Crazy Stories of Substitute Teachers
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- čas přidán 21. 05. 2022
- We're joined this episode by our good friend Vinny Thomas-who you probably know as @MrThomasEnglish from TikTok, IG, or CZcams-to tell the stories of our experiences with substitute teachers, whom the teaching profession now refers to as a mythical species.
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earlier this year i had to miss a day and no sub picked up the job - big surprise 😂 So whoever was asked to cover my third period class didn’t show up. My kids didn’t tell anyone because they didn’t know what to do, but the class leader for the day still ran the discussion (bell ringer) and every single kid turned in the practice work. They did it with their table group like was on the assignment and everything! i reported it to my principal and AP in case a parent called and they could find out why the class wasn’t covered. High key, we were all really proud of them doing their assessment. This was a gen ed 7th grade ELA class - not even my honors or gifted. Crazy!
What subject? I’m a seventh grader and something similar happened to us where the sub didn’t show up and we were locked out so the kids were to loud in the halls and the office lady subbed
@@Nikiguppies *too loud sorry I just think that’s what it’s supposed to be
My class could honestly never 😂😂🫠 it’s so chaotic we are a seventh grade class as well
Big
This shows how much they respected you.
We had an art teacher, that took maternity leave after she gave birth. A sub/temp art teacher came to take over and though she never did anything wrong and was honestly a nice woman, students just didn’t want to accept her. Students bullied her constantly so bad that she would cry everyday to the point where the original art teacher had to come in and sit with every class and explain to them that they need to respect her. I’ve met some crazy/dumb subs, but honestly 99.9999%, subs are victims of the students lol like…I’ve never seen more bullying, humiliation and disrespect before I saw students targeting their subs.
When that happened in my class in 6th grade we all wanted her to do a handstand but she was like 80 and always wore dresses. I think on purpose.
Absolutely. My 5-8th grade class absolutely tormented subs. Like would celebrate if they made a teacher cry. Kids are monsters
Why so long
And it really sucks. I’ve had some subs in classes that changed the room completely. In my English class once we had a sub that was so much better than our teacher to the point that I still miss him. He was amazing. Some subs who know what the subject is can be amazing and they just wanna help.
Yea that’s true and I bet when you get a sub who is harsher and not the kindest is because she’s been hurt in the past by students so they had to toughen up to not get harassed and bullied
at my high school, we have mr. beaver. he’s like 80 years old and he falls asleep in every period. he also wears like those masquerade masks with those long noses everywhere he goes and his wardrobe is iconic. one time, he subbed for choir and he was literally singing along with us- trying to at least. and in 8th he subbed for theatre and he gave us a whole spiel on acting and his career. but ive never met anyone so dedicated to a district. he’s at every game, show, and concert and remembers all of his kids.
I just started subbing this past school year and I love when teachers leave detailed notes with the stick notes. It makes my job so much easer. My favorite memory is when I was subbing for a 2nd grade class. We were about to going over English stuff and a little girl came up to me and said she was dyslexic and might have trouble with some words. I looked and said “You wanna know something. I’m dyslexic too.” Her whole face lit up and she said “So you know how it feels.”. I nodded and said “Yes I do.” It was one of the best experiences of my life.
Aww this story makes me happy 😊
Just wanted to say how awesome you are for that 👍
Ummmm...please say you're not an English/Lit teacher, because your grammar is absolutely atrocious...how'd you attain teaching credentials, what Community College is fraudulently handing out degrees and credential certificates?! That institution needs to be shuddered as soon as humanly possible...
The teachers with the detailed notes are the best! Especially when they include extra info about the student. Like "johnny has ADHD and he uses a fidget" or "Susie has auditory processing issues and sometimes she needs to do her assignment in the hallway". Little things you can do to make things easier for the kids. God those teachers are my absolute favorite and I just love working their classes.
@@waynefontaine5533 you only need 36 college credit hours to substitute in Missouri. I don't know how many hrs is the requirement elsewhere. But not everyone watches how they write on the internet.
My mom was a substitute teacher when I was in high school. She was very popular because she took no crap from anyone and made them do their work.
She used to say that after dealing with 7 kids and an alcoholic husband at home, subbing was a piece of cake.
Well bless your mom, because a sub that takes no 💩 AND garners student respect is a unicorn. Beautiful, rare, and beloved by teachers
@@Monicaerikarita thanks 😊! She would begin by taking attendance and then announcing a spot quiz, which would bring on a lot of action, as everyone hustled back to their real seats.
At 88 years old, my mom is still a badass. 😎
Definitely agree. 😢 I had an alcoholic father at home and 3 siblings to look after 😢and subbing is a piece of cake
This was me, minus the alcoholic husband. Lol! I subbed at my children’s school for over a year, and now I’m full time.
@Nicole Leavelle my mother rarely subbed at any of our schools. We were spread out between elementary, junior high, and high schools at the time.
They usually sent her into the inner city schools because she could handle the kids there.
Well at least that Mr.Williams is okay and at least that he's going to start some new things and I feel like we are all excited for that and support it!!! And love to see Mr. Thomas on the show!!!
same
@@PJM9822 yeah, and I also feel like in a way having Mr Thomas here kind of puts it as like a bit of a different perspective because he is from another country which has like a different school system from the one in the United States and I feel like that's a good perspective to bring into the podcast
@@WessamBarbour yeah
They kicked him off the show. SAD. They are being dishonest. He deserved better. x
@@bethanyeberly5920 I wanna ask, how do you know that he was kicked from the show????
I had a teacher in high school who was an identical twin and his brother was also a teacher. The twin would sub for our teacher and would not clue us in because he loved to see which student could tell first...sometimes it would take a couple days before anyone realized it. This same set of twin teachers also had a set of identical triplet brothers (bless their mama) who would prank new classes by walking into the classroom one after the other several minutes apart, and they would just stand in the back of the room not saying a word. The kids would just sit there wondering if there was going to be a fourth guy coming in, but the teacher would let them in on the joke by then. Good times.
I know no one can replace Mr Williams, but Vinny can stay! He is one of my favorite people on Social Media!
