As a former substitute the worst, and I mean THE WORST thing I've seen in any sub plan is "Just ask this student- they know the drill". Because there's a difference of a student being helpful and them just wanting to take over the class. There actually were a few times when I was a student at the high school where my mom taught and I swear teachers must have written in the sub plans "ONLY ASK LINDA FOR HELP IF THE BUILDING IS BURNING DOWN BECAUSE SHE WILL BE BULLIED RELENTLESSLY OTHERWISE"
SO TRUE. It's so annoying when those kids are chosen too bc they think they can teach the class and they start getting snarky with you. You have to put them in their place.
@@arbitrarylib I get it but also keep in mind that you are heading up someone else's classroom and students and they do not know you like the way that they do their normal teacher and this is why you may want to call for back up or call the teacher and ask for help when needed.
My husband's school incentivizes their teachers NOT to take their personal or sick leave. They are allowed to convert their unused personal leave to sick days and up to three sick days to cash ($250 per unused sick day). They also can get a nominal cash attendance bonus for every quarter they don't take time off. We're in a mid to low income area so the extra money is just enough to ensure teacher have to be REALLY sick before they're willing to give up those bonuses. The result is sick teachers who spread their illness throughout the building and cause multiple teachers and children to get sick (who then give it to their siblings who are in different school buildings).
My job title is "Full Time Substitute" I am in the school 5 days a week all day. Even if every teacher is there. My role is to fill in where needed, there are 2 of us. One covers Lunch and Recess Duties that are short on coverage, the other pops around classes and assists where needed. If a teacher has a planned absence, an outside sub usually picks it up. If a teacher is unexpectedly out or has a family emergency, I am there to relieve the teacher. The students know who I am, I'm a familiar face and respected as someone they see every day. I think EVERY school should have this position. The teachers know they have someone who knows the kids and routine, which is a huge weight off their shoulders. At the beginning of the year each teacher wrote out a generic schedule and sub plans that I can refer to. I love being someone that teachers can depend on and trust with their class.
Admin switched my sub assignment last minute. I ended up subbing my son’s 7th grade HS 1 math class. I try never to sub my kids’ classes. Frankly, my kids don’t care but I just tried not to. Teacher said it’s an easy day because they had a test. A girls raises her hand during the test and ask for help because the answer is not one of the multiple choices listed. The best I could do was advise her to plug in each of the choices and work the problem backwards. I hear my son laugh. I look over and he says deadpan, “My mom can’t do math. And the answer is one of the choices.” I follow up with, he’s 100% correct. 🤷🏻♀️we all had a good laugh. My son got home and said his classmates all loved me and wanted me back.
As someone with dyscalculia, I HATED it when I would do a problem 3 times and get 3 different answers, none of which are in the multiple choices, and I couldn't for the life of me tell you what I even did differently on each attempt...
I'm a sub and I make it my business to stick to the darn sub plans. I respect the teachers for taking time to create them and gives me a blueprint of how to operate a classroom. Stick to the darn sub plans!!!! No talent shows!!! 😂😂 I also have a sub folder with icebreakers and brain break activities just in case I have to improvise. I love what I do!
As a newly minted sub, I find this podcast helpful in understanding what teachers go through and how I can better help in my capacity while they’re out. My partner is also a teacher so I get lots of useful information!
My school is amazing about sick days. It’s a charter public school, and there is a dedicated pool of subs, and admin has been super understanding this week. (I’ve been sick most of the week). I am able to post an absence, and sick leave does not need to be approved. It’s a very positive work environment and I feel very fortunate that the opportunity to work there passed my way.
I love my school admin for how they handle sick days. They don't make us feel guilty. They tell us, physically or mentally, if we're unwell to stay home. We're not allowed to take dock days so we do need to make sure we're careful balancing sick days, but that's a district policy.
I call out 1 sick day per month for a mental/physical day. It’s one day for me to mentally destress. And I go to the spa to get a massage. It has truly helped me stay focused, energized, and refreshed because teaching High School Choir can be exhausting. I have a sub that loves subbing for me. But I can say we are struggling finding substitutes now because everyone is so burnt out.
@@Kyle00112233teaching is very stressful. sometimes those breaks are too far away. if a teacher is stressed in august, and then someone says “you can’t take off until winter break” that’s like 4 months away.
Truer words haven't been spoken for this one since it gives insights to the wide chaotic range of the subbing world. As a long term sub at an alternative high school w/ many students w/ misbehaviors I've seen an incursion happen from parents after students let them in. Now being a teacher at an adult school, I cover for coworkers and now just deal w/ issues of undetailed plans which is also a challenge. This episode is really one not to miss if one wants to know what it's really like working as a teacher or sub.
As a teacher, making sub plans was the worst, but luckily all my students had Chromebook’s with Google classroom. I’d just send them everything they needed directly so the sub never had to understand how to get the material and distribute it. But those evenings when I felt sick where panic inducing for sure.
I subbed and taught my entire adult life having detailed plans is great! I normally taught elementary school but I did sub high school when I was feeling lazy lol because they have so much time off during the day. Well, one of those times the teacher left a list of her bad students and her good students for each of her periods. It was hilarious but super helpful.
As a Sub, the first Fire drill I had to do was a nightmare, but luckily for the teachers here, the sub coordinators at the school district are amazing.
Once, when I was teaching middle school, I got caught speeding on the way to work, just as I was getting there and the cop followed me into the teacher’s parking lot to write me the ticket. The parking lot was in front of the building where bussed and parents dropped kids off!
As a sub one my hardest difficulties isn’t tech it is “how am I logging in with no passwords….?” and at times I didn’t spot it initially (on me), but with other security measures in my district they might forget to leave a device I need to log even if I have the password. As well as having decent sub plans. I have had issues when there weren’t any sub plans at times, and literally had to ask the students what they were doing.
Years ago, I was a librarian at a K-1 school. I was pulled out for a training during Read Across America week. I thought my sub plans were foolproof. The sub read The Elves and the Shoemaker by Paul Galdone. THE WHOLE ROOM WAS DECORATED WITH DR. SEUSS BOOKS! and HE reads the naked elf book. WTH!
As a sub, technology is so frustrating. Our teachers have chrome books and so they often take those with them, and yet will have something technology based in their plans. I have no computer to use for it. Then the ones that do leave their computers forget that the things they have access to are locked behind their profiles, the logins we are given are totally different profiles that don’t access the same areas. It’s endlessly frustrating.
