Oh man, we have a substitute?!

Being a teacher in itself is challenging but what about being a substitute teacher? When a teacher is sick or out for a day or two, the class is not canceled, a substitute teacher is called in.

But have you, as a student ever noticed that the class does not always run well? Before I get into that, This article is NOT targeting any substitute teachers in particular.

It is NOT MEANT  to upset ANYBODY in particular or at all for that matter. It is intended to bring to light some experiences of fellow students, and I have had.

First of all, how does a class get assigned a substitute?  Sometimes the teacher can request a specific substitute.

For example, if a math teacher is going to be absent, and they WANT another math teacher to substitute, they can ask another math teacher or a specific substitute to fill in for them.

But if a teacher has to get a substitute on short notice, then the teacher will put in a request on the school’s system called Aesop.

There is a directory of qualified, approved substitute teachers. And a substitute can accept or decline the school’s request.

To learn more about substitutes at RHS, I talked with Donna Shellhammer, administrative assistant to Dr. Davenport.

She stated, “If the class has not been assigned by the next day, then I have to figure out how I would cover the class.”

So sometimes it is whoever Shellhammer can find. Substitutes have a tough job, taking over another teacher’s classes with only the notes they are GIVEN

It is practically the first day for them every day.  It’s the job of the substitutes to use the notes left by teachers to try to run a class that is not theirs.”

All substitutes TRY their best even when the directions are not always clear,” 9th grader Emily Shute observed. However, some improvements can be made.

When it comes to the way substitute teachers run the classroom, it CAN be chaotic. They seem not to notice things that students are doing, or they seem to turn a blind eye to it.

FOR EXAMPLE, some students act erratically, doing things that they would not be doing if the regular teacher were teaching the class.

Substitute teachers can be fun to have, but they can also miss things that are going on in the class. It can be frustrating for the students.

One 9th grade student said, “Substitutes will avoid some situations when they do not know what to do about it…”Other students, I talked to agreed.

They explained that when student behavior is NOT being addressed, it can make getting a task done in the class challenging.

On a different note, student Alexis Martinez stated, “They [Substitutes] work hard and usually get notified only the day they have to substitute.”

Everyone that I interviewed agreed with that statement as well. But even teachers get frustrated.

Frequently the substitute will miss a part of the instructions left by the teacher, and the next day will be spent on what we were supposed to have done.

From time to time the substitute will even ask students what to do, and sometimes the substitute will tell a long story and then scold students for not finishing the work assigned. These are just a few examples of the many times that something like this has happened with a substitute teacher.

Moreover, every student I talked to had their examples to share. This is not to say that EVERY experience I have had has been a negative experience.

 I would say it has been more positive than negative (where I have walked away thinking that the classes have gone well).

Whether it is little things like not knowing what to do or taking the wrong action towards the students, they work very hard; they work with different classes from SUBJECT TO SUBJECT and with varying students from kindergarten to twelfth grade.

HOPEFULLY, some substitutes can see my point and take some insight or try a different perspective.  

FOR STUDENTS: some students can act up because the teacher is not there, and that is something we as students can recognize and should change to make it easier on the substitute.

If you’re the kind of student who acts out when there is a substitute, you SHOULDN’T complain about the class not going well.  Try not to mess around because you distract others, which can be irritating.  

Teachers are going to be absent.  So try to get done what you can when it comes to work, and let’s all make the best of the situation.