of other teachers and how they do things. It gives you an excellent chance to further develop your own classroom management skills. And it gives you an excellent chance to affect the lives of so many students. That’s not to say it does not come with its hefty challenges, but overall the experience is worth it.
Jacob Ryckman 