One time in sixth grade my science teacher was unexpectedly sick. He just had the sub turn on like three Bill Nye videos, and we were just fine screaming the theme song at the top of our lungs
Regarding Gabe's story at the end, I'd go even further by saying don't let anyone make you feel guilty for doing what you need to do in a situation like that, period. If taking care of yourself means just taking a day or week off, do it. If it means taking a year-long sabbatical from work, do it. If it means leaving what would otherwise be an amazing opportunity, do it. Not taking that time or leaving that space can do more harm than you realize at the time. At the same time, if the best thing in your case means going to work because they've threatened to fire you if you take time off, then go to work. Only you can make the final decision but, if you make your decision with the best of intentions, then it's the best decision that you could've made. If it's already done, it's already done. There's no use in feeling guilty for not taking the time off. We make decisions with the information that we have at the moment. It's one of the worst things about being an adult in my opinion because we don't know how critical those decisions can be in the future. What if, by taking the day off, it led to you being fired or demoted? What if it meant being on the road when a car accident happened? You made the best decision that you could at that time with the information that you had. You can only go on from here with the new information that you now have. I had an amazing opportunity in my dream grad program when my dad passed away; it was the exact program that I wanted with professors that researched the same things that I want to research at the number 1 school in the US for that suject area. It was also at a university that my dad had been a professor at when I was younger so I had memories of being a child running around the campus. I wasn't in the same discipline that my dad taught in, not even the same general subject (he was STEM, I was humanities,) but his old building and my building were literally right next to each other. I could see the window of his old office from one of my classrooms. I couldn't walk to class or to the library without feeling like I was 5 seconds away from a break down. Add to that, my mom was suddenly alone for the first time in 30 years and I was over 200 miles away. So I left. It was the absolute best opportunity to pursue my dreams and I left. I don't regret it at all. A couple of months later, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and, around a year after he passed, my mom and I were in a major car accident. If I hadn't moved home, my mom would be doing chemo alone right now. As for the car wreck, it could've been either of us alone and that could've ended so many ways. Either of us could've needed help healing without someone there or worse. My mom could've lost both her husband and her only child or I could've been left without either of my parents. Maybe the accident would have never happened. Who knows? All I know is that I left an opportunity that I can never get back, only approximate in the future, to be there for the person who raised me. I sometimes wonder what could've been if things had been different but I can't change the past. Instead, I just think of it as a detour: the direct road to my dream career was closed for construction so I have to take a detour. I'm still headed to the same desitnation but it will just take a bit longer and have a couple of extra stops. I've had people (usually someone who isn't affected by my choices or who even knows anything about my life) try to tell me that I was fool for leaving. My professors understood why I left. One even expressed regret at not having done the same when his own father passed away. My family understood. My friends understood. If they didn't when I first left, they did after my mom's diagnosis. I can always make my way back to academia. I can't make my way back to being the only person that can drive my mom to chemo sessions or clean the litter boxes because she shouldn't be doing it with a weakened immune system. Does leaving a program like that look good on a resume? No, but I can do things while living at home and taking care of my mom that will make up for that. If I have to make the same choice again in the future, I would do it again if it called for it. Even if I never get to accomplish all of my dreams, I'd rather take that L but get to help/spend time with those that I love. My family, both birth family (for the most part) and chosen family, mean more than a blue ribbon and trophy for attendance. (The ribbon was probably made on printer paper with an almost dry marker anyway.)
I’m a middle school math teacher so I can rely on a sub to understand my lessons. What I do is I make a google slide for the whole day including directions for each period. I also will make a video of me taking notes and/or explaining the activities. It not difficult to me to make, I can make edits to the google slide if I am still out, subs loves seeing how I teach the material before they start helping the students, and my students seem to behave just as I am there. Many teachers at my school think I’m crazy for doing this but it actually takes me less time than writing out plans.
Imagine the frustration of waking up sick in the middle of the night, spending a couple of hours making sub plans and finding out that admin just split your class amongst the other same grade teachers.
I subbed all day everyday for four years, when I first graduated. I have endless respect for teachers and subs... But I did not "fall in love with teaching". I came to the idea that teachers need a "new deal" from us!
Crazy to hear Sioux falls being mentioned in a story. I was born and raised in the sioux falls area and left in 2021. Wild stuff. Nice to hear about her SD person exists lol
Goodness as a sub I loved when teachers would leave good lesson plans. There have been many times where I've walked into the classroom and there is nothing on the desk , not even an attendance sheet. I've heard " I hope we didn't scare you off" or " Thank goodness you came back" from teachers and the front office it's crazy.I had one math class where the teacher had been out for so long and so often that students didn't know anything and I basically taught them based off of the online busy work they were given. Luckily the kids were very receptive to it so it worked out. But It was ridiculous! There was another teacher who had the weirdest filing system. She'd write that a certain block's work is in one area but never the specific work so I'd have all these papers for this class period but not knowing which they've actually done and when. Then with some of the activities there wasn't enough of one but too many for another and then some just weren't there entirely!
The first sub I had claimed they couldn’t find any of my worksheets. They were on the table labeled with the date and name of the activity. I was out for 5 days for a funeral and returned to no work done. My colleagues even showed them where the worksheets were. I had my entire team look at my plans and layout before I left so I knew everything was going to go smoothly. But it didn’t.
4:40 you can have a movie day? Texas teachers cannot have a movie day. I’m jealous! Also, it’s SOOOO frustrating when I lay everything out with as much clarity and detail as I can, and then the sub just sits there on his/her phone and even my Honors kids decide they also get the day off and do exactly zero things.
I was that great Building Sub for 18 months! Haha! Just started as an 8th grade teacher on 1/3 through lateral entry alternative licensure. I have a long history in being a corporate trainer. Teaching adults that didn’t want to be there but required to as mandatory training. Middle school kids are awesome! Key is to building a relationship with every student especially those that are always getting into trouble.
I am a substitute and I always follow the sub plan. I try to make a little time at the end for an activity if the class does well but I want to be a teacher in the future so I act in a class how I would want my sub to act.
I used to be a sub, and definitely had ups & downs! It was (& is) always appreciated when a teacher has substantial info ready for subs - though I know this can vary by person & situation. My elementary jobs usually had excellent sub info & guidelines, as well as paras in the room (Paras are super heroes & saved me many times!) High school was a bit different, naturally, and really depended on the subject. (i.e., lessons actually taught vs. videos or study hall periods). My most challenging sub assignment was high school chemistry, and actually having to teach 2 days of lessons. I never took Chemistry, and had to memorize the topic info prior to delivery. I presume that poor teacher had to redo the entire lesson & lecture when she returned. After that, for everyone's sanity, I no longer accepted high school Science classes...!
