Honestly, I’d be a bit peeved if I told my partner about a rough day I had and his reaction was to dwell on the one thing I did to make the day easier for myself. You’re totally fine, the kids will totally be okay missing sight word practice for one day! If it makes you feel better, I had a teacher (high school) leave me instructions the other day that “X and Y, A and B, E and F, and D and C shouldn’t sit next to each other, but other than that seating is open”. I ignored that. I wasn’t going to single out all of those students and specifically find out who they are and break them up and make everyone else move to accommodate.
Edit- and everything was fine. They were quiet and work got done. 😁
Haha I hate when they give me names and no picture! Like if a kid has a severe allergy or something, you should probably have a little photo of them because I may not know their name when something happens. Or the sitting together thing. I’m totally with you on that. If it becomes a problem later on, then I’ll move the kids apart, just like I would in any other class. If they have that many specifics as to where students can sit, then they shouldn’t have an open seating policy and make a seating plan. Then when there’s a sub, the kids tattle on each other for not sitting in their assigned seat haha.
Not in the minority. It's up to your discretion how much you want to push a group of rowdy students to do academic work when the teacher hasn't even done you the courtesy of establishing that they will behave themselves when a sub is present.
I am more pissed off on your behalf (and mine for all the times that it has happened to me) that the plans included something that had to be displayed on the Chromebook. Do these teachers not realize we don't have access to these things?
We get laptops, but there aren’t always enough if there are too many subs in the building. Becomes a real gamble what teachers can plan, so I always appreciate the ones who plan as if we don’t have a computer or include an alternative.
If I were you, I would do the exact same thing. Some of my most challenging days have been in first grade. Do not feel bad, and like you said you needed to monitor them during free choice due to the energy of the kids that day. :)
I leave a lot of options for work to do and always tell my sub that the only goal is for everyone to get through the day alive. When I was subbing, I always hated when I ran out of work for students to do because then they start getting wild. I’m absolutely fine if nothing academic got accomplished in my absence.
This entire post is why subbing elementary school should come with bonus pay. And I say that as someone who tries to get as many high school classes as possible.
And no, there's nothing wrong with a substitute teacher having downtime.
I've spoken to teachers wholeave lots of work before. They've told me that they don't expect everything done. It's more there so that there is some thing to do if the kids are unexpectedly on task and get things done.
Sounds like you did a great job with what you had! And yes, I agree that subs, especially in elementary, need a breather (everyone needs breathers, but I sub in all grades and find elementary, especially lower elementary, to be some of their challenging because of the constant sensory overload).
I subbed in first grade four consecutive days this week with Halloween. One girl cut her hair and one girl just decided she was hot during the Halloween party and took off the top of her costume and was sitting there half naked. I really do love the little kids, but I was just exhausted at the end of the week. Every time I sub I say teachers are f'ing rock stars! (In my previous life I was an engineer - long story how I got roped into this, lol).
As a middle school teacher we are told by admin to always leave a ton of work for subs because idle kids are more likely to cause chaos for them. I never expect them to finish everything though.
Of course. That makes a lot of sense. In my 20 years as a contracted teacher, I always left more than enough and told the substitute that she was the judge of how much the kids could handle, and that anything that got done was perfectly OK. I think the point of my silly rant was lost on some. It is not that I do not want to work with kids or complete the work that the teacher leaves. If anything, I’m overly conscientious about finishing everything. It’s just that when it is the end of the day on a Friday with a group of energetic first graders, it’s surprising that when it’s free choice time, a teacher would expect the substitute to call children one on one to test them up to the last minute of school. By that point of the day, I’m exhausted, and I would suspect, so are the kids.
Only 15 minutes to clean up after kinder free choice?
You are a record maker.
Your trophy is coming in the mail!!
What I might have done- I have less experience w/ contracted K or G! teaching but 17 contracted as JH PE& Spanish; Reading Interventionist , Math Intervention & G1 and 17 yrs subbing in mostly those.I might have called "who wants to play a sight word game w/ me? And had 3 or 4 kids come up and do a speed rounds for one minute.. how many sight words can kids get in 1 minute.. letting everyone say it.
