Been there, done that!!!

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Been there, done that!!!
By Mary

Boy, do I hear you loud and clear!!!!!!!!! What an absolutely horrendous experience that must have been for you. In my days of daily subbing, I came up against a similar situation. After being told that I would be teaching
a 4th grade regular ed class, I arrived at the school to find out that I would be switching classes every few periods and that my afternoon would be in a 6th grade class with 40 students (this was normally a combined computer/study hall period). The teacher had left no plans because she did not want an unknown sub messing with the computers. Instead, she left instructions that the

kids could COLOR or TALK or PLAY GAMES for two hours. Oh, did I mention that she had left no materials to allow these activities to take place AND that this was in late May in an urban claassroom where some of these 6th graders were 14 years old????!!!!! Fortunately, I happened to have a copy of "Lilies of the Field" in my bag of tricks as well as a trivia game which I always carry with me. When I realized that utter chaos was on the verge of taking place, I laid down the law. In my very best drill sergeant tone, I let it be known that I was going to read to them and that I expected absolute cooperation or there would be serious consequences. Surprisingly, they seemed to respond very well and actually listened to the story. We also played the trivia game set up with teams. This also went over quite well. No, it was not my favorite day subbing, but I learned some extremely valuable lessons for my survival. 1.) ALWAYS BE PREPARED WITH A BOOK AND SEVERAL ACTIVITIES THAT CAN SPAN A WIDE AGE RANGE (you can never be sure what grade level you will end up with or the performance levels of the group); 2.) make a point of attempting to learn the names of all students in the class (this is more likely to happen at the elementary level than middle or high school which is one reason I never subbed at the latter!); 3.) I actually learned to prefer working with 5th and 6th graders when I was subbing because I could engage them in higher level, off-the-cuff thinking activities more readily; 4.) in my own classroom folders, I ALWAYS have DETAILED SUB PLANS that include up-to-date class lists, seating charts, daily schedule including specialists, complete list of what materials are currently being used, alternate lessons to be used if sub is not confident about the regular lesson, extra "filler" activities, and names of helpful students and colleagues if there are any questions. I also request feedback from the sub as to how the day went, what was covered, and if there were any problems. Each time I have needed a sub, I have always received a heartfelt thank you for the thoroughness of my plan and how much easier it was to make the day flow for everyone. I feel for you and can only say how very badly you were treated all the way around. I'm not sure where you work, but around here (Massachusetts) districts are crying for well-trained, competent subs and will bend over backwards to keep the available ones happy. You may be "Only a Sub" but you deserve to be treated with respect, courtesy, and professionalism from everyone in the building. I refused to go back to schools where I was treated poorly by administrators and teachers.