A Substitute View on Substitute Teaching!

Is It Wrong To Take a Stand on Your Assignment or Should You Buckle for Other People’s Peace of Mind?

Image by Author, velvetstar64

Do you have a choice of what job you take, or should you be the “yes” person to other people’s ego?

I am a substitute teacher and have been doing this for many years. I have been teaching since I was 14 and love it. However, there comes a time when you want to slow down and take it easy.

I love the special education population. I started out in that element, and it became my first love. I love teaching people who have difficulty learning, especially in reading. Growing up, one of my neighbors’ daughters struggled with reading, and she was ridiculed and called all kinds of names. When someone calls you ‘pretty dunce’ and tells you that you are going to eat your name on bulla cake and not be aware of it, that’s insulting. So, from a child, I decided that was what I wanted to do. To teach people who struggle to read and write.

I taught adolescents and adults in Jamaica to read and write, and that gave me a love for teaching. When I migrated to New York, I taught in various schools in many positions, from working with students with Learning Disabilities to those on the Spectrum. Teaching in this population was very rewarding. After relocating to my current residence, I took a one-year contract teaching job at a special education school. I wanted some flexibility, so I joined an agency as a substitute teacher.

As a substitute, you are given a choice of the subject and grade you want to teach. Two weeks ago, I chose a special education class to cover with one teacher. I went in this morning and was given two other assignments before I was allowed to go to the assignment I accepted in Frontline. I wasn’t happy with this choice. I went to the assigned classroom, and the teacher whom I was to cover was there. I told her what the office staff said, and she was surprised. The office lady, I will call her Ruth. Ruth says there is no group so early, but the teacher had to change her lesson for the first group. The teacher had a first group, but Ruth just decided to push me around.

I was told to cover cafeteria duty, then Hall duty, then float for 1.5 hours in a regular education classroom before I was allowed to go to the assigned class I had accepted. As I entered the cafeteria, I was asked if I was a floater.

“No, I am not a floater,” I responded.

Then the noise in the cafeteria, students are not listening to or following the directives given. One student looked at me and refused to listen. I had to repeat myself again and really looked at her before she took a seat. Upon arriving at the assigned class, the teacher had to change her plans for me; her morning group had to be reassigned. I was not pleased.

I believe that if they need more help, they should reach out to have another substitute teacher come in.

What I realize is that respect is lost here. No substitute teachers want to go into these schools because of the lack of respect and professionalism. Substitutes are frequently placed in difficult classroom assignments they didn’t accept, with no administrative support, and most importantly, respect, and it seemed as if you must do as they say or you are out of a job.

I could not stay. I walked out. It might not have been the professional thing to do, but enough was enough!

What would you do?

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Published and enjoyed by Annelise Lords