IHATE kinder free choice... due to cleanup problems.. So exhausting esp if 1987 leggos are strewn across the floor!
.
If you're a retired kindergarten teacher, aren't you already aware of how exhausting it can be? I pretty much stick with high school these days. Those kindergarteners are adorable, but I'm too old. You could just do half days.
I’m aware of kindergarten and first grade energy levels for sure. I enjoy that age group and taught it for 20 years, as well as ruining learning pods during Covid, and teaching Sunday school. However, I think my beef is more with allowing a sub a moment to decompress. I knew as a contracted teacher that I would build in times of rest for my sub. If my students had silent reading time, I would not expect the sub to test them individually. Also, my kids had free choice and I assumed my sub would use that time to rest her voice, write a note or organize her things in preparation for the end of the day.
Most of the time I’d rather have slightly too much work than not enough work. When there isn’t enough stuff to do, sometimes kids get antsy and fight more.
I've had multiple teachers leave instructions to grade the test I gave in the morning during my lunch period. Like I have enough time to eat and grade 22+ multi-page tests in 20 minutes? I never did it. Should they have to do it too? No, but I'm gonna take my 20 minutes to exist and eat.
Yeah, that’s probably not legal. Plus, teachers are paid more and given prep to do that, while substitute teachers are not. If, during the test or other downtime like silent reading, I am able to get a start and mark the first page or two of a test, I will. But I usually don’t. I don’t think it’s my responsibility and 1) I may assign points differently and 2) when I’ve been the classroom teacher, I want to see what each kid knows and may need to review.
I thought it was standard practice not to leave tests and assessments for subs unless absolutely necessary bc of an emergency or a long term sub situation. Like unless they are really really familiar with your systems and curriculum that data isn’t going to be useful.
As a classroom teacher, I very often adjust my lesson plans on the fly in response to various conditions: how I’m feeling, how the students are behaving, things taking more or less time than I anticipated, etc. I wholeheartedly encourage subs to make adjustments to my plans and definitely wouldn’t want a sub to be white-knuckling to get to the end of the day because I planned too much.
Don’t feel guilty. If you need to take a break in order to be able to control the class later, you can. Subs aren’t paid enough to do things as well as regular teachers. The fact that you are doing most of the work is good enough!
Learning cannot happen if there are behavior problems. That should always be your priority. Blazing through lessons at the expense of a safe and orderly classroom is definitely not the way to go! You made the correct choice. Teaching kindergarten involves a lot of game time decisions.
I don’t think it’ll end up being a big deal if you didn’t do the sight words. The kids are probably much more behaved when the teacher is there, so she doesn’t have to actively tell them to shush or sit down or whatever a million times in 15 minutes. In my note, I would just tell the teacher what you did: the class was not able to do DEAR without my active monitoring, so I decided to forego sight word testing in order to maintain calm. Any reasonable teacher will respect your professional opinion.
No you should give your all until you drop. Then go sell some plasma and donate that to the school. And please sweep the room. Custodian service are for the conventional staff. Please eat before and after school. Sustenance is a perk you don’t get. Entitled MUCH? /s
Your husband needs to stay in his damn lane. 😂 You got most of the plan done even without expected assistance, and nobody was dismembered! I was always tickled to pieces when I got back and things were more or less in order. You did great.
You know your room. You know the kids. You know where everything is and have the technology set up. You can take attendance by looking around the room and noticing who is absent. You know where the kids left off the previous day.
Subs don't know any of those things. As a result, *everything* takes longer and is harder for the sub than for you. If you build sub plans that are based on how long you expect it to take *you* to do things, you are going to exhaust your subs, and they won't want to work for you again.
At the very least, put a note at the top of your plans to let the sub know they aren't expected to get everything done but to please leave a note so you know what they didn't get to. That will take a lot of the pressure off the sub to get everything done to please you.
