If you step in to take over a brand new classroom for a day, you’ll likely run into the number one thing students inevitably bring up:
“But our teacher lets us…”
“That’s not how our teacher does it!”
“She said we can do –“
Rifling through the lesson plans, you see no evidence to support the claims firing at you like a dozen zooming rockets.
You might even get close to 100 such declarations before math period is even finished.
What’s a substitute teacher supposed to do?
Why substitute teachers get taken advantage of
It only took one or two times of believing student assertions that ended up being falsified (or misguided) for me to develop my Extreme Skeptic Sub point of view.
Like a weathered and worn guest educator who finally earned her street cred, these lessons were formative. They shaped me. They hardened me, but I got Wise. With a capital W.
It’s common for students to test things out with the substitute (unfortunately). Witnessing their head of the classroom replaced with a stranger is enough to signal to most students that it’s open season– and they’ll start launching a slew of questionable claims at you just for sport, it seems.
If it happens, consider it par for the course. But you can learn from these instances, too.
How to not get taken advantage of as a substitute
Accepting and following through on a student claim that ends up being totally untrue can be embarassing, problematic, and undermining a substitute’s authority.
Plus, it can paint you as an all-too-willing believer and set you up for more shenanigans.
A simple rule to follow is that if the information isn’t contained in the lesson plans, there’s a reason for that. You can simply follow the lesson plans left for you, assuming the pleas or demands of students are extraneous, if not downright false.
As a quick response to students who tell me something is done a certain way or that their teacher allows them to do something I’m not allowing them to do, I simply reply “Thanks for the information. I’m a different teacher, though, so we’re going to do some things differently today.”
“Some things will stay the same, and some will be different.”
This usually settles it. And it assumes good will– it thanks the informer instead of concluding they’re trying to trick me.
I should note that it’s harder for littler ones to accept this. Our Kindergarten and first grade friends have had certain procedures drilled into them. They lean on these dependable structures. But be patient with them. There are things you’ll need to override, and there might be disappointment in that.
What to do if you’re unsure of a student claim
Just like there are times I’ve been bamboozled by students, I’ve also gone hard-nosed against something that ended up being true, just forgotten in the lesson plans.
Please accept that you’ll never be perfect at knowing— and it’s not even in your job description as a substitute. If the school districts wanted clones of the teachers we were covering for, they’d invest in that technology, or at least have us meet with teachers beforehand.
It’s impossible to really know if what the students are claiming is true and just forgotten in the lesson plans or downright falsified information.
I’d say take it case by case, but even this method can get exhausting. Think of how many assertions get thrown at you in a day– do you have the time or space to carefully consider each one?
That’s why my default position is not to support the claim unless it’s noted in the lesson plans.
Err on the side of skeptic while keeping an open mind
One time while subbing for fifth grade, a few students informed me that apparently they were supposed to “watch a parade in the hallway.” There was– you guessed it!– no clue about this endeavor in the lesson plans. I told them we would just focus our attention at the work they’d been assigned.
Then the appointed time rolled around, and I spotted classes amassing in the hallway. The kids pointed this out and reminded me that we were “supposed” to be out there. I popped my head out to see what was up, and indeed it seemed like all of the classes were gathered in parade-viewing formation.
So, I ceded. I rounded up the fifth graders and we squeezed around a hallway corner in time to watch the “little kids” march the school dressed up as either 100-year-olds or wearing shirts containing 100 things. It was a 100th Day of School celebration, and I almost denied these students’ ability to see Kindergartener old people.
In this case, the teacher probably forgot to include the parade viewing in the lesson plans. As a former teacher, I understand the hurried scramble assembling sub plans can be, especially if you need time off for something emergent.
But not knowing all of this, I approached the situation with skepticism– and I’m still glad I did.
Substitutes: Stick to the lesson plans (mostly!)
Once when I was subbing for a high school English class, the lesson plans contained two items for each period: 1. Give the vocabulary quiz 2. Make the remainder of class a study hall.
Easy enough, right?
But when I started passing out the quizzes to third period, a young lady protested that these were tests they had already completed. A few other students chimed in in agreement.
These papers were very clearly left for me– they were the only stack on the desk. So it likely wasn’t a mixup due to a disorganization. Plus, it was the only actual work they were assigned. My intuition told me that this being the lone item the teacher had to prepare, that he’d have gotten it right.
So I made the students take the quiz. I just responded that if indeed they had already taken it, it was great practice for this time around. I still needed completed quizzes in my hot little hands at the end of the period.
The students accepted this and the day moved on without issue. Who knows if the high schoolers were right or pulling one over me? I erred on the safe side, choosing to rely on suspicion.
“But our teacher…”
Alright, one more story.
I was covering a fourth grade class, and the day was going pretty well. They had a large chunk of independent work time assigned, per the lesson plans. One of the items was to finish a certain amount of time on an academic computer program.
As the interval ticked on, I got students approaching and informing me that they had reached the time goal on the program, and that they had earned a Jolly Rancher candy because of it. One student even helpfully pointed out the apparent Jolly Rancher filing cabinet drawer.
Now, these seemed like an honest bunch of kids. They had done pretty well so far and had not engaged in any major chicanery.
But what they were claiming wasn’t in the lesson plans.
And I have serious reservations about giving students prizes from the teacher’s stash. (Probably because this happened to me as a teacher– the sub was hoodwinked into raiding my candy collection without my permission.)
So here is where the base of skepticism with a dash of open-mindedness came in.
I told the students that if that were the procedure, I’m sure the teacher would be happy to grant them their candy when she returned. I drew up a special sheet in which I listed the students’ names who accomplished the task, and I made a note about it to the teacher.
Some of the students appeared mildly disappointed, but there was no major uprising. They could wait for their sugary incentive, if, in fact, this was the case.
It’s never my intention to undo a teacher’s classroom procedures, but if he or she found it important for me to know, I assume they’d make note of it in the plans.
That’s my stance, and I’m sticking to it– for the most part.
Substitute teaching is a wild and precarious balance
The job of the substitute entails impossibly balancing improvising and using tried-and-true techniques. Being strict but pleasant. Teaching to the letter of the lesson plan and leaving room for flexibility when needed.
And regarding student assertions with suspicion while maintaining a small window of an open mind.
Each situation can require a different approach. That’s why I cultivate a few bases like these to default to in order to reduce the taxing mental load.
When students make a claim not noted in the teacher’s plans, I lean back on “No, thanks” most of the time with an occasional hop to “Yes.”
Subs: I’m wondering about your opinions on this… Have you experienced being taken for a ride by students, and how did you respond? Let me know in the comments! I also have a whole behavior management series for substitutes on the blog if that’s something you’re interesting in reading more on.
