NWR: Substitute Notes to Teacher

I like to be honest with the teacher. I'm just wondering if it's going to hinder me if I tell them what went on in detail. I just feel, if it were my classroom, I'd like to know what was going on when I was away.

I don't tell them every little thing, just the major issues I had while working.

Always be honest. I'm out of the classroom now, but did hold my kids to standards when there was a sub.

Teachers should also leave you strategies and suggestions on what works with the class.

Not a teacher, but I think the regular teacher should be aware of these things so a) they know how to continue with the lessons and b) if the behavior is so out of the ordinary for certain children, the teacher can keep an eye on it and have a talk with the parents. Behavior issues could be a symptom of something larger, so it's important to keep track of what's just normal tired/cranky kid stuff and what could be an ongoing issue.

I think you did just fine :-)

@Bailey, that's fine! Like I said, I guess this is more of a WWYD? and, if advice is be shared, I'll more than gladly take it.

I suppose I'm just upset because I subbed for this teacher last year and it went GREAT; she actually called me for another job that week, but that assignment was the last one I could take before going out on vacation. I just hope she's not too upset that my second time in there did not go as well as the first. As I said, I gave her the positives, but I didn't sugarcoat anything. I told her who was acting up, how it interfered with finishing up some coursework, but made it a point to say, "I get it, it snowed and there's power-outages across town; lots of distractions and it's almost Halloween. However..."

I just don't want to say it was all sunshine and rainbows when it definitely wasn't, but I don't want to seem like I can't control the classroom.

Be honest with the teacher. I ALWAYS want to know how my students behaved when I was out. By letting her/him know the teacher will be able to work on fixing this issue so that the next sub wont encounter the same problems.

You did the right thing!

@Deb, I think it was a family emergency, so she just typed up her schedule and headed out. She let me know the day before (as I was there for another assignment) where everything was. The typical go-to for this grade is a loss of recess time, but there was an assembly scheduled at that time...so that didn't work out too well.

I definitely prefer to know what happened while I was away. I know which of my groups aren't composed entirely of sunshine and light anyway, and clear communication and my responses to it mean that things will be that much better for the next person who has to sub.

Only once have I really been surprised by a scathing report of a lively but very intelligent and fun group. So I asked them about it. And apparently the sub walked in and immediately told them she'd heard they were 'trouble'. Then she put a 10 on the board and told them that was the number of minutes of detention she was giving them right off the bat, and they'd need to earn their way out of it. To which they all promptly decided, 'fuck this' and proceeded to wreck her day. Can't blame them - I'd have done the same.

Pretty much every other time, my sub report has been in line with what I already know about the group.

I'm in a fourth grade classroom for my student teaching this year and we've had a lot of subs in the last couple of weeks. The teacher I'm with always prefer when subs leave detailed notes about any issues and about what actually got completed. We know the behaviors in the class and know how they are with subs so it's never a surprise that it doesn't go perfectly. If you leave notes then the teacher can take any action that they feel needs taken. Always better to be honest because some of the kids will probably tell the teacher how it went anyway. I don't think it would necessarily affect whether the teacher asks you back again, unless you really didn't try to control the situation, and it doesn't sound like that's the case.

She has to be aware that every day is a different day! She knows how it goes as a teacher, how children can be saints one day and little assholes the next. Don't think this has any bearing on your abilities!

Back in my school days, I know all the substitutes at my high school left reports for the teachers, good or bad or neutral. Now going into teaching myself, I would think it's only fair, so I know we're all on the same page. I don't want to go in thinking the students did what was left for them and find out they're behind.

@Lillian, what made me sad was that this teacher wouldn't be back in her classroom until today. As I said, I think I filled in for some sort of last-minute event that popped up. So, between me and the regular teacher, there was one more sub in-between; and on a holiday! I hope it went well for them.

@Delfina, that's ridiculous. For the younger kids, but old enough to know better (about 2-4th grade), the first thing I do when they act up is put their name on the board as a warning. If I have to put a check next to their name, it's five minutes off recess; a second check, ten minutes; a third is all; after that, I just send them to the office. The worst I've ever had to do is all of recess in the 2nd grade; most of the time, they stop after two.

@Serena, I tried like hell, but as I said, it was a losing battle. It was mostly just noise and not doing as they were tasked to. It got out of hand for one subject, the one before lunch, so I had them stop what they were doing and sit with their heads down until it was time for me to take them to lunch. It was ridiculous. I told them several times to speak quietly with their group partners (this subject is all group work) and even that, in addition to moving on to shutting off the lights and shutting the classroom door, it didn't help.

@Sass, thank you for the reassurance! I know I did what I could, but it's still frustrating.

@Jay That's a totally reasonable discipline system and in my experience it would work 95% of the time. It sounds like you just had bad luck this particular day, and all teachers know that it's possible for a class to collectively get into a 'mood'. I'm pretty sure the teacher will understand and appreciate your honesty.

I teach middle school- fun times! Personally, I would want to know what happened and who was in the room stirring the pot so I could deal with it when I came back. I have rarely put the sub on the blame train. Usually, I plan WAY more stuff than necessary in case of a plethora of things happen. Honestly, she was probably just happy you covered for her and whipped up her plans and that was the end of it. As a teacher I don't dwell too deeply on how a sub day went because I know it's breaking from the kids normal routine and anything that messes with the flow is going to set a few kiddos off. Just the way of the world!

@Delfina, thanks. Unfortunately, I couldn't even implement this system with their assembly during their recess period. So, it was a Friday...where it was snowing...with no recess...it was just a perfect storm, in my opinion.

That's all you can do. I really dislike subbing 3rd and 4th grade out of everything. They give me the most problems. Every teacher is different, and it's difficult as a sub to negotiate how the kids are used to being disciplined with how you do it. The best luck I ever had with reforming a particularly bad class was when I had to send a kid to the principal's office. They have been a great class to sub for since that moment lol. But you never know what works. A lot of my friends who teach full time just want notes from the subs so they do understand why something wasn't accomplished. You'd be surprised how many subs write no note and do nothing on the sub plan.

Honestly, after 21 years in education I still feel for subs. It's gotta be tough. I'm in special needs so I always had a para who could run things.

I always appreciate any notes the sub leaves me. When my students are well behaved, they are rewarded, if they're not, parents are called.

When I was in school the subs always left a note of what happened good or bad....my aunt teaches 7th grade actually had a sub make a list of every student who was bad that day and every one who was good along with reasons why they were on which list.

I was a sub before I started teaching. I've been teaching for 11 years, and know how hard it was ,so i like to remind my students and hold them accountable for being sympathetic to a guest coming into our classroom community. That's why the feedback is helpful.