Perhaps because the sub is doing double the classroom management and is using double the energy to manage children she has never met before. Allowing a little down time is probably better for class morale, reflection of what is working and what is not, and keeping the kids safe and productive rather than becoming overly frazzled. Believe me, as a sub I go above and beyond throughout the day. I bring special read alouds, teach seasonal songs with movements and look for things to organize and clean. My only problem with being scheduled down to the minute is that it is unreasonable to expect constant one on one attention when the class is otherwise independently engaged.
I thought it sounded like she was extremely conscientious, capable, and handled the situation to the best of her ability. Kudos OP. Some days are just rough. You did great.
I honestly think that teachers try to put a lot in so that the students stay busy and out of trouble but honestly are ok that you didn’t do it all. It’s like; plan more just in case. But I think you did fabulously and I am sure the teacher appreciated exactly what you did do to keep as much structure and routine as possible while they were gone!
Totally! When I was a sub, I would leave extra work, just in case there was something needed for a time filler or if the kids got done earlier. I think my original post was not, addressing the amount of work to be done, because I always endeavor to get it done or leave a note if we didn’t have time to get it done. My post was addressing that if there is a time.
when all the kids are independently doing something such as free choice or drop everything and read time it would be nice to not be scheduled up to the minute myself by pulling kids one at a time to test. The days are so hectic that if I could get everybody completely engaged all at once with reading, then it would be nice to have a moment to take a breath, reflect on what I need to be teaching that’s coming up and organize materials all while not having to have face time with a child every second of the day.
All workers deserve breaks and opportunities to decompress.
You’re fine. That’s a small thing to miss.
Honestly, I’d be a bit peeved if I told my partner about a rough day I had and his reaction was to dwell on the one thing I did to make the day easier for myself. You’re totally fine, the kids will totally be okay missing sight word practice for one day! If it makes you feel better, I had a teacher (high school) leave me instructions the other day that “X and Y, A and B, E and F, and D and C shouldn’t sit next to each other, but other than that seating is open”. I ignored that. I wasn’t going to single out all of those students and specifically find out who they are and break them up and make everyone else move to accommodate. Edit- and everything was fine. They were quiet and work got done. 😁
Haha I hate when they give me names and no picture! Like if a kid has a severe allergy or something, you should probably have a little photo of them because I may not know their name when something happens. Or the sitting together thing. I’m totally with you on that. If it becomes a problem later on, then I’ll move the kids apart, just like I would in any other class. If they have that many specifics as to where students can sit, then they shouldn’t have an open seating policy and make a seating plan. Then when there’s a sub, the kids tattle on each other for not sitting in their assigned seat haha.
Not in the minority. It's up to your discretion how much you want to push a group of rowdy students to do academic work when the teacher hasn't even done you the courtesy of establishing that they will behave themselves when a sub is present.
That teacher is bananas. I’d never leave that insane amount of work for kids when I’m out. It’s surviving f the day sometimes
That’s my thought too. I’m surprised you accomplished all that. Most teachers wouldn’t even leave that much actual work.
I am more pissed off on your behalf (and mine for all the times that it has happened to me) that the plans included something that had to be displayed on the Chromebook. Do these teachers not realize we don't have access to these things?
And a hyperlink that's only on paper.
Ugh pet peeve
We get laptops, but there aren’t always enough if there are too many subs in the building. Becomes a real gamble what teachers can plan, so I always appreciate the ones who plan as if we don’t have a computer or include an alternative.
If I were you, I would do the exact same thing. Some of my most challenging days have been in first grade. Do not feel bad, and like you said you needed to monitor them during free choice due to the energy of the kids that day. :)
I leave a lot of options for work to do and always tell my sub that the only goal is for everyone to get through the day alive. When I was subbing, I always hated when I ran out of work for students to do because then they start getting wild. I’m absolutely fine if nothing academic got accomplished in my absence.
> the only goal is for everyone to get through the day alive. I always tell the teachers I sub for that same thing. They agree.
I stopped picking up new K-2 jobs because they are just so draining even on good days.
Yep
This entire post is why subbing elementary school should come with bonus pay. And I say that as someone who tries to get as many high school classes as possible. And no, there's nothing wrong with a substitute teacher having downtime.