He can be a permanent sub 😂
Great to see Vinny or Mr Thomas ex English teacher!
i would love if y’all had guests of teachers from other countries, id love to learn about how other countries school systems are!
Yess!! Maybe Beluviaja she's from Chile and is teaching in Texas rn
If they did this, I would love to recommend my favorite teacher of all time - he was my AP Human Geography, AP Gov, and Seminar teacher - Nate Bowling, 2016 Washington State Teacher of the Year and top 4 finalist for 2016 National Teacher of the Year. He’s regularly taught overseas in China during the summers, and has now been teaching in Abu Dhabi, UAE for (I want to say) 2 years now! He’d have stories to boot!
Could you also do the US themselves? As a german its pretty difficult to understand, HOW exactly a teacher in the US works. Like: How are you structuring your lessons, How do you teach (like in history: Importance on facts or skills?), What do you plan, What are your methods. I would love to know how teachers work in the US!
This would be interesting! I live in Australia and I just realised that you don’t have to be a trained educator to teach as a substitute in the US. But here in Australia all our Casual Teachers (substitute teachers) are trained teachers.
It’s interesting how countries do education differently!
@@BritneyleeA requirements can vary by State/City in the US, actually! I can’t speak for other States, but I live in Washington State and here, substitute teachers for High School and Middle school are required to have a Masters Degree, and Elementary school teachers are required to have a BA. Pre-K teachers and below, however, don’t have any requirements aside from you taking at least one class per year to further your education, but that means someone could start with zero credits and teach for 10 years without even an AA, which is scary to me :| Especially considering that only became a requirement right before I got hired! I was a floater for a school and daycare that took children from 1 year to Pre-K and opened up to Elementary students during COVID, and as a college student I had more credits than most of the employees, some of which had been there for over a decade or two - and you could TELL the difference between the ones who had the proper education and who didn’t :/ The one thing that made me feel better was that everyone had to get a background check, food handler’s card, CPR and first aid certs and HIV/Bloodborne pathogens certs, as well as 40 Hour STARS training. Still makes me uneasy though, and I’ll likely be paying my mom (who has the proper education and 30 years of teaching experience) and a private tutor instead of sending my kids to a preschool here, tbh
I have too many sub stories to tell, but my absolute favourite happened when I was teaching world religions to 7th grade. The topic was shintoism, I had zero instructions but luckily I was teaching my own subject. This class was the one teachers would warn you about, the crazy class jumping at walls and not listening, speaking over you, the whole nine yards. And this was the last lesson on a Friday, so you know the kids are going to be just off.
So I started the lesson, trying my best to keep the conversation on the topic by throwing in jokes and making the kids part of the conversation. It went surprisingly well.
The last part of the lesson I had planned we fold origami. I gave them the instructions and the paper and told them "once you have properly folded the origami, you can leave". I had the instructions on my slides step by step, so I knew they would all finish within 30 seconds of one another so that wouldn't be an issue. I have done this with multiple groups before and I have never seen anyone fold origami so neatly and carefully but also quickly. It was straight up a miracle looking at this "teacher's nightmare group" working at this somewhat tedious assignment.
Already during the lesson, but specifically after it, the kids told me I was the first teacher who didn't lose temper with them, the first one who didn't yell at them and they straight up asked if I could be their actual teacher. I went home and cried after because I felt so accomplished
I’m 18 and a library assistant at an elementary school who’s pulled to sub ALL THE TIME (gotta love the teacher shortages!) The first time I substituted a class it was Kindergarten and one student ran away from me at the end of recess. The principal chased him around the building and I was amidst a panic attack with 20 other kids looking at me doe-eyed. It’s a crazy experience, and 3rd grade in my opinion is the best to substitute, a medium between scary 4-5th graders and no-idea-what’s-going-on K-2nd. I also substituted Gym once and had to drag a kid back to their classroom once class was over, and they ran to one of those industrial paper cutters in a teacher work station and proceeded to put their hand under the blade. I don’t think I get paid enough for this lol
You should see my elementary school I used to go to (I’m going to middle school now) i haven’t had a certified teacher for reading or math so I failed those eogs because we weren’t learning anything, the only certified teacher I had is moving to Texas so my little sister is going to a new school next year (she will be in 5th) the teachers are all leaving because the principal is just plan stupid she’s racist so that’s just not great at all:)
I’m a 21 year old who has no plans of ever teaching but I cannot get enough of this podcast! I’ve been watching clips for weeks now & I’m so invested 🤣
Me too yes 😂🤭🤣
I am a diabetic of 15 years. And I completely relate to this story. SOOOOO many subs will take my phone and send me down to the counselor for "misusing my phone" that eventually she would just let me hang out in her office and have my phone brought down to me. But one time a sub was teaching in my ITHINK college English class which was right after lunch when my blood sugars would rise significantly. My CGMapp beeped and I had to take out my phone to monitor my rising sugar levels. When the sub had "caught" me using my phone and personally escorted me to the counselor's office. Once she brought me to her our counselor told her she could go back to my class, but the sub wouldn't leave until I was punished for my "wrongdoings". The counselor called the principal. The sub played the innocent card and tried to sweet-talk her way out of the situation, and she was fired on the spot for almost causing severe medical injury. Nobody at our school had seen her the rest of the year. FYI she left my class unattended without notifying any other teachers in the hallway. My friend's mom is on our school district board and she said she was fired from the district because this had happened on multiple occurrences. Now the janitors and Night crew are subbing at our school.
I was teaching in Houston and moved to the Dallas area without a job. I subbed this one PE job. A 4th grader said to me, “You act like a real teacher.” I said I am a real teacher. The kid said to the class, “We can’t be bad, she’s a real teacher!” I started laughing cause the he looked really disappointed when he said it. 🤣🤣
Of course I’ve been missing Tell but hearing Vinny’s voice come through my speakers made me smile so much! Best collaboration I didn’t see coming! 🥰🙌🏼 Absolutely adore this podcast and all involved 😊🖤
Both Tell and Vinny are both wonderful dudes! Love them!
