Substitute Teachers Endure Struggles

Throwing paper airplanes and screaming running around the class are not the only hardship substitutes have to deal with on a day-to-day basis while in the classroom.

Subs face much harder things than just kids who do not want to listen, they face problems such as rude students who aim to make the subs life harder and leave them not wanting to come back to that school. Substitutes walk into the school not knowing what to expect, they walk into another teacher’s classroom trying to run the classroom as the normal teacher would, they run into problems such as not knowing the rules or how the classroom usually runs, all they have is the notes the teacher left.

“You do not really know the students and you have to be strict to maintain discipline while you are trying to do your best for a teacher you may not know. You do not always know what the teacher means when you read a lesson plan, there could be something that is not written down but you might need to know,” substitute Mrs. Starks

Students do things like telling the sub “We usually do this…” or “We usually do that…” to get out of doing their work, leaving many subs clueless. Students like that make it hard on subs because the sub does not want to have to force a kid to do work but they do not want the kids not doing work.

“The most terrible experience that I have had was when I first started as a substitute. The class was very rude and they tried very hard to make my experience one where I would not want to come back and sub. I almost did not,” substitute Mrs. Knight Allen.

Not all things about subbing are bad there are good things that come along with it. For substitute Knight Allen and many other substitutes developing personal relationships with students is what makes subbing worth it.

“Getting to know them and talking with them and getting to know the teachers. I enjoy my classes and I learn something new every time I sub,” Mrs. Knight Allen.