Some Stuff I've Learned

 

"Dear Sub. Thank you for taking my class today..."

I have now read these words at the top of a list of sub plans 71 times. I still consider this my side-hustle, not my career. I'm not a teacher, I'm a pastor who fills in the gaps in my schedule and finances with a few days of subbing a week. But I'm also no longer inexperienced at it. I have come a little ways since that day over a year ago when I showed up to teach "elementary music" and instead got thrown into my first teaching gig in a class full of 2nd graders and minimal sub plans. I've now been everywhere from preschool to high school. I've sat in a high school emotional disability class (edge-of-my-seat exciting), an elementary gifted and talented class (where they taught me more than I taught them), and a class for English language learners (where I pretended to know way more Spanish than I actually do).

Here's some things I've learned about myself and this whole sub gig:

1. I can't tell you what my favorite level is.

It really depends on the day because there are things that are great and hard about each one:

Preschool in general is my jam. I worked in special ed preschool as an instructional assistant, lead taught at a Methodist preschool for about a year, and have the most skills in that area. I know all the songs, love the smell of play dough, and they usually really like me. I play really well and can sneak a lot of learning into whatever we're doing. The downside of preschool is the green boogers...I spent three years of my life in my 20's with a never-ending virus, and saying "Cover your coughs, please!" The other downside is it's just more physically exhausting...lots of up and down, squatting, kneeling, running, and there's never truly a break. So, I don't always choose preschool but when I do I really have a BLAST.

Elementary School is the one I do the least, not necessarily for any reason other than it doesn't fit my drop-off/pick-up schedule for Moses really well, as elementary school always starts the earliest. It involves the most actual teaching on the sub's part but it's usually a really fun, upbeat, and inspiring atmosphere. With a few exceptions.

Junior High is the best of times and the worst of times. It is probably psychologically the hardest. Junior highers will MESS with your mind. I will have kids walk in the classroom, look at me and then either say "YES! This is my favorite sub!" or "NOOOOoooo...not THIS one..." I'm not kidding. I've been told, "You look like a president" and asked "Do you get Botox?" It almost would have been nicer if they'd just said, "You look like an old, white man with a curly wig" or "Your face is kind of puffy" instead of keeping me up at night wondering "What in the WORLD did they mean by that?" Serious psychological warfare. There's intense fights, tearful breakups, and so much annoying bottle flipping. But they make me laugh and send me home with the very best stories. They are NEVER boring.

High School is kind of boring. Not much happens. There's not a lot of rules I have to enforce. They can usually have their phones, eat in the classroom, leave to use the restroom without a lot of fuss. Their work's almost always on Canvas (online), so I just have to write the assignment on the board and make sure they're not like using drugs or cheating on a test. I don't feel incredibly necessary, but I also don't go home feeling like I got ran over by a train. So, if it's been a little too "eventful" everywhere else, I make sure to schedule a high school day. I usually get to spend my prep period making my grocery list or writing a sermon...it almost feels like I should be paying them to let me be there.

2. Here are the things that I have discovered are the MOST helpful from a teacher and LEAST helpful...

The MOST helpful teacher I have worked for has me back regularly. She was VERY specific about what I needed to know about her students. This kept me from escalating a volatile situation or taking certain behaviors personally. She also gave me written permission to change a few things to be looser or stricter as needed, and then prepped her students for that possibility, letting them know that "What Mrs. Williams says, goes." I almost NEVER have a single problem in her class. 

I also really like it, as both a sub and an allergy mom, when there is a printout of kids with special medical needs such as food allergies and their food allergy action plan, which students could have seizures or have diabetes. As an allergy mom it honest scares me to death that I can't easily locate these in every single classroom or the notes don't draw my attention to them. When I'm getting over 100 different students a day, it is IMPOSSIBLE statistically that there are no concerns that I should be alerted to.

What is the LEAST helpful thing teachers often do in their sub notes? I don't even have to think about it. Without a doubt it's...drumroll...

Stating a rule that I must enforce, when it quickly becomes clear that you yourself do not consistently enforce that rule OR that it is a brand-new rule that I get to introduce.

The three biggest culprits have to do with policies on snacks in the classroom, changing seats, and cell phone use. 

I'm usually fairly layed back in my opinion, but if a teacher tells me in writing that she'd like me to do something a certain way I am going to respect that. I'll enforce your no snack policy, your no phones out, and strictly held seating chart if you ask me to. But please don't make the bad guy.

When I start getting shocked looks and "But she lets us!" I can usually tell the difference between kids trying to get away with something, and kids who are truly blindsided by this "new rules." 

Please don't do this to subs.

With that said, though, here's the last thing I've learned:

3. As a society, and especially as a state, we don't pay teachers enough, we don't respect them enough, and we don't thank them enough. We villainize them and put them into no-win situations. Teachers are burning out, and it's mostly our fault as citizens and parents.

What would happen if they all quit? What kind of dark ages are we headed for? Do you really want a generation straight out of Lord of the Flies to be doing your knee surgery and working the pharmacy counter? Probably not...so we need to treat our teachers WELL.

I'm not saying this for me. I don't have to deal with gradebooks, and meetings. I can choose to conserve my energy. If a school has a toxic work environment, I never have to go back there. No one will blame me for low test scores and underperformance. 

And here's what I see firsthand-

Our public schools still have kids saying the pledge and observing a moment of silence. If you've heard otherwise, check your sources. I hear fair, unbiased current events being shared in social studies classes. I see plenty of ELA teachers and librarians respecting parents' opinions on what their children are reading. Maybe this isn't the case for everyone...but I can say with certainty that this is the case in both of my boys' schools. I see teachers fully prepared to put themselves between their students and danger every time one of those safety drill alarms go off. I see teachers who don't have to use words to make it obvious the Holy Spirit lives in their hearts. I see teachers giving up their lunch hours, prep hours and time at home with their families to help our kids get the best education possible, even if that's not fair to ask of them. I see how hard they try within reason to see over 100 students as individuals with unique needs and abilities and I recognize how nearly impossible that can be when you have a million things coming at you all at once. Nobody gets into teaching because they hate kids. Parents, they want to be on your team. They truly care about your child and want what's best for them and for the future of our community. 

I feel like this experience in my side-gig has helped me understand so much. I truly believe God put me in this position for a purpose. I've learned more about my kids and their world, and our teachers and their world. It's helped me know the best ways to advocate for my kids that also keeps in mind the realities of the classroom. I know what the potential distractions are, and the available solutions. And I'm so thankful for this window into their worlds.