In high school we had a older man who was a sub named Mr. Brown who would sub for all different classes in the school and everyone loved him! He was always super sweet and understanding and would make the lesson fun for the day. The sweetest thing he did was when he subbed for my senior year English class and it was towards the end of the year so he brought cupcakes to say bye and good luck to all students who were gonna graduate! He was the best!
I had a sub a few times that honestly was great looking back. He was a retired marine and DEFINITELY gave off that energy, but he refused to let anyone walk with their head down. If he caught you walking into/out of the class or down the hall with your head down he would literally yell at you to put your head up and always say “the war isn’t on the floor. Look up to keep going” type of stuff and that honestly stuck with me and helped with my confidence a lot.
I would've hated him I'm sorry- I have social problems and also ADHD with my sister thinking I have autisim but not confirmed I need to get that tested, looking people in the eyes while walking somewhere makes me physically uncomfortable. I'm much more comfortable looking at the floor where I can't make awkward eye contact. Being told to look up when I'm uncomfortable doing that would really upset me greatly because it feels like being judged for just preferring to look at the floor.
My German 11 class once had to get covered by a teacher from the English department who did not speak a LICK of German, but he did his best to help us get through what we had to get through that day. We clapped every single time he pronounced something correctly. By the end of class it was utter chaos, but everybody had a good time. (Better than the year before when one of the French teachers had to cover: it did not go well)
As a student there was this one sub, she was this sweet old lady. She was a retired teacher and she would bring in candy and hand it out to students who did there work, everyone loved her 😂
Im a young sub and have always had social anxiety, although I cover it well and can be very well spoken and charismatic. However I’m always wondering if teachers think I’m weird or not doing a good job… after these stories I feel fairly confident that I am not even close to being a bad sub 🤣🤣
I'm 20 and thinking of subbing for the first time but I have really strong anxiety. I'm glad I read your comment it makes me feel more encouraged.
Glad he is doing all right!!!! The minute Thomas came on I through my phone, we love him!!!!!!
Threw* sry I just have a bit of ocd but yeah same lol
@@Nikiguppies hehe it’s fine also it’s sorry
The twin story killed me- I was subbing for a class last week and had a student leave class to do some make up testing, and then her twin sister comes in for a time out because of behavioral issues. The entire class was baffled when I had the conversation "Why are you here? You're supposed to be in the library until 12!"- turns out they're very easy to tell apart because the girl who would have normally been in my class is like a full 6 inches taller than her sister.
There was a sub that was so consistent at coming to school that whenever kids got him they would start running around screaming telling the rest of the students and the rest of the students where always so salty. Got him 2 times the entire year.
This is what I aspire to be!
Had my 4th grade teacher mysteriously disappear after not teaching us anything for the first 3 quarters of the year and having multiple abuse accusations. Our sub swooped in as a full time teacher and taught us an entire year of information in just 9 weeks.
In HS I was in AP English doing “silent writing” and the sub from across the hall came in to ask my teacher a question. With the whole room SILENT she proceeded to congratulate my teacher on her “pregnancy” and ask how far along she was and said “must be at least 8 months”. She was NOT pregnant. My teacher very eloquently told her off and was so embarrassed/ pissed. That sub was literally CRAZY and wore clothes that where wayyy too small and honestly has no room to be asking women if their pregnant😳 I felt so awful for my teacher!
wow smh
As a student I had a fantastic chemistry sub teacher. Any time we had him he'd just spend the lessons setting fire to stuff and mixing different reactive chemicals. I swear that guy is why I like chemistry more than the actual teacher.
Because the sub is not as stressed as the regular teacher who are so overtasked with other things they need to do for the school while also have to teach. There’s not much time to plan good lessons.
I'm still a student, and I can say that I do have a favorite sub. I had Mrs. Simpson on and off throughout my entire time in middle school, and she was so sweet. She even spent most of my 6th grade year as my English and Science teacher. Almost the entire year as my math teacher in 8th grade, as well as nearly every other class in each grade at some point. She moved back to her home in Northern Mississippi at the end of 8th grade, and I never wanted to keep my teacher more than that moment. The only other teacher that I loved that much was my 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Grey, but luckily, she switched to help with high school English, so I can see her more, but sadly, I have only seen her a few times.
As a full time Teacher who like everyone else has trouble getting Subs , One issue that's not mentioned enough is that Substitutes who work 3 or more days per week should get at least some of the benefits of Full-time teachers , Their pay should me close to Full- time Teaching . Although they don't have as many responsibilities . IT'S REALLY HARD TO BE A GOOD SUBSTITUTE !! They don't receive as much $$ as they should and they get respected even less than us Full- Timers peace
I miss substitute teaching. I'm actually a nurse. I got attacked on the job. It changed my life. But bc of my conditions I have really bad days and it makes me (imho unreliable). Plus my tourettes has become worse bc of changes to meds. I haven't substituted in a long time. I miss my nursing career. Trying to survive on disability is extremely difficult. I'm chronically ill and it will just progress. But I love watching this.
@@Nursing1988 I'm really sorry that happened to you! . I'm also sorry our country only takes care of multi- millionaires / billionaires and not actual working people. May this new year bring to you physical relief and much peace and happiness
As a teacher who also subs at our other two schools I can say it is both high stress and an adventure. You need to have outstanding classroom management skills, flexibility and be able to deal with them testing you. I love being in all our schools throughout the year though.
The power hungry thing is real for all helping professions. Teachers (and subs), cops, medical professionals, social workers, foster parents (I know it's not actually a career), etc.
The helping professions attract the kind and empathetic, but they also really attract the power hungry bullies.
Absolutely true. I’ve experienced incredibly kind and helpful teachers who inspired me and built me up; but I’ve also experienced a good amount of angry, disinterested teachers who acted like they were being inconvenienced when I needed help. I think any position of power, big or small, definitely attracts a mixed bag.
so true
I hope the sub who endangered the diabetic student's life by ignoring the safety plan got sued so hard that her great-grandkids will be paying!
I've also heard horror stories about insulin pumps being confiscated by teachers and TSA agents...
