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By Cindy Reitzi
December 2004
"I get no respect" - Rodney Dangerfield
The late Rodney Dangerfield’s schtick could easily be a wry mantra
for substitute teachers joking about our profession. As professional
jobs, subbing is widely acknowledged as “low-status.” As
a sub, I am frequently greeted with, “Who are you today?”
an oddly worded but fair enough question, or less frequently with, “Don’t
you want to get a real job?”
If you’re overly sensitive, this could give you a complex or an identity crisis. Fortunately, I’ve never really been worried about status, and I have a sense of humor. I also believe that, despite assaults on the teaching profession in general from governmental bodies and their ilk, professionalism comes from within, even if some people still believe they “get what they pay for.” As Eleanor Roosevelt so eloquently put it, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve been a sub and I’ve been a “regular” teacher with my own identity. And there are times when I’ve needed a good sub myself. That’s when I really know the distinction of what it means to be a “professional” substitute teacher vs. a “low-rent” hireling.
My philosophy of substitute teaching is that I am there as a “guest” teacher to fill in for the teacher on the day or days assigned. To the best of my ability, I’m supposed to see that students learn something in that time and do something that’s academically productive according to the teacher’s lesson plans. Of course, there are limitations. Try as I might, I can’t teach calculus because I’ve never taken calculus. It would not be my strongest subject. (I did, however, once explain Wave Theory in a physics class. I’ve never taken a physics class. I was very proud of myself.) The point is to try… in a professional manner.
I know from many years experience, the gripes teachers have about “certain” subs. Believe me, you have to be fairly negligent to get on this list. Most teachers do understand our working conditions. Complaints about subs usually include not managing the teacher’s classes properly, not following the teacher’s lesson plans, and, depending on the lesson plan, not leaving a note with any substantive information like what got accomplished that day, where you left off, any difficulties, and your impressions of what students learned or didn’t learn.
Once, as a “real” teacher, I got sick, called in a sub, and e-mailed specific lesson plans. While I was gone, the head of the English department walked into a classroom in chaos. A couple of students were happily practicing “paper wad basketball” free throws into the wastebasket. The sub, in the meantime, was at a media computer (which he had no business using), surrounded by a gaggle of 9th- graders, checking his e-mail. One of my best students told me she had to go to the LMC because it was too noisy and out of control for her to get any work done. He left a cryptic note saying, “Everything went fine.”
A friend of mine complained about another such sub who also ignored his detailed lesson plans. The sub, a college graduate, maintained in a note to the teacher that since he “knew nothing about social studies” he decided to sidestep the stated lesson plans and instead regaled students with stories of his trip to the Boundary Waters.
Still another teacher left plans for her film class when she was gone for several days at out-of-town meetings. She needed the sub to follow the plans exactly, otherwise the semester-long course would have been thrown off schedule given the tight time frame. The sub was supposed to show a particular film, but he objected to the film’s content. He did not consult the head of the department or a principal about his “dilemma.” Instead, he unilaterally chose to ignore the lesson plan and refused to show the film. This was not his decision to make, and he abrogated his responsibility as a substitute teacher.
I firmly believe that if you want to be treated like a professional, you need to think and act like one. That, and have a good union to back you up Then, maybe, you’ll get some respect.
Posted November 19, 2004