Prepare for battle!As a

I have discovered that substitute teaching is a lot like going in to a battle where the previous commander had very specific ways of accomplishing his tasks and then leaves you to do what you can with the people he left you. It is really a monumental task to step into a classroom, read over a two page document (maybe...) for direction, and man the steering wheel of 24 kids for the rest of the day. The funniest part of the whole endeavor is that kids are always very quick to tell you just how you have done something wrong. "Well, Mrs. So-and-so doesn't do it that way. We have never done it like that." My response "Well, Mrs. So-and-so isn't here today so until you're the boss of me, we are going to do it my way." (That's what I say in my head, at least!) It's very difficult to step into the shoes of the revered teacher and try to do things exactly like she does, especially without having ever seen her do things her way. Imagine walking into your current job but the only instructions that you have are typed on the front and back of one sheet of paper and left on your desk. There are 25 people counting on you to step flawlessly into your role, and if you don't, it could ruin (literally, ruin) their day.

As a previous classroom teacher, I thought substituting was going to be an easy gig. The teacher leaves you a bunch of busy work, the kids do what they are supposed to do, and if they're really good you spend the afternoon watching a movie. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! I forgot the small part of being a student where the best part of the school year was when a substitute teacher came in and no one did what they were told. It was a day to test limits and see what we could get away with. That small fact is still true. I have figured out that the older the student are the more they are going to test the limits. The younger the students are the more they want their day to be exactly like it is when the regular teacher is there. I guess the best part of subbing is that I do not have to have any conferences, I do not have to write lesson plans, I do not have to grade papers, and I do not have to sweat the bad behavior when I leave the school building. As great as all of these things are, the worst parts of subbing have to be the fact that you go into your task blind, especially when it comes to the behavior plan. You do not know what the discipline plan is, you do not know who is "good" and who has "issues" (though that is not hard to figure out pretty quickly), and you don't know what to do when someone does something that you think they shouldn't be doing. You can only threaten a child so many times about sending them to the principal's office. However, you don't want to be that jerk substitute that can't control 20 second graders for one day... See the dilemma? As taxing as it can be, I have really realized that I was made to be a classroom teacher, and this sub thing is really only a part-time gig. So, here I go with blades unsheathed and war paint on. Wish me luck (or a speedy victory!).