UGH... I read somewhere where a teacher (not a sub) would go around the classroom and if kids had ebuds stinking out (the wired ones) she cut them with scissors (why she thought she had the right is beyond me). One day she did that to a Type 1 Diabetic's pump! The student asked her why she did that and she said: "You're not allowed to have ear pods in class." the student told her it was her pump. Fortunately it was an easy fix and didn't actually damage the pump, (But she had to go home and get a new inset) but this woman endangered her Life because of her hang up about ear pods! If I had been the parent of this student I would've been LIVID.
As a diabetic, these storys scare and anger me. like bruh, if im about to pass out, let me eat a snack.
@@lilyplaysgames6802 Same for me
@@lilyplaysgames6802 Me too.
@@lilyplaysgames6802 i’m not even a diabetic but if I need a snack I need a snack…
I live in a school district where you can choose what days and what schools you want to work at as well. My first time subbing was at a middle school and the principal liked me so she would ask me to cover assignments before they put them on the job board. The students got really used to me and when I would come in would spread the word that I was there for the day 😆 I would have students visiting me wherever I was that day to say hi and when I was pregnant would regularly have snacks given to me. I took a long maternity leave but I'm going back once school starts again, I miss those kids.
There was a regular substitute at my high school named Mrs Dewer- she was infamous for being nasty to freshman (and then progressively nicer to the same kids as they aged) and telling stories about growing up in the cold war. I still remember the story about how they had a duck and cover drill where the girls all had to pull their skirts over their heads (weird in itself). Apparently she had "day of the week" underwear and had worn Tuesdays underwear on a Thursday and was forever mortified. She'd pull this out any time we were annoyed by tornado drills, or honestly- any random time
TW: mental health
I was a long term sub for 3 years (10 with my district). I was treated so bad by some staff (especially admin) and students because I was “just a sub”, that I had a mental breakdown/burnout and almost committed myself more times than I can count just this past school year. Funny thing is that I was, according to MANY people, I was also one of the best they had and was constantly being told to get my full license by other teachers. I could tell horror stories about what happened at the HS I worked at. It got so bad with my admin (including them ignoring my need for health/disability accommodations) that even my sub supervisor gave up and told me there was “nothing she could do for me”. Every time I a serious issue, I was either ignored or punished for bringing problems to light. I quit 2 1/2 weeks before school let out because a student physically threatened me and I was scared for my safety. My admin didn’t do much and told the kid to apologize for bullying me and said the kid had good intentions. It was written up as a phone violation after I talked to my admin because even though the kid talked to him, he ignored my write ups in our system. There was no follow up and I quit after that. No one reached out to me after my documentation statement. All I got was an, “Oh my…” from my supervisor and a short 2 minute rant from my principal on how not everyone can/should teach and how he doesn’t allow harassment in his area of the school, since there are 5 principals. After I left, I had students tell me the sub threw all of what I had prepped til the end of the school year away and popped in the movie instead of making kids finish a novel we were reading. But I did also hear that teachers in other parts of the building were telling daily subs to NOT take my classes because of how bad they were and how I was mistreated and that if they took them, they wouldn’t receive any help from admin. Our district is so doomed next year and they know it. Just desserts, I guess.
Im sorry you went through that. I hope your in a better place.
My favorite sub I ever had as a kid was named Mr Cheney...I think he was a retired teacher who still subbed to have something to do or to help out. He'd teach the material and then he did two things that I'll always remember...if you asked him to tell a story to you (we were like in first and second grade) he'd say "there once was a king who lived and died, the end." And then after teaching the material for our play time he would teach us how to play chess and different chess openings and he got this whole group of young kids super into chess, kids were taking out books from the library about how to play so they could get better...I always think back on him, he really left an impact on us.
I had a substitute teacher who had a whistle. She was an older lady too. I actually respect this teacher and honestly she was not afraid to blow her whistle if my class was being rowdy. I had horrible classmates. In my junior year they made our chemistry teacher cry and apparently if you misbehaved or said something bad about her she would give you bad grades. I honestly don't blame her cause my class was awful. She left after one year. We scared off a few teachers. It was bad. But the substitute with the whistle never took crap from us which made her an amazing substance
I had a sub in elementary school who we all loved. He had an amazing connection with us and did this really unique thing where each day he would give out the "Biggest Ear Award" to the best listener.
Worst sub I had was a woman who went out to her car for lunch…drank a bunch of alcohol and passed out. A student saw her and reported it. Admin had to call an ambulance because they couldn’t wake her up…they didn’t know what was wrong with her. Turned out she had a substance abuse problem and went to rehab. She was never called back, obviously.
This issue happened in my school and it wasn’t even a sub that dealt with this, this was a new teacher who started her first year teaching with the class I had. The boys in the class were so cruel to her for NO REASON! The worst that the boys did was blackmail her with photos of her face photoshopped on p*rn stars bodies. She quit the same semester and I felt so, so bad for her. She didn’t deserve any of the treatment she got at all, she was such a sweet woman.
I never understood why the boys in the class just bullied her and were so heartless to her. I really hope she’s doing well now and not let that whole incident deter her from teaching ❤️
We had a sub in my highschool who kinda subbed for everyone. He was the most suave man I've even seen. He used to hair spray his hair up and back into like a greaser style. He wore a ton of jewelry, and even drew on his eyebrows. My favorite classes with him were our gym classes because he would wear a full matching track suit 😂😭 everyone loved him
I’m not going to lie, I found this channel 2 weeks ago and as an Education Major… this channel makes me excited to teach!☺️✨👩🏽🏫
In elementary school, I had this substitute teacher that I will never forget. Aside from the times where she would lock students in closets for misbehaving or her obsession with stickers, I remember this one time where, instead of following our teachers lesson plan, she put on a movie about fish and had us draw fish for the first half of the school day! Our teacher was livid when she found out but us students had a blast 😂❤️
Since I usually spent a couple of hours preparing for a sub, it made me angry when they just ignored all my hard work.
this past year in my science class we had this teacher who was a very sweet lady but she never really taught us, she showed us videos and rarely talked to us about the subject. but she had to leave for about 2 weeks for personal reasons which turned into 3 weeks. we had a sub who was one of the best subs/ teachers i have ever had. and honestly we learned so much in 3 weeks with her. and on one of the last days of school my real teacher told us she was retiring and we were sad but we were hoping we’d have the sub for our real teacher. but we didn’t think we’d have the sub as our teacher because she was already retired and we didn’t think she would come back. but recently i found out she’s going to be my new teacher!!
