Does Your Real Teacher Let You Do That?

Little (and big) substitute teacher things.

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When you’re finally fairly confident about your ability to teach a particular lesson/subject

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When a student/parent clearly prefers you to other teachers

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When you kind of hate punishment/reward systems for students, even for little kids

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When someone tells you their kid ‘didn’t act up at all’ with a different tutor, completely disregarding the progress he’s made with you being consistent and calmly redirecting his behavior rather than idly threatening him into subservience

[fathercharlesoffdensen]

Tfw it’s so muggy inside/outside the classroom that you lose brave teachers/students to the cause mid-battle

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When your students have standardized testing the entire period and you literally have nothing to do for hours besides sit there.

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When the boss of your boss randomly observes you giving an A+ lesson

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When your students work really hard to master a concept all class and they simultaneously realize that they all get it

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

Recess duty < lunch duty

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When one of the schools you sub at every so often randomly changes your assignment and then just kind of 🤷🏼‍♀️.

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When the person in charge of hiring for a long term sub position you are super qualified for strings you along for literally a month before admitting they always meant to hire a reading specialist for the assignment so they could proctor end of year assessments ... that you are trained in at the college level and could have highlighted that during the interview if you had known you were supposed to. Also, just be honest so I don't spend weeks thinking I have a fucking chance.

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When the actual teacher doesn't leave enough/anything for students to do, and you're basically being paid to sit around making sure nobody sets anything on fire. (Spoiler alert: Days like this feel three times longer than ones where you're actually, er, teaching.)

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

How it feels sometimes entering the teachers’ lounge as a sub.

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When you and another teacher pass one another in the hallway.

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

The first time you observe the phenomenon of kids scream-running at recess.

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

When the noise in the classroom goes from a normal amount of chatter to like Mach 5.

[doesyourrealteacherletyoudothat]

How you feel by the end of the school day (and sometimes by the time lunch rolls around).