I am in college right now working on my early childhood education degree and I love listening to your podcast I would love to see a one about what you wish you knew when you were studying for your degree
I’ve never felt bad about taking off days until this year, because of the class splitting reason. I also work at a K-8, if a mid school teacher is out and they don’t have subs they take away EAs from the elementary teachers.
My team probably thinks I’m crazy because I have a whole section in a binder of how everything in our classroom works. From supplies, drills, walking in hallways etc
My mom was a sub in my school district and was chaperoning one of my class field trips. My teacher was sick in the morning and asked my mom to sub since she was going to be there anyways. For the most part it was fine, but somehow my mom was the head teacher on the field trip despite two other classes with teachers who were much more in the loop on field trip plans.
In England, cover plans take 5 mins tops. I teach maths so do now - stick in sheet, lesson task - do sheet, review - answers on other sheet labelled answers, end of lesson - books in box, stood behind chair. Sometimes I don't even do that, I email my HoD and say can you set textbook pages. We have a shared drive where all my lessons are so he knows what they are doing. I feel so bad for American teachers now
Being sick was the worst, and first years in a school exposed to many illnesses. Absolutely was more work to be absent. We could bank our unused sick days, and convert for VEBA health dollars on retirement, which was a nice benefit, for rarely taking a sick day. Also, we could cash out some when we got to a certain amount.
We should NOT have to do sub plans when we are sick. I’ve had to write plans on the toilet while puking and diarrhea at 3am! No other profession requires them!!!!
I'm VERY fortunate that I have to follow the Creative Curriculum so the book they make us use has everything planned out for every single day. I was able to write out my lesson plans up until April in November so if I'm ever NOT there, you can just literally open the giant book and it tells you how to do the day. (Although I will say my lesson plans are also significantly easier to follow along because we have to do the same things every day that week with only slight variations)
We do splits at our school but there are roughly 6 teachers in each level so you would get 5 kids and in grade 3 and up they would just give you your activities and you would work at the back quietly so it didn’t really interrupt them and as kids from my own experience we preferred this to having a sub. We would also finish our work so much quicker. This is coming from a student and since I live in Australia like most of our schools we have primary and secondary/high school prep - 6 and 7 - 12 (prep is just the year before grade 1 and yes we do still have kinder which is seperate).
Just to clarify we do gets subs but like Lauren said if there were no subs then we were split. Also my year 6 teacher often (especially second semester) was often taking days off and with covid plus the teacher shortage we were oftenly split.
Just yesterday I had half an AP World History class join my AP Calculus class because we are so short subs and there are not enough desks to accommodate all students in one room. It stinks to have to cover another class, but you really can't blame the teacher....we need more subs. I'm in Texas where retired teachers can't sub for longer than a given period of time so districts can't hire perfectly good subs who want the extra pay and are willing to take a class. We need that changed. In the "wild sub" department, I once had left perfectly detailed plans about what to do when for an 8th grade class...and came back to find out the sub brought a movie with her...that was not rated family friendly...and played it for the class instead of conducting lessons. Yeah, there are some out there subs. ;)
This year I’ve been out 4 times - one day the sub fell asleep but luckily I had a student teacher at the time who took over. Another day we couldn’t get a sub and different people had to cover my classes every hour. The third day the sub didn’t speak English, and thus couldn’t read the sub plans and nothing was done. The 4th time the sub just ignored my sub plans (to have the kids read and answer questions) and lectured at them the whole hour and so we were behind when I came back. I hate calling in sick
10:00 I remember once this happened to me and our class was split into like 5 different classes and it was so awkward since I didn’t have a friend with me so i was just sitting there learning something in a different class with a different teacher
I absolutely love you all! I have a question that I think should be talked about.... School shootings....I know it's dark but as a teacher y'all have more insight as to how it's affecting our teachers and kids... Thank you for everything y'all are doing ❤️
I substitute teach and they never ID me. I just walk in and say hey I’m here to sub and they just let me go. I’ve joked with my friends that they could 10000% go in and work for me and they would never know. I only do high school and it’s always “there work is on canvas”
I took a mental health day on Monday and now I took off today (thursday) because I got ...sick... from my dinner last night. I still feel nauseous and it's 6pm as I finish watching this. This weekend is a 4 day weekend and I'm contemplating taking tomorrow even though I'm not sure how my school will react. I'm a SPED teacher and my kids come and go throughout the day. If there's no sub, there's no class.
For subs though… they aren’t assigned by their knowledge to a teachers subject area. Subs literally only satisfy state laws of having an adult in a chair. Short term subs rarely teach. Even in building subs are body replacements.
i never take off because i hate subbing on my planning period! If we take a day, we get forced to sub for other teachers on our plan or lunch. It’s literally $20.
my first day subbing we had a surprise fire drill that i didn’t know about and i did not get a plan about what i was supposed to do and it was at 8:30 am so i didn’t even know their names yet… it was 5th graders as well, what a disaster that was, i didn’t even have a list of students i was supposed to have with me
Do your schools’ Paraeducators get pulled to sub? We have to quite often and we don’t even get sub pay. It’s a nightmare for everyone when you pull us away from our Kindergarten classes.
My trouble with subs is getting one who knows science. I teach HS biology, and am pretty serious about the content. But due to my school being a title 1 school it is hard to get math/science subs (forget teachers!). I often have to leave detailed notes for the sub, who likely only has a few minutes before class starts to read them, only for them to ignore the lesson entirely to do nothing.
As someone who is commercial painter for public schools, elementary school teachers=Rambo. Idk how y’all do it. Mind you I want to confiscate all your hot glue guns but good god! It’s crazy what you have to deal with.
i’m super type A. My sub plans are crazy detailed. i have a plug n play generic plan like Lauren. I have a class leader every day and that kid runs the assignments and help the sub. i teach 7th grade ela.