one time in the 3rd grade, a classmate of mine got in trouble for talking, so as a punishment, the teacher moved him to the front of the class under the white board (that had been drilled over a chalkboard) and under the smart board. as she continues to teach, the lights flicker in the classroom and there’s like a zapping/explosion sound. the student she had moved to the floor, had taken a quarter and stuck it into the outlet and blew the power out in the entire school from that classroom and upwards. now this school was a K-12 (kindergarten-seniors all in the same building) so from the 3rd grade classroom up to the high school science lab (last classroom in the building) was out of power. every classroom before that including the AG building and Home Ec. buildings, were completely fine; every where else was devoid of power because of a student stuck a quarter into an outlet. took them 3 days to get the power back in some of the rooms
During my freshman year of high-school, I had one of the best subs ever. My world history teacher had to go on maternity leave so during that whole time we had a sub, and he was so amazing. Since this was during covid my class was really small, we only had 6 students counting myself, so he had no problem keeping us in check. But also because of how small the class was, we would finish things early and would turn the last 30 to 40 minutes of class either into a debate time or just a chill time. One of the best subs I never had.
This one time, my science teacher had to go on maternity leave and we had a substitute teacher that is so obviously new to teaching cause she tried to teach us something and ended up confusing the whole class and couldn’t answer the questions that students were asking due to the confusions caused
And I went and made a deal to teach on her behalf in exchange for using her phone during class each time (ps. I live in a country where bringing phones to school isn’t allowed and when caught, they’d confiscate it)
So I ended up teaching the class on every chapter, and tutored everyone that had asked me to.
You made me unlock a core memory in 4th grade we had a sub and he was an older gentleman. He was nice but also sarcastic. I honestly love this guy he won favorite sub. anyways my class had a Conner and Kyle who was driving the whole class up the wall. irritated with the boys the sub was like alright it time for SSR sit down shut up and read we laughed so hard nobody tried to get him in trouble.
We had an elderly sub in high school and everyone knew her was Latin lady, no matter what subject she was subbing for she always started the class with teaching us a phrase in Latin. Sometimes we wouldn’t get to anything on the lesson plan because she kept talking, she was super sweet 💕
I had a long term sub for 2 quarters. That was weird enough, but at some point they found us an actual teacher. And I felt so sorry for her because all the crap we put her through. And I had her last period. So I always walked into that class in shreds or on my last little speck of sanity. So at one point I literally said. “I’ll bet by the end of this year, my sanity will be gone” and she was like “same” then we started talking about books. She’s doing 7th grade science next year. I’m incredibly worried for her. But I’m also worried for next year’s 8th grade teacher. I’ve heard the 7th graders are the best it’s gonna get. It all goes downhill from there.
I had a sub in elementary school who everybody loved (except for the teachers pets) his name was Mr. Shea. this guy was so cool he lived in Africa for a while and he told us all kinds of crazy stories about his amazing adventures and dude he was honestly like that grandpa that tells you all kinds of crazy stories about "the good ol days". we never got anything done but still love that dude
I'm a certified teacher that will never teach again, but I like subbing. I subbed today. I cannot tell you how many classes I've walked into and there are zero sub notes or lessons. Absolutely nothing. Good times. These kids kick the crazy up to max for subs too. I have lots of interesting subbing stories, really should write a book.
My favorite Sub in high school and middle school was fantastic, she made all the difference. She was an elderly lady and was a little out of it sometimes but I will never forget that she always remembered to say my name correctly. My name is Gabriel and I am female, many people after realizing that will call me Gabrielle or Gabriella and assume an attendance error. Instead, this sub remembered me for 6 years and said my name correctly every time since I corrected her the very first time, even nicknaming me her angel because of the angel Gabriel. She was truly a blessing, rest her soul.
I am late to this party but the past two weeks I started subbing. I subbed in a high school science class last week and it’s a day I will remember. Very detailed notes from the teacher which was great! But she allowed the students to eat snacks in class. I have some insane food allergies (touch, air borne and oral). I got to teach every class about food allergies and how sensitive some people are (me). One class even got to watch as a reaction started. Someone in the class before had eaten Doritos (which have tomato powder), she must have touched the door handled, because I had hives, redness, and itching starting on my hand just minutes after closing the door. So I know that next day they all told their teacher about the subs strict rules on snacks and the crazy food allergies, but they also learned to be respectful and take someone seriously when they tell them they are allergic. They were all reading the ingredients on their snacks! Which made most of them say, “How do you live like this?!”
I will honestly miss subbing, I start a full time position in the district this week. I’ve had one 3rd grade class two Fridays in a row and they were all sad when they found out I won’t be subbing anymore or be at their school. Which of course melted my heart!
Hi substitute teacher here! I have a really fun story for y’all. Back in like 2016 I was a tutor at an elementary school and I did 3rd and 4th grade. I grew really attached to this group of kids and even babysat some of them when school let out. Eventually my college schedule did not allow me to tutor after 2 and a half years of doing it so I had to quit. Fast forward to my last year in college I start subbing to make some extra cash plus I had the experience to do well. My FIRST DAY subbing for a freshmen class 4 of the kids I taught as 3rd/4th graders walked in and they instantly recognized me. They were just as happy as I was to see them. It was such a crazy thing seeing them be so grown and hearing about of the things they did in middle school. They talked about all the life lessons I taught them and how they always would remember me when times were tough. It makes me tear up now with how much of a difference I made on them and it’s a memory that I hold so so dear to my heart 💗💗
My story - I was a first-time substitute in March of 2022 after retiring from a university. My first assignment was Kindergarten. Worried me a little at first, but I knew that a PA would be in the room most of the day. So, as I'm greeting the kids one little lady walks up to me and says "You can't be the guest teacher today." I asked her why. She said, with a determine look, "Men don't do Kindergarten. Especially a man with a mustache." 😂😂 (I had waxed my handlebar mustache that morning). I tried not to laugh.
Ok just found your channel I'm in Love former Paraprofessional ( glorified babysitter) , my 10th grade chemistry teacher had a glass eye. When he had to leave the room, he'd pop it out set it on his desk and tell us to sit still he was watching us. 😒
I've just found this channel a few days ago. Even though I'm from Argentina and I'm studying to become a Primary teacher (first to sixth grade) I can totally relate. A few months ago I went to a school to do my teaching practice, at sixth grade. About a month after I finished my practice, I ran across some of the students and they told me that their teacher was being subbed (because she'd gone through major surgery) and that they didn't like the sub, they wanted me and my teaching partner to go back to school ❤️
i know it may be difficult, but i would love to hear a podcast on your perspective of school shootings, being that you guys are teachers. do you live in fear? is it something you think about regularly? do you have a personal plan? my mom was an educator for 33 years and i know i worried about her until she retired.
I know that the teachers that I work with don't live in fear. We just go through the week practices motions of a drill. If we heard gunfire it might be a different story.
I am a substitute teacher, and a few weeks ago, a school where I was subbing went into lockdown. We turned off the lights, put all 10 students into the closet area, and covered all the windows (I had a TA with me in the special ed classroom). Honestly, I still don't know if it was a drill or the real thing. There was no gunfire or anything, but I was subbing in a special education classroom, and one of the students, a 2nd grader, was scared to death. It lasted about 10 minutes, and once it was over, the scared student immediately ran over, hugged me, and said, "Happy now!" :)
Like I said, it could've been a real emergency situation, and since I didn't know, I treated it like the real thing. I was pleased that I was able to maintain composure throughout the ordeal and able to comfort that 2nd grader who was so upset.
I had two very special subs when I was in school. I knew both outside of school and they were both phenomenal people and phenomenal teachers. One had been our neighbor before I even started school and her oldest daughter was friends with my older sister. Though we moved away a few years after I started school, I never forgot who she was, and she always remembered me. The second was both the mother of a girl I cheered with for years and the stepmother of another girl I had been friends with since elementary school. I had known both since before their parents married. I had both of them as subs throughout middle and high school and was always happy to find out we would be having one of them as our sub. To this day, I still remember Ruth-Ann and Lisa with all the fondness in the world.
I am a diabetic as well and I was low one day so my teacher let me go to the nurses office. I had to go up to my 3rd floor locker to grab my glucose tablets and when I made it to the nurse she said the teacher had called and they thought I just skipped. I told her I needed to grab my tablets and she was like, "oh! Of course! Ill let him know you got here."
Another day, with the same teacher, I had the opposite problem where my blood sugar was too high so I had to go to the bathroom all the time. Legit, medically needed because my body needs to release the glucose or sugar or whatever from my body. The teacher refused to let me go to the bathroom because I had "lied" about my low blood sugar before. I explained what happened last time and be refused to believe me. I'm about to pee my pants and I just said, "Fine." And walked out. I went to the bathroom and then went to the nurses office to check my blood sugar. (When your blood sugar is high you feel sick and you get muscle cramps and such so you usually know but, you need to check your blood sugar to see how much insulin you need to give yourself to correct your number). I told the nurse what happened and she called in one of the principals, (we had a main principal for the school but then each grade had their own principal on top of it) and the principal suspended the teacher for 2 weeks since it put me in danger.
Okay, so, in Canadian schools an EA is an educational assistant. They usually help one or more children with an IPP (and individual plan for education) that requires the extra help. My eldest had one for a few years due to his ADHD.
Yeah we just called them aids in the US
Had a sub in HS that would sub for our 3d design class. He looked like the guy from the diabetes commercial. He was the best. Also had a sub in elementary and she always brought a prize box. Loved her.
I'm a sub and I always worry that the teacher will feel some type of way when they see that I'm their sub. I don't do anything weird or anything. I've just got generalized anxiety disorder. But these stories man. I suddenly feel a hell of a lot better 🤣
Loved this! We had a sub when I was in high school (Mr Locko) who was amazing. He coached football on the side, but would come into class late with his coffee cup and newspaper. He would cover the sub plans and then hold debates against us students. He was so snarky and hilarious, and reminded me of Ron Swanson. I still see him when I go home and he knows my name after all these years.
Excellent episode! My favorite sub was in high school she always would fall asleep. I loved walking in the classroom to see her at the desk. She'd take attendance, sometimes pass out the work or a student would and we'd just basically have a free period. Then it was either our junior or senior year the whole class lied and said we were suppose to go to the college fair in the gym. She let us all go.
Story: when I was a sub for a high school years ago, I was hit on by students thinking I was a new kid (I’m short and have always been and I’ve always looked young). Let’s just say it was a coward all around and I realized I didn’t want that getting around nor happening so sought to teach younger children. Decided that I enjoyed daycare best.
I really enjoyed the experience I gained being a sub while in college to become a teacher. It helped me to chose the subject and grade level I wanted to teach.
I also really appreciated the subs I had when I was a teacher. I know they’re under paid and very hard to get. I recently left the profession and an amazing sub took my position for the last 5 weeks of school! It really made the transition out of education so much easier knowing the kids would be in good hands to finish out the year!
My district subs can also choose which school they want to work in and how many days they want if the openings are available. The district doesn't force any subs to work in a school they don't feel comfortable in. If you prefer to sub in high school, great. Same with the other two schools. We also have a technical school that utilizes subs.
These are hilarious and after 30 years of teaching, I too have lots of stories. One time a sub rearranged my entire room! But since I have been subbing the last 8 years, I have seen SO MANY TEACHERS who THINK they have prepared well for subs but actually they have sabotaged the substitute and the real horror and hilarious stories are how the kids act when substitute teachers are sabotaged unknowingly. Y'all wonder why there is a shortage? You touched on part of that. The REWARDS kids get for being sent out of the room.
Listening to Vinny reminds me of this one student I had who honestly believed people in England don't speak English.
One time they had a code red while I was subbing a kindergarten class. I had not read the instructions on what to do I looked at the kids and said, "what do we do!!" We all huddled in the corner and then like 5 minutes later the connecting room teacher came over and said oh it's just a drill sorry no one told you. I was so terrified.
I'm in a freshmen AP class in high school. We had a substitute and we absolutely loved her. While we did our work, she gave us all a sticky note with a number on it. She'd call random numbers and if your number got called, she let you pick 2 candies from her box. Then, after we did our assignment, she brought out bingo cards and chips and we played bingo for the rest of class. My teacher heard about it the next day and asked if anyone had gotten her name because the general consensus from the classes was that she was amazing, which she was. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone did. He knew he'd be out a different day for something else and he was going to request her since she was so good with our classes. He also liked that she did bingo with us since it is an AP class and it was a little break that we don't get to have too often.
Loved this episode! Mr. Thomas was awesome even though I missed Mr.Williams.
If you continue to bring on substitutes for Mr.Williams then I would love if you would bring on a Special Education Teacher. They go through so much and always have the best stories about admin./other teacher drama.
My husband and I are both subs and this last year we were both in long terms. So he was in a long term 7th grade SAI English class and the kids were really shaky when he first started. One of his students went to the office after being removed from the class for getting in trouble and as the kid was leaving they threatened my husband that he was going to be fired for this. The kid went to the Principal and told the Principal that, "The sub was bad, because he could not read or write, which is why he makes us do all the work." It was hilarious when the Principal told my husband what the student said.
The diabetic substitute issue happened with my brother as well. He was feeling ill, had low blood sugar, so he went to get a snack out of his bag and his sub went OFF about no eating in the classroom (wasn't even a rule for the normal teacher) and no phones and literally took his food and phone. We didn't have a safety advisor or anyone that really patrolled the halls. This was 9th period so his next/last period was gym so on his way to gym he passed out outside and ended up going to the hospital because nobody really knew what happened or why. That sub did not come back. My brother was fine but my dad transferred him to a different school after that.
My favorite sub was a Puerto Rican woman who actually worked with immigrant students from Mexico and their family, and when they didn’t have any then she worked as a sub. She got bullied a little by students for her super thick accent, but during finals of one year where four teachers were fired for threatening/hurting students, the gov stepped in and then tightened up what we needed to know to pass, and she stepped up and we learned that she is one of the smartest people. she was proofing our research papers, teaching us how to do arithmetic, trigonometry, and would go over our spanish final practice with us as a class until we were joking in spanish. i still drop in to see her if i go back to the highschool for anything, she saved hundreds of students grades that year
I have tried to explain to my husband what it is to prep for a sub. I finally said "Imagine a total stranger was coming to our house. They have to pack a bag for you for a week and cook an entire meal all while they are taking care of your children that they have never met. It is literally so much more work to plan for a sub than it is to just drag in. I'd honestly be fine with a talent show if I'm only out for a day 😂.
I’m glad Mr. Williams is ok, but, out of curiosity, what role is he playing? Follow-up: Where can I buy tickets?!
I just got my degree a little over a year ago and have been substitute teaching for about 6 months. Something I've learned as a rule is don't mess with anything technology based. I had a 3rd grade class convince me that their teacher would normally let them retake a quiz they bombed. I told one of the other teachers what happened and put it in my note for the classroom teacher at the end of the day. The class got in trouble and I felt bad. I made it a point to apologize to the classroom teacher when I saw her. Anyway, my go to phrase now is your teacher can take care of that when she gets back and I'll leave a note.
I’m a high school student with type one diabetes. I have had some stories like the last one of teachers or subs not understanding with our equipment or phone alerts are about. Another very common one is thinking insulin pens are vapes, and getting them taken away, which can be extremely dangerous (had happened to me several times). There needs to be better diabetes education in the school systems to prevent things like this for occurring.
I’m happy that Vinny Thomas is here! I watch him constantly!!!!!!
I always liked having substitute teachers. Usually, we had less coursework. Normally, we watched movies related to the subject and only had to write a paragraph or page about what we learned.
Storytime: We had this kid that came in late to class and we had a firm, elderly substitute teacher. He was acting completely out of character: super loud, rambunctious, rude, and it escalated. He started to get other people in the class to act out. Another boy and him started cussing at the teacher, putting desks and chairs in a pile, and throwing things around. He was shouting at the teacher and waving his arms at her. She sat at her desk calmly told him to sit down, work on the worksheet and to stop. I noticed he had a knife in his pocket. Our high school had a strict no weapons of any kind policy, not even a pocket knife. I wrote a note, left it on top of my worksheet, when I turned it into the teacher. He was still acting badly going in and out of the classroom. So she got the principal, removed him from class, and he got suspended for a week. I think he didn't want to be at school anyways. It was kind of a win for everyone. He was significantly chilled out and mostly back to his normal self after that.
I worked as a sub for a long time, and I still do it some times. I've had horror stories (having to give the biology chapter on sex ed to 6th graders) but also lots of lovely stories. One time, I had to teach another 6th grade class (actually, combined class of 5th and 6th grade, we have those in The Netherlands, not sure if it's the same in the US), and the teacher wrote down that the schedule of the day was slightly different, and she suspected the kids would give me trouble for it. But, they didn't. One kid questioned it, the others explained to him how it must be different because they had a different schedule yesterday as well, and now they had to do the things they usually would have done the day before. That was all the "trouble" I got from them. Lovely group of kids they were.
As a professional sub for 15 years, I love detailed sub plans. I also write detailed notes for the day. Teachers often said I wrote a book, but in a good way. I subbed in extreme special Ed classes for a number of years, until I was beaten to a pulp by a student that was bigger than me. (I had 2 concussions, front and back, my face was black and blue, and I was missing some hair) I went to Jr High for 8 years. But after getting burned by parents and admin in one school, admin in another, and the worst behavior I've ever seen in students at another, I had to make a change and went to elementary level where I had my best experiences of my career. But I had to walk away when I moved. Although I miss it, and I'm told I'm missed, it was time for me to move on.
Good story: we had a sub in 3rd grade who was fluent in German. So if we did our work and were on good behavior, she would teach us some really basic German in the last 5 mins. We found it sooooo cool and she was everyone's favorite
Negative story:
In my APStats class(juniors & seniors) we had a test (they last two days;1 day for multiple choice, the other for FRQs) and the teacher was absent. We were super low on subs so another teacher from a lower grade came and talked for like half the class. Most of the time we didn't have our papers but even after that he continued talking about college and stupid stuff that doesn't matter. Most people didn't get done and our teacher immediately blamed us. We are a good class, we pay attention, we took tests seriously. There was no reason for either one to do that.
There’s this one sub in my county that EVERYONE hates. She literally tells us “no laughing, no fun, no pictures, and NO selfies” and she prides herself on getting two students suspended.
Why are y’all taking selfies in class that’s rude
Wtf are you doing taking photos and selfies
High schoolers Snapchat each other n’stuff but it’s literally pictures of the ceiling. And nobody was taking pictures of her until she started being really dramatic about it. (I never do but kids are mean)
I’m still subbing now! Honestly when I’m with kids for the first day, they ALWAYS act up. But I’ve long termed subbed before to where I was with them for at least more than half the year and they would just respect me more. It’s tough but then I always try my best to relate to these kids so they don’t give me such a hard time. K-2 is my go to. Anything more, they just talk back way too much. Lol!
I’m going into my junior year and I’m taking AP lang as one of my classes. For summer work, one of my assignments is to listen to a podcast and write a short essay about it. What better podcast than this? :D
omg the intro 😭 y’all are so cute, you really inspire me
I had a high school math teacher who had a specific sub anytime she had to be out... her big sister! They looked and acted exactly the same lol no goofing off those days 😅
“What’s the capitol of Florida?”
“Uh, I don’t know, F?”
GASPING
When I was doing a long-term sub job at a high school, I heard about this other substitute. Apparently, he was covering a class on the second story of the school. Well, he fell asleep while the class was supposed to be watching a movie. A student open up the window, climbed out of it, climbed down the building, went around to the side door, had another student let him back in, went upstairs to the class, knocked on the door, woke the sub up, the sub opened the door, let the student in, and went back to sleep. The whole time he never snapped to the fact of what this kid did. How everyone found out about this was when the student did it AGAIN and one of the APs caught him going back to the class for the second time and knocked on the door. This time a student opened the door and the sub was caught sleeping in the corner.
I'm so happy that Mr.Williams is doing so many things because I was worried. Mr Thomas is a great sub I love him and all the ladies 😍
We had a sub once where everytime we saw her, a new limb was broken, whether it be her foot or her arm, SOMETHING was broken. And her hair color changed everytime we saw her 😂
We had a sub in Highschool, Mr. Brown think his name was. He was great mostly in history or English classes but he kept us all engaged with lesson plans by presenting it differently, at the end of the class each time he would teach us a bit of LoTR elvish. He could fluently write in Tolkien's elvish it was beautiful writing, he would write the english pronunciations as well if it was a phrase or sentence.
There was this one black substitute woman that was in her late 40s and everyone feared her because she didn’t play around at all. She was better than some of the normal teachers at getting trouble kids to beheave
The smile on mrs.rogers faces and 18:29 is amazing
I got a story for y'all! A sub from earlier this school year, was rude and would not listen to us students (I am a student). So for the rest of the year we had block schedules due to MAP testing. You think our teacher put that in the plan? No. So our lunch started about..I think 10:54 and ended at 11:22?? I do not remember fully, so we keep telling her our lunch is at the start of class and it is at 10:45. She did not listen, on the plan it said 11:22..so instead of taking us down there and seeing the board with our teachers name, she calls the office. The principal comes down and said it was at 10:54, mind you we already lost like ten minutes of our lunch time, so we had a little bit of lunch left. The principal apologizes and she says "no, these students need to apologize." We all looked around and no one apologized for telling the truth. We finally go to lunch, then go back to the classroom afterwards. So months prior to this sub we had our setting chart changed, way back in I think like October of 2021 or earlier. It was gee I dunno sometimes in 2022. So she pulls out a clipboard with our old seating chart, that she had to dig for because it was so long ago. mind you the desk had switch around. Everyone is yelling at her and I told them to shut up, because no adult will listen to 10+ students yelling at once. Everyone shuts up, I go up to this lady and ask, "what is the date on that clipboard?" Not rude whatsoever correct? She got all defensive and brought the clipboard to her chest (mind you I am of color, mixed with black and white that will be important later). So I am confused and tell her our seats changed, and since we had new people so. Of course it would change. So she gets a green pass(we were on strict like punishment, everyone was in school cause of dumb kids and you couldn't leave without a green pass and could only leave once, unless it is important). She writes "disrespectful" on it, she sends me to Mr. Turner. I walked away and said something rude and slammed the door cause she has lost her mind at this point. Turner is at his lunch break, she sends me to Taylor. Taylor is at her lunch break. She sends me to the office. I go to Mr bandy instead. There was a girl in there from my class that I just came from for saying "teachers are dumb" or something. Another one of my friends is in there, and Mr bandy is really chill. So I tell him the story next thing you know we hear "can we have an administrator to room ###" see, you shouldn't have sent me out. I could have calmed them down, but here we are (I saw a video) she got mad at my friend who is black, let's call him Jay, for opening a window our teacher has open constantly. The administrator comes down, anger. When she asks for an explanation, someone started too and she sent them out. So my friend we will call him d, asks for help with math to the sub. She says no and tells him to go sit down. Isn't that your job? To watch the class and help? D gets sent to the office. Next thing you know my friend, let's call her C, has a panic attack. The teacher won't let C leave. So she walks out and comes to bandys room. So I honestly hated that sub and always will.
I'm a retired Elementary School LIbrarian. There were some subs that would come into the building, and they were not good. One gentleman was very nice, but too quiet and meek to be in the classroom. Like you said, anyone could sub. The Executive Secretary would send them to the library to "help " me. Some days I felt like the Library of Misfit Subs!
There aren’t a lot of podcasts with teachers involved. So nice to see! I just recently found a podcast called Lessons and Whispers: Inside the Teacher’s Corner and I’m glad yall are talking about it. I never knew these things about my teachers. Y’all are so wonderful to listen to!!