Hey teachers out there...

theaterbahai · December 2011

So, I teach Theater Arts in a high school, and I am not usually what you might call a meticulous "planner". Note, I do plan, and all that, but I am not good a writing them out. That being said, I wrote out plans for every class, every day of my leave for the second semester. I mean, I put A LOT of work and time into these plans. And I made them as easy to follow as possible since I wasn't sure if the person subbing for me would have any knowledge of my subject matter. I oriented all of my students before I left about the tasks they would need to accomplish, and I made sure everyone knew what was expected of them before I left. I left careful instructions about how to deal with certain situations that are unique to my classroom, helpful tips, numbers to call, the WORKS.

So yesterday I get a call from my sub.... She had a question about my end of semester test for one of my classes (which I left specific directions for in the very organized notebook I left her). I was still happy to clarify whatever was confusing, when she then said "And while I have you on the phone, I was going to ask you if I could use some of my own lessons for next semester. I didn't really read over yours. I was looking at how I would keep these kids entertained next semester"

Really?!?!? You "didn't read over" the day by day, easy to follow instructions I left, and you would rather just do "whatever to entertain them"? Um, no lady, I would like you to cover my material. THANK YOU! I have two very important units I needed covered, and they were the easiest ones for someone else to teach. Don't get me wrong, I would normally be totally fine with someone putting their own spin on my lessons, if they were related to the topic, but this lady was talking about abandoning my entire unit plan, and doing her own thing. Am I wrong, or is that rather rude?

besu-chan · December 2011

Not only is that rude to you and all the work you did to make her life easier and make sure the students are learning important material, but it's also very unprofessional. I'm a music teacher so I understand the situation you're in- it's hard to count on a sub to be able to know anything about your subject matter, and it's so hard to put into writing what you teach. I've done the same thing for my sub- if I ever get a call like that I will probably snap her head off and then email my principal! Your principal should care about what happens in your classroom and whether the students are learning something worthwhile or just being entertained. I hope you feel like they have your back if the sub is refusing to follow your lesson plans. I know we in the arts are so undervalued all the time.... Ugh, I'm getting upset just thinking about it! Hahaha I hope you can get this worked out. But to answer your question, you are not wrong, and it is beyond rude.

saralu82 · December 2011

No you are not wrong... she's wrong! She has to follow the curriculum and you have mapped out how you want the material to be covered- and I think that is extremely kind of you. You would think she would be relieved that you have done this for her because that makes her time there so easy. You need this material covered so when you return you can begin your next units- I'm not sure why the sub doesn't understand that. It would be one thing if you weren't returning this year and then the responsibility of the students learning the entire curriculum would be on her shoulders. However, you are returning and this is your class not hers... I would be super annoyed.

Sorry this hit a nerve with me because as an educator you work so hard to prepare your students and your sub would like to spend the next whatever or so weeks "entertaining"them.

AfterAll · December 2011

While it is rude, it completely depends on the culture in your school. Maybe she thought it was rude that you left explicit instructions for her. Once you leave, it is not really "your" classroom anymore. In my school, the long term replacement teaches are actual teachers, certified in our subject areas, so leaving them a notebook full of explicit instructions is not only not necessary, but may be offensive to the teacher who is covering.

I have a friend of mine doing my leave replacement, so she is using all of my plans from my plan book, has access to my computer, etc., but this was her choice, and a mutual decision and she can add in whatever else she wants. I am coming back in May, so we decided this would be best for everyone.

The first time I went on leave, I was not planning to come back for the entire school year and my replacement was someone who wanted to be hired for a full time spot in my school. He asked me for my lesson plans, which I thought was rather ballsy (and did not give him) because he was hired as a teacher, not as an actor to read off my plans.

MrsAMB07 · December 2011

AfterAll:
While it is rude, it completely depends on the culture in your school. Maybe she thought it was rude that you left explicit instructions for her. Once you leave, it is not really "your" classroom anymore. In my school, the long term replacement teaches are actual teachers, certified in our subject areas, so leaving them a notebook full of explicit instructions is not only not necessary, but may be offensive to the teacher who is covering.

This. In my school, it's the norm that I won't really be leaving many plans but my grade level partners will be sending their plans to her to copy as he/she likes. (I have one weeks left and STILL haven't heard who my replacement is.) But we tend to share lessons and be consistent across the grade levels anyway.

I had a hard time letting go on my first leave and was so concerned about the sub doing thing my way because it was my class. But honestly, as soon as DS was here, I completely forgot about work altogether. It was not a priority at all and I couldn't have cared less what she did because it was her class now. She was a certified teacher and I had to trust that she knew what she was doing.

It's hard for teachers to give up control over something they usually are so careful about and something they put so much thought and care into... but it'll be fine even if it's not the way you would have done it. Try to relax!

theaterbahai · December 2011

AfterAll:
While it is rude, it completely depends on the culture in your school. Maybe she thought it was rude that you left explicit instructions for her. Once you leave, it is not really "your" classroom anymore. In my school, the long term replacement teaches are actual teachers, certified in our subject areas, so leaving them a notebook full of explicit instructions is not only not necessary, but may be offensive to the teacher who is covering.
.

I completely understand this, but unfortunately, that is not the case here. There is only one Theater Arts person in the sub pool, and he was taken, so whoever I have, though qualified in something, is NOT certified in theater arts. And if it were me as the sub, I would at least look at the material that was being covered by the plans before I jumped off and decided to do my own thing. While I may use my own ideas to teach the material, it would still be the same material. I think that's what got me the most here. She suggested to me that she have them be "entertained" instead of learn something they need to have covered for their semester exams.

But yes, if she were certified in Theater (in AZ, this is separate from English