As a first year special education teacher, this episode was definitely something I needed to hear. Thank you so much for emphasizing on the importance of mental health and taking care of yourself first and foremost before anything🤍
We never have subs to cover. So anytime someone calls out your team just has to split your kids. That makes it so stressful on everyone. This is even if we let them know months in advance
So Friday at work my heart was racing and I thought I was having a heart attack! (I’m 57 and have a stent and my mom passed at 55 from a massive heart attack) anyway, the nurse checked my pulse and it was 166 so she called 911. I went to the hospital and was admitted. (My heart was fine and they put me on a beta blocker for my heart rate) I was released and now I’m sitting at home and feel like crap but I don’t want to call in tomorrow even though my principal said to take it off if I don’t feel well. Idk what to do. I’m not a person who calls in sick but this is a little different. I think I just need to get used to this medication. Uggh!! Dilemmas Dilemmas!!
As someone who has been a professional substitute with credentials, degrees and certs in the education field, I learned in my 12 years plus experience to just pull lessons out of my @$$. I know the struggles teachers go through. I know it through observing my mom when she was teaching 1990s as a sub and paraprofessional. Later on in my own experiences how frustrating the system and the people in it can be. Most of the time teachers have emergencies they can't handle. However, 2000s kids and especially after 2010s things are crazy out here and there are absolutely no support at all. You are on your own. Schools need to hire bouncers as substitute teachers with how violent and aggressive kids are. The best schools can do is hire the toughest, nastiest looking bouncer they can find at some stripper place and stuff him into the classrooms. 🤪 Bouncers have the credentials and certs to restrain these Babes kids to their chair and stop them from acting out so stupid, which can hurt other kids.
I was exhausted today from not being able to sleep... I decided to go in because it was easier to go in absolutely exhausted. I teach essential skills and Home ec. So calling in is a nightmare..
This year at my daughter school all of a sudden the flu happened right at it was probably 12 kids in the school and it was some sick teachers there and they preferred those teachers stayed at school to work on lesson plans on how they were goin make up the time that week of this flu happening to all the students and contacting all the parents who was already at home dealing with sick kids and them possibly being sick because honestly we haven’t really thought about the flu like that sick 2018-2019 thankfully I did and went and got my shot in Oct but this happened the very 1st week of Nov here right after Halloween. And the crazy thing is we live in Jackson Ms and we been out so many days due to the water this past Thursday and Friday being the most recent of the 2 so we are just now going back in tomorrow after Christmas holidays I just PRAY for all the teachers
The blessing and curse of being a CTE teacher…. Subs. I teach a very specific topic and ZERO subs have experience in my field. As such, all they can really do is sit there and keep the class under control. However, sub plans are basically “Assignments are in CANVAS. Student May work together and talk softly.”
I had to call in sick to take my bf to the hospital. My school didn't believe me at all so I had to get the paramedic to explain to them that I'm his trusted person as he's autistic so he needed me to be there to help him and the school was so mad but couldn't argue against it 🤷😂
I threw up once at school while I was teaching. So they had to get a sub for the sub. Wasn’t my issue. But I hated that I missed half my day. It was bad enough I only got paid $10/hr.
It 100% is ok to take time off....That being said...when our school went back to in person....1 of the paras KEPT calling in and would have to do the 2 wk quarantine because "I maybe possibly could have come into contact with someone who has covid" ok....why do you KEEP putting yourself in a "get sick" situation.
I was sick all last week and was told to apologize for all the people to cover the class. Um... that's not my problem that you couldn't find a sub. I am sick and I cannot work. I have sick days and I'm going to take them.
One time when I was in 5th grade I was at lunch and a substitute teacher was on lunch duty and she came up to me and my friends and she told me to come with her. (Side note: she substituted art that day and there was this one girl named Ary that I had previously had issues with) the substitute (we will call her Miss M) Miss M said “hey can I talk to you about Ary (well that’s what I heard and my friends thought they heard art which they told me later on). I was like “okkkkkk” and she brought me up to the canteen and the lunch lady ( we will call her Ms G) said “ we had some reports that you were stealing fruit snacks” Me: “uhmmmm no my friend got fruit snacks though Ms G: well what’s her name Me: #### Ms G: *spells her name in the computer wrong* Ms G: well she didn’t get fruit snacks today Me: starts crying “YOU CAN CHECK MY POCKETS I SWEAR I DIDNT STEAL ANYTHING” Ms G: no that won’t be necessary Miss M: comes back with my lunch try and sees a fruit snack wrapper on my tray “ummm I found this on her tray” (Turns out my friend had accidentally dropped her empty fruit snack wrapper on my tray leaving) Miss M: throws away my lunch and takes me down to the principals office BUT instead of taking me the quick route that was only 15 feet away she walked me through THE WHOLE cafeteria to embarrass me in front of everybody I’ll finish the story soon… it gets crazier!
My room mate and I worked at the same school, we would both get sick around the same time and sometimes we had to take the same day off. the principle would get on us every time we were both out, she'd say "if one of you is out the other one HAS to come in NO MATTER WHAT."
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 89 | คู่เอก "ยอดไอคิว vs คิริลล์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z3vYkHJ_5Ig/mqdefault.jpg)
As a former substitute the worst, and I mean THE WORST thing I've seen in any sub plan is "Just ask this student- they know the drill". Because there's a difference of a student being helpful and them just wanting to take over the class. There actually were a few times when I was a student at the high school where my mom taught and I swear teachers must have written in the sub plans "ONLY ASK LINDA FOR HELP IF THE BUILDING IS BURNING DOWN BECAUSE SHE WILL BE BULLIED RELENTLESSLY OTHERWISE"
SO TRUE. It's so annoying when those kids are chosen too bc they think they can teach the class and they start getting snarky with you. You have to put them in their place.
@@alexis09881
Question: What if the kids get snarky with the substitute anyway?
When the teacher is gone some kids may get in that Bon-Bon.
I know, like I'm going to let a kid run over me. You must be dreaming.
@@arbitrarylib
I get it but also keep in mind that you are heading up someone else's classroom and students and they do not know you like the way that they do their normal teacher and this is why you may want to call for back up or call the teacher and ask for help when needed.
My husband's school incentivizes their teachers NOT to take their personal or sick leave. They are allowed to convert their unused personal leave to sick days and up to three sick days to cash ($250 per unused sick day). They also can get a nominal cash attendance bonus for every quarter they don't take time off. We're in a mid to low income area so the extra money is just enough to ensure teacher have to be REALLY sick before they're willing to give up those bonuses. The result is sick teachers who spread their illness throughout the building and cause multiple teachers and children to get sick (who then give it to their siblings who are in different school buildings).
That’s no good
My job title is "Full Time Substitute" I am in the school 5 days a week all day. Even if every teacher is there. My role is to fill in where needed, there are 2 of us. One covers Lunch and Recess Duties that are short on coverage, the other pops around classes and assists where needed. If a teacher has a planned absence, an outside sub usually picks it up. If a teacher is unexpectedly out or has a family emergency, I am there to relieve the teacher. The students know who I am, I'm a familiar face and respected as someone they see every day. I think EVERY school should have this position. The teachers know they have someone who knows the kids and routine, which is a huge weight off their shoulders. At the beginning of the year each teacher wrote out a generic schedule and sub plans that I can refer to. I love being someone that teachers can depend on and trust with their class.
Admin switched my sub assignment last minute. I ended up subbing my son’s 7th grade HS 1 math class. I try never to sub my kids’ classes. Frankly, my kids don’t care but I just tried not to. Teacher said it’s an easy day because they had a test. A girls raises her hand during the test and ask for help because the answer is not one of the multiple choices listed. The best I could do was advise her to plug in each of the choices and work the problem backwards. I hear my son laugh. I look over and he says deadpan, “My mom can’t do math. And the answer is one of the choices.” I follow up with, he’s 100% correct. 🤷🏻♀️we all had a good laugh. My son got home and said his classmates all loved me and wanted me back.
As someone with dyscalculia, I HATED it when I would do a problem 3 times and get 3 different answers, none of which are in the multiple choices, and I couldn't for the life of me tell you what I even did differently on each attempt...
@@dishevelleddev god same. Mix that with test anxiety and sensory overload from the buzz of the lights and no wonder I didn’t do well in school
I'm a sub and I make it my business to stick to the darn sub plans. I respect the teachers for taking time to create them and gives me a blueprint of how to operate a classroom. Stick to the darn sub plans!!!! No talent shows!!! 😂😂 I also have a sub folder with icebreakers and brain break activities just in case I have to improvise. I love what I do!
As a newly minted sub, I find this podcast helpful in understanding what teachers go through and how I can better help in my capacity while they’re out. My partner is also a teacher so I get lots of useful information!
My school is amazing about sick days. It’s a charter public school, and there is a dedicated pool of subs, and admin has been super understanding this week. (I’ve been sick most of the week). I am able to post an absence, and sick leave does not need to be approved. It’s a very positive work environment and I feel very fortunate that the opportunity to work there passed my way.
Ok I’m a student and not a teacher but hearing what you go through has made me be more mindful about teaching- 14:08
I love my school admin for how they handle sick days. They don't make us feel guilty. They tell us, physically or mentally, if we're unwell to stay home.
We're not allowed to take dock days so we do need to make sure we're careful balancing sick days, but that's a district policy.
I call out 1 sick day per month for a mental/physical day. It’s one day for me to mentally destress. And I go to the spa to get a massage. It has truly helped me stay focused, energized, and refreshed because teaching High School Choir can be exhausting. I have a sub that loves subbing for me. But I can say we are struggling finding substitutes now because everyone is so burnt out.
@@Kyle00112233teaching is very stressful. sometimes those breaks are too far away. if a teacher is stressed in august, and then someone says “you can’t take off until winter break” that’s like 4 months away.
This pampering is on par with a choir teacher 😂.
Truer words haven't been spoken for this one since it gives insights to the wide chaotic range of the subbing world. As a long term sub at an alternative high school w/ many students w/ misbehaviors I've seen an incursion happen from parents after students let them in. Now being a teacher at an adult school, I cover for coworkers and now just deal w/ issues of undetailed plans which is also a challenge. This episode is really one not to miss if one wants to know what it's really like working as a teacher or sub.
So much love and thanks to you! Good subs don’t get anywhere near the credit - and money - that they deserve.
As a teacher, making sub plans was the worst, but luckily all my students had Chromebook’s with Google classroom. I’d just send them everything they needed directly so the sub never had to understand how to get the material and distribute it. But those evenings when I felt sick where panic inducing for sure.
Sending work digitally to students during these substitute teacher days is one of the few perks of distance learning!
I subbed and taught my entire adult life having detailed plans is great! I normally taught elementary school but I did sub high school when I was feeling lazy lol because they have so much time off during the day. Well, one of those times the teacher left a list of her bad students and her good students for each of her periods. It was hilarious but super helpful.
As a Sub, the first Fire drill I had to do was a nightmare, but luckily for the teachers here, the sub coordinators at the school district are amazing.
Once, when I was teaching middle school, I got caught speeding on the way to work, just as I was getting there and the cop followed me into the teacher’s parking lot to write me the ticket. The parking lot was in front of the building where bussed and parents dropped kids off!
As a sub one my hardest difficulties isn’t tech it is “how am I logging in with no passwords….?” and at times I didn’t spot it initially (on me), but with other security measures in my district they might forget to leave a device I need to log even if I have the password.
As well as having decent sub plans. I have had issues when there weren’t any sub plans at times, and literally had to ask the students what they were doing.
Yes! All of this.
I’m not a teacher or a student and love listening to this pod!
Years ago, I was a librarian at a K-1 school. I was pulled out for a training during Read Across America week. I thought my sub plans were foolproof. The sub read The Elves and the Shoemaker by Paul Galdone. THE WHOLE ROOM WAS DECORATED WITH DR. SEUSS BOOKS! and HE reads the naked elf book. WTH!
As a sub, technology is so frustrating. Our teachers have chrome books and so they often take those with them, and yet will have something technology based in their plans. I have no computer to use for it. Then the ones that do leave their computers forget that the things they have access to are locked behind their profiles, the logins we are given are totally different profiles that don’t access the same areas. It’s endlessly frustrating.
One time in sixth grade my science teacher was unexpectedly sick. He just had the sub turn on like three Bill Nye videos, and we were just fine screaming the theme song at the top of our lungs
Regarding Gabe's story at the end, I'd go even further by saying don't let anyone make you feel guilty for doing what you need to do in a situation like that, period. If taking care of yourself means just taking a day or week off, do it. If it means taking a year-long sabbatical from work, do it. If it means leaving what would otherwise be an amazing opportunity, do it. Not taking that time or leaving that space can do more harm than you realize at the time. At the same time, if the best thing in your case means going to work because they've threatened to fire you if you take time off, then go to work. Only you can make the final decision but, if you make your decision with the best of intentions, then it's the best decision that you could've made. If it's already done, it's already done. There's no use in feeling guilty for not taking the time off. We make decisions with the information that we have at the moment. It's one of the worst things about being an adult in my opinion because we don't know how critical those decisions can be in the future. What if, by taking the day off, it led to you being fired or demoted? What if it meant being on the road when a car accident happened? You made the best decision that you could at that time with the information that you had. You can only go on from here with the new information that you now have.