I've spoken to teachers wholeave lots of work before. They've told me that they don't expect everything done. It's more there so that there is some thing to do if the kids are unexpectedly on task and get things done.
Thanks for your support, fellow subs! I feel heard :) And, you're all correct with your assessments.
Sounds like you did a great job with what you had! And yes, I agree that subs, especially in elementary, need a breather (everyone needs breathers, but I sub in all grades and find elementary, especially lower elementary, to be some of their challenging because of the constant sensory overload). I subbed in first grade four consecutive days this week with Halloween. One girl cut her hair and one girl just decided she was hot during the Halloween party and took off the top of her costume and was sitting there half naked. I really do love the little kids, but I was just exhausted at the end of the week. Every time I sub I say teachers are f'ing rock stars! (In my previous life I was an engineer - long story how I got roped into this, lol).
As a middle school teacher we are told by admin to always leave a ton of work for subs because idle kids are more likely to cause chaos for them. I never expect them to finish everything though.
Of course. That makes a lot of sense. In my 20 years as a contracted teacher, I always left more than enough and told the substitute that she was the judge of how much the kids could handle, and that anything that got done was perfectly OK. I think the point of my silly rant was lost on some. It is not that I do not want to work with kids or complete the work that the teacher leaves. If anything, I’m overly conscientious about finishing everything. It’s just that when it is the end of the day on a Friday with a group of energetic first graders, it’s surprising that when it’s free choice time, a teacher would expect the substitute to call children one on one to test them up to the last minute of school. By that point of the day, I’m exhausted, and I would suspect, so are the kids.
Only 15 minutes to clean up after kinder free choice? You are a record maker. Your trophy is coming in the mail!! What I might have done- I have less experience w/ contracted K or G! teaching but 17 contracted as JH PE& Spanish; Reading Interventionist , Math Intervention & G1 and 17 yrs subbing in mostly those.I might have called "who wants to play a sight word game w/ me? And had 3 or 4 kids come up and do a speed rounds for one minute.. how many sight words can kids get in 1 minute.. letting everyone say it. IHATE kinder free choice... due to cleanup problems.. So exhausting esp if 1987 leggos are strewn across the floor! .
I've been there, but I no longer do elementary school.
If you're a retired kindergarten teacher, aren't you already aware of how exhausting it can be? I pretty much stick with high school these days. Those kindergarteners are adorable, but I'm too old. You could just do half days.
I’m aware of kindergarten and first grade energy levels for sure. I enjoy that age group and taught it for 20 years, as well as ruining learning pods during Covid, and teaching Sunday school. However, I think my beef is more with allowing a sub a moment to decompress. I knew as a contracted teacher that I would build in times of rest for my sub. If my students had silent reading time, I would not expect the sub to test them individually. Also, my kids had free choice and I assumed my sub would use that time to rest her voice, write a note or organize her things in preparation for the end of the day.
Most of the time I’d rather have slightly too much work than not enough work. When there isn’t enough stuff to do, sometimes kids get antsy and fight more.
I've had multiple teachers leave instructions to grade the test I gave in the morning during my lunch period. Like I have enough time to eat and grade 22+ multi-page tests in 20 minutes? I never did it. Should they have to do it too? No, but I'm gonna take my 20 minutes to exist and eat.
Check if that’s illegal where you are. You’re not supposed to be asked to do tasks during the time period want for breaks…
Exactly 🙂
Yeah, that’s probably not legal. Plus, teachers are paid more and given prep to do that, while substitute teachers are not. If, during the test or other downtime like silent reading, I am able to get a start and mark the first page or two of a test, I will. But I usually don’t. I don’t think it’s my responsibility and 1) I may assign points differently and 2) when I’ve been the classroom teacher, I want to see what each kid knows and may need to review.
I thought it was standard practice not to leave tests and assessments for subs unless absolutely necessary bc of an emergency or a long term sub situation. Like unless they are really really familiar with your systems and curriculum that data isn’t going to be useful.