I had an amazing opportunity in my dream grad program when my dad passed away; it was the exact program that I wanted with professors that researched the same things that I want to research at the number 1 school in the US for that suject area. It was also at a university that my dad had been a professor at when I was younger so I had memories of being a child running around the campus. I wasn't in the same discipline that my dad taught in, not even the same general subject (he was STEM, I was humanities,) but his old building and my building were literally right next to each other. I could see the window of his old office from one of my classrooms. I couldn't walk to class or to the library without feeling like I was 5 seconds away from a break down. Add to that, my mom was suddenly alone for the first time in 30 years and I was over 200 miles away. So I left. It was the absolute best opportunity to pursue my dreams and I left. I don't regret it at all. A couple of months later, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and, around a year after he passed, my mom and I were in a major car accident. If I hadn't moved home, my mom would be doing chemo alone right now. As for the car wreck, it could've been either of us alone and that could've ended so many ways. Either of us could've needed help healing without someone there or worse. My mom could've lost both her husband and her only child or I could've been left without either of my parents. Maybe the accident would have never happened. Who knows? All I know is that I left an opportunity that I can never get back, only approximate in the future, to be there for the person who raised me. I sometimes wonder what could've been if things had been different but I can't change the past. Instead, I just think of it as a detour: the direct road to my dream career was closed for construction so I have to take a detour. I'm still headed to the same desitnation but it will just take a bit longer and have a couple of extra stops.
I've had people (usually someone who isn't affected by my choices or who even knows anything about my life) try to tell me that I was fool for leaving. My professors understood why I left. One even expressed regret at not having done the same when his own father passed away. My family understood. My friends understood. If they didn't when I first left, they did after my mom's diagnosis. I can always make my way back to academia. I can't make my way back to being the only person that can drive my mom to chemo sessions or clean the litter boxes because she shouldn't be doing it with a weakened immune system. Does leaving a program like that look good on a resume? No, but I can do things while living at home and taking care of my mom that will make up for that. If I have to make the same choice again in the future, I would do it again if it called for it. Even if I never get to accomplish all of my dreams, I'd rather take that L but get to help/spend time with those that I love. My family, both birth family (for the most part) and chosen family, mean more than a blue ribbon and trophy for attendance. (The ribbon was probably made on printer paper with an almost dry marker anyway.)
I’m a middle school math teacher so I can rely on a sub to understand my lessons. What I do is I make a google slide for the whole day including directions for each period. I also will make a video of me taking notes and/or explaining the activities. It not difficult to me to make, I can make edits to the google slide if I am still out, subs loves seeing how I teach the material before they start helping the students, and my students seem to behave just as I am there. Many teachers at my school think I’m crazy for doing this but it actually takes me less time than writing out plans.
Imagine the frustration of waking up sick in the middle of the night, spending a couple of hours making sub plans and finding out that admin just split your class amongst the other same grade teachers.
I subbed all day everyday for four years, when I first graduated. I have endless respect for teachers and subs... But I did not "fall in love with teaching". I came to the idea that teachers need a "new deal" from us!
Crazy to hear Sioux falls being mentioned in a story. I was born and raised in the sioux falls area and left in 2021. Wild stuff. Nice to hear about her SD person exists lol
This was such a great episode that I did not want it to end!!!!!!
Goodness as a sub I loved when teachers would leave good lesson plans. There have been many times where I've walked into the classroom and there is nothing on the desk , not even an attendance sheet. I've heard " I hope we didn't scare you off" or " Thank goodness you came back" from teachers and the front office it's crazy.I had one math class where the teacher had been out for so long and so often that students didn't know anything and I basically taught them based off of the online busy work they were given. Luckily the kids were very receptive to it so it worked out. But It was ridiculous! There was another teacher who had the weirdest filing system. She'd write that a certain block's work is in one area but never the specific work so I'd have all these papers for this class period but not knowing which they've actually done and when. Then with some of the activities there wasn't enough of one but too many for another and then some just weren't there entirely!
The first sub I had claimed they couldn’t find any of my worksheets. They were on the table labeled with the date and name of the activity. I was out for 5 days for a funeral and returned to no work done. My colleagues even showed them where the worksheets were. I had my entire team look at my plans and layout before I left so I knew everything was going to go smoothly. But it didn’t.
Not understanding the computer? In my experience it was not having access to any technology and not being told any passwords .
Yup!
4:40 you can have a movie day? Texas teachers cannot have a movie day. I’m jealous!
Also, it’s SOOOO frustrating when I lay everything out with as much clarity and detail as I can, and then the sub just sits there on his/her phone and even my Honors kids decide they also get the day off and do exactly zero things.
I was that great Building Sub for 18 months! Haha! Just started as an 8th grade teacher on 1/3 through lateral entry alternative licensure. I have a long history in being a corporate trainer. Teaching adults that didn’t want to be there but required to as mandatory training. Middle school kids are awesome! Key is to building a relationship with every student especially those that are always getting into trouble.
I’m a building sub and I absolutely love my job!
I am a substitute and I always follow the sub plan. I try to make a little time at the end for an activity if the class does well but I want to be a teacher in the future so I act in a class how I would want my sub to act.
Could you talk about unrealistic expectations of students (from parents)I NEED IT
I used to be a sub, and definitely had ups & downs! It was (& is) always appreciated when a teacher has substantial info ready for subs - though I know this can vary by person & situation. My elementary jobs usually had excellent sub info & guidelines, as well as paras in the room (Paras are super heroes & saved me many times!) High school was a bit different, naturally, and really depended on the subject. (i.e., lessons actually taught vs. videos or study hall periods).
My most challenging sub assignment was high school chemistry, and actually having to teach 2 days of lessons. I never took Chemistry, and had to memorize the topic info prior to delivery. I presume that poor teacher had to redo the entire lesson & lecture when she returned. After that, for everyone's sanity, I no longer accepted high school Science classes...!
I am in college right now working on my early childhood education degree and I love listening to your podcast I would love to see a one about what you wish you knew when you were studying for your degree
I’ve never felt bad about taking off days until this year, because of the class splitting reason. I also work at a K-8, if a mid school teacher is out and they don’t have subs they take away EAs from the elementary teachers.
"I got hit by a car while running"
It's scary how casual he said that. As a runner, I am officially terrified
My team probably thinks I’m crazy because I have a whole section in a binder of how everything in our classroom works. From supplies, drills, walking in hallways etc
My mom was a sub in my school district and was chaperoning one of my class field trips. My teacher was sick in the morning and asked my mom to sub since she was going to be there anyways. For the most part it was fine, but somehow my mom was the head teacher on the field trip despite two other classes with teachers who were much more in the loop on field trip plans.
Teaching Pre K, I blew out my knee playing tag! The competition is real! Feel better Tell!
In England, cover plans take 5 mins tops. I teach maths so do now - stick in sheet, lesson task - do sheet, review - answers on other sheet labelled answers, end of lesson - books in box, stood behind chair. Sometimes I don't even do that, I email my HoD and say can you set textbook pages. We have a shared drive where all my lessons are so he knows what they are doing. I feel so bad for American teachers now
Being sick was the worst, and first years in a school exposed to many illnesses.
Absolutely was more work to be absent. We could bank our unused sick days, and convert for VEBA health dollars on retirement, which was a nice benefit, for rarely taking a sick day. Also, we could cash out some when we got to a certain amount.
We should NOT have to do sub plans when we are sick. I’ve had to write plans on the toilet while puking and diarrhea at 3am! No other profession requires them!!!!
I use clothing, bedding, and towels as packing materials.
I'm VERY fortunate that I have to follow the Creative Curriculum so the book they make us use has everything planned out for every single day. I was able to write out my lesson plans up until April in November so if I'm ever NOT there, you can just literally open the giant book and it tells you how to do the day. (Although I will say my lesson plans are also significantly easier to follow along because we have to do the same things every day that week with only slight variations)
Remember you are replaceable to your boss but you are not replaceable to your family
We do splits at our school but there are roughly 6 teachers in each level so you would get 5 kids and in grade 3 and up they would just give you your activities and you would work at the back quietly so it didn’t really interrupt them and as kids from my own experience we preferred this to having a sub. We would also finish our work so much quicker. This is coming from a student and since I live in Australia like most of our schools we have primary and secondary/high school prep - 6 and 7 - 12 (prep is just the year before grade 1 and yes we do still have kinder which is seperate).
Just to clarify we do gets subs but like Lauren said if there were no subs then we were split. Also my year 6 teacher often (especially second semester) was often taking days off and with covid plus the teacher shortage we were oftenly split.
For removing the glue from stickers you can use vinegar or rubing alcohol
Just yesterday I had half an AP World History class join my AP Calculus class because we are so short subs and there are not enough desks to accommodate all students in one room. It stinks to have to cover another class, but you really can't blame the teacher....we need more subs. I'm in Texas where retired teachers can't sub for longer than a given period of time so districts can't hire perfectly good subs who want the extra pay and are willing to take a class. We need that changed.
In the "wild sub" department, I once had left perfectly detailed plans about what to do when for an 8th grade class...and came back to find out the sub brought a movie with her...that was not rated family friendly...and played it for the class instead of conducting lessons. Yeah, there are some out there subs. ;)
This year I’ve been out 4 times - one day the sub fell asleep but luckily I had a student teacher at the time who took over. Another day we couldn’t get a sub and different people had to cover my classes every hour. The third day the sub didn’t speak English, and thus couldn’t read the sub plans and nothing was done. The 4th time the sub just ignored my sub plans (to have the kids read and answer questions) and lectured at them the whole hour and so we were behind when I came back. I hate calling in sick
10:00 I remember once this happened to me and our class was split into like 5 different classes and it was so awkward since I didn’t have a friend with me so i was just sitting there learning something in a different class with a different teacher
I absolutely love you all! I have a question that I think should be talked about.... School shootings....I know it's dark but as a teacher y'all have more insight as to how it's affecting our teachers and kids... Thank you for everything y'all are doing ❤️
Could you guys talk about pressure put on students who have successful parents or siblings
Yes. Take your days.
I substitute teach and they never ID me. I just walk in and say hey I’m here to sub and they just let me go. I’ve joked with my friends that they could 10000% go in and work for me and they would never know. I only do high school and it’s always “there work is on canvas”
I took a mental health day on Monday and now I took off today (thursday) because I got ...sick... from my dinner last night. I still feel nauseous and it's 6pm as I finish watching this. This weekend is a 4 day weekend and I'm contemplating taking tomorrow even though I'm not sure how my school will react. I'm a SPED teacher and my kids come and go throughout the day. If there's no sub, there's no class.
My teacher has enough for half a year or more of sick days.
For subs though… they aren’t assigned by their knowledge to a teachers subject area. Subs literally only satisfy state laws of having an adult in a chair. Short term subs rarely teach. Even in building subs are body replacements.
I love how they acted like it’s a surprise we are playing two truths one lie then proceeds to pull out their phones with their answers on them 😂
💯 I regret not taking leave to go be with my family during a difficult time.
Some of these stores are hilarious!
i never take off because i hate subbing on my planning period! If we take a day, we get forced to sub for other teachers on our plan or lunch. It’s literally $20.
In middle school we had this sub who spoke so slow...it took 25 min to grade our papers...now i get it...
my first day subbing we had a surprise fire drill that i didn’t know about and i did not get a plan about what i was supposed to do and it was at 8:30 am so i didn’t even know their names yet… it was 5th graders as well, what a disaster that was, i didn’t even have a list of students i was supposed to have with me
Hard to find a sub especially as a special education teacher.
Do your schools’ Paraeducators get pulled to sub? We have to quite often and we don’t even get sub pay. It’s a nightmare for everyone when you pull us away from our Kindergarten classes.
Isn't that illegal?
My trouble with subs is getting one who knows science. I teach HS biology, and am pretty serious about the content. But due to my school being a title 1 school it is hard to get math/science subs (forget teachers!). I often have to leave detailed notes for the sub, who likely only has a few minutes before class starts to read them, only for them to ignore the lesson entirely to do nothing.
As someone who is commercial painter for public schools, elementary school teachers=Rambo. Idk how y’all do it. Mind you I want to confiscate all your hot glue guns but good god! It’s crazy what you have to deal with.
i’m super type A. My sub plans are crazy detailed. i have a plug n play generic plan like Lauren. I have a class leader every day and that kid runs the assignments and help the sub. i teach 7th grade ela.
Good podcast
As a first year special education teacher, this episode was definitely something I needed to hear. Thank you so much for emphasizing on the importance of mental health and taking care of yourself first and foremost before anything🤍
As a special class I can’t take a day off because if I do then I have to make the missing preps. They never do subs for art/PE/music/ library. 😂
We never have subs to cover. So anytime someone calls out your team just has to split your kids. That makes it so stressful on everyone. This is even if we let them know months in advance
So Friday at work my heart was racing and I thought I was having a heart attack! (I’m 57 and have a stent and my mom passed at 55 from a massive heart attack) anyway, the nurse checked my pulse and it was 166 so she called 911. I went to the hospital and was admitted. (My heart was fine and they put me on a beta blocker for my heart rate) I was released and now I’m sitting at home and feel like crap but I don’t want to call in tomorrow even though my principal said to take it off if I don’t feel well. Idk what to do. I’m not a person who calls in sick but this is a little different. I think I just need to get used to this medication. Uggh!! Dilemmas Dilemmas!!
Stay home! I understand the dilemma but your life/health is more important.
I subbed for many years . I did it to get my school loans forgiven. Then I got a masters in education.
This is so funny. I am watching this as I am struggling with technology as a sub.
As someone who has been a professional substitute with credentials, degrees and certs in the education field, I learned in my 12 years plus experience to just pull lessons out of my @$$. I know the struggles teachers go through. I know it through observing my mom when she was teaching 1990s as a sub and paraprofessional. Later on in my own experiences how frustrating the system and the people in it can be. Most of the time teachers have emergencies they can't handle. However, 2000s kids and especially after 2010s things are crazy out here and there are absolutely no support at all. You are on your own. Schools need to hire bouncers as substitute teachers with how violent and aggressive kids are. The best schools can do is hire the toughest, nastiest looking bouncer they can find at some stripper place and stuff him into the classrooms. 🤪 Bouncers have the credentials and certs to restrain these Babes kids to their chair and stop them from acting out so stupid, which can hurt other kids.
best podcast ever😍😍🥰🥰🤩🤩😘😘i love Teacher off dute.
I was exhausted today from not being able to sleep... I decided to go in because it was easier to go in absolutely exhausted. I teach essential skills and Home ec. So calling in is a nightmare..
This year at my daughter school all of a sudden the flu happened right at it was probably 12 kids in the school and it was some sick teachers there and they preferred those teachers stayed at school to work on lesson plans on how they were goin make up the time that week of this flu happening to all the students and contacting all the parents who was already at home dealing with sick kids and them possibly being sick because honestly we haven’t really thought about the flu like that sick 2018-2019 thankfully I did and went and got my shot in Oct but this happened the very 1st week of Nov here right after Halloween. And the crazy thing is we live in Jackson Ms and we been out so many days due to the water this past Thursday and Friday being the most recent of the 2 so we are just now going back in tomorrow after Christmas holidays I just PRAY for all the teachers
The blessing and curse of being a CTE teacher…. Subs. I teach a very specific topic and ZERO subs have experience in my field. As such, all they can really do is sit there and keep the class under control. However, sub plans are basically “Assignments are in CANVAS. Student May work together and talk softly.”
Yep, writing sub plans at 5am after vomiting my guts out. Just part of the job.
Lauren's old school must have really been bad, she talks about that school like I talk about my ex-boyfriend! 😂
Once our teacher was away for a month and we were supposed to study Shakespeare, instead with the sub we made rap battle music videos
When are y’all gonna talk about the obvious absentness of the founder….
When are they gonna talk about the drama in general😂😂
I had to call in sick to take my bf to the hospital. My school didn't believe me at all so I had to get the paramedic to explain to them that I'm his trusted person as he's autistic so he needed me to be there to help him and the school was so mad but couldn't argue against it 🤷😂
I threw up once at school while I was teaching. So they had to get a sub for the sub. Wasn’t my issue. But I hated that I missed half my day. It was bad enough I only got paid $10/hr.
White vinegar will get it off. Just soak it haha
It 100% is ok to take time off....That being said...when our school went back to in person....1 of the paras KEPT calling in and would have to do the 2 wk quarantine because "I maybe possibly could have come into contact with someone who has covid" ok....why do you KEEP putting yourself in a "get sick" situation.
I found the news story he was talking about
Confused by all the shade from Rachel
I was sick all last week and was told to apologize for all the people to cover the class. Um... that's not my problem that you couldn't find a sub. I am sick and I cannot work. I have sick days and I'm going to take them.
its time to redo the intro vid and add gabe lol
Confused as to why Gabe needed a sub as a student teacher. Isn't there still a classroom teacher in the room?
Sub plans - UGHHHHHH
Being a substitute teacher is just being a babysitter
for maybe double the minimum wage.
That's the 100% TRUTH.
I plan what I think is fool proof and then the sub does nothing I ask
One time when I was in 5th grade I was at lunch and a substitute teacher was on lunch duty and she came up to me and my friends and she told me to come with her. (Side note: she substituted art that day and there was this one girl named Ary that I had previously had issues with) the substitute (we will call her Miss M) Miss M said “hey can I talk to you about Ary (well that’s what I heard and my friends thought they heard art which they told me later on). I was like “okkkkkk” and she brought me up to the canteen and the lunch lady ( we will call her Ms G) said “ we had some reports that you were stealing fruit snacks”
Me: “uhmmmm no my friend got fruit snacks though
Ms G: well what’s her name
Me: ####
Ms G: *spells her name in the computer wrong*
Ms G: well she didn’t get fruit snacks today
Me: starts crying “YOU CAN CHECK MY POCKETS I SWEAR I DIDNT STEAL ANYTHING”
Ms G: no that won’t be necessary
Miss M: comes back with my lunch try and sees a fruit snack wrapper on my tray “ummm I found this on her tray”
(Turns out my friend had accidentally dropped her empty fruit snack wrapper on my tray leaving)
Miss M: throws away my lunch and takes me down to the principals office
BUT instead of taking me the quick route that was only 15 feet away she walked me through THE WHOLE cafeteria to embarrass me in front of everybody
I’ll finish the story soon… it gets crazier!
You can’t control the fool in your classroom. Make good plans and present them. Stay home and rest. Or whatever.
My room mate and I worked at the same school, we would both get sick around the same time and sometimes we had to take the same day off. the principle would get on us every time we were both out, she'd say "if one of you is out the other one HAS to come in NO MATTER WHAT."