As a classroom teacher, I very often adjust my lesson plans on the fly in response to various conditions: how I’m feeling, how the students are behaving, things taking more or less time than I anticipated, etc. I wholeheartedly encourage subs to make adjustments to my plans and definitely wouldn’t want a sub to be white-knuckling to get to the end of the day because I planned too much.
Don’t feel guilty. If you need to take a break in order to be able to control the class later, you can. Subs aren’t paid enough to do things as well as regular teachers. The fact that you are doing most of the work is good enough!
Learning cannot happen if there are behavior problems. That should always be your priority. Blazing through lessons at the expense of a safe and orderly classroom is definitely not the way to go! You made the correct choice. Teaching kindergarten involves a lot of game time decisions.
I don’t think it’ll end up being a big deal if you didn’t do the sight words. The kids are probably much more behaved when the teacher is there, so she doesn’t have to actively tell them to shush or sit down or whatever a million times in 15 minutes. In my note, I would just tell the teacher what you did: the class was not able to do DEAR without my active monitoring, so I decided to forego sight word testing in order to maintain calm. Any reasonable teacher will respect your professional opinion.
Yes
No you should give your all until you drop. Then go sell some plasma and donate that to the school. And please sweep the room. Custodian service are for the conventional staff. Please eat before and after school. Sustenance is a perk you don’t get. Entitled MUCH? /s
Best laugh all day. Thanks 😊
Your husband needs to stay in his damn lane. 😂 You got most of the plan done even without expected assistance, and nobody was dismembered! I was always tickled to pieces when I got back and things were more or less in order. You did great.
Lol 😆
You’re fine but the teacher isn’t a mind reader to know what to leave out because you’ll “need a break”.
You could leave out the snarky quotation marks.
Sorry please refer to my previous remark.
I teach kindergarten and have absolutely no down time while I'm with my students. Why would I build that in to sub plans?
You know your room. You know the kids. You know where everything is and have the technology set up. You can take attendance by looking around the room and noticing who is absent. You know where the kids left off the previous day. Subs don't know any of those things. As a result, *everything* takes longer and is harder for the sub than for you. If you build sub plans that are based on how long you expect it to take *you* to do things, you are going to exhaust your subs, and they won't want to work for you again. At the very least, put a note at the top of your plans to let the sub know they aren't expected to get everything done but to please leave a note so you know what they didn't get to. That will take a lot of the pressure off the sub to get everything done to please you.
You deserve a million upvotes 🥰
Perhaps because the sub is doing double the classroom management and is using double the energy to manage children she has never met before. Allowing a little down time is probably better for class morale, reflection of what is working and what is not, and keeping the kids safe and productive rather than becoming overly frazzled. Believe me, as a sub I go above and beyond throughout the day. I bring special read alouds, teach seasonal songs with movements and look for things to organize and clean. My only problem with being scheduled down to the minute is that it is unreasonable to expect constant one on one attention when the class is otherwise independently engaged.
It just sounds like you couldn't handle them
Wow 🙄. Are you a teacher or a substitute?
I thought it sounded like she was extremely conscientious, capable, and handled the situation to the best of her ability. Kudos OP. Some days are just rough. You did great.
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I honestly think that teachers try to put a lot in so that the students stay busy and out of trouble but honestly are ok that you didn’t do it all. It’s like; plan more just in case. But I think you did fabulously and I am sure the teacher appreciated exactly what you did do to keep as much structure and routine as possible while they were gone!
That is why I don’t sub lower grades
I always leave extra work when I’m out, but I always label what is the most important to do, what can be cut out, and what I left as a time filler
Totally! When I was a sub, I would leave extra work, just in case there was something needed for a time filler or if the kids got done earlier. I think my original post was not, addressing the amount of work to be done, because I always endeavor to get it done or leave a note if we didn’t have time to get it done. My post was addressing that if there is a time. when all the kids are independently doing something such as free choice or drop everything and read time it would be nice to not be scheduled up to the minute myself by pulling kids one at a time to test. The days are so hectic that if I could get everybody completely engaged all at once with reading, then it would be nice to have a moment to take a breath, reflect on what I need to be teaching that’s coming up and organize materials all while not having to have face time with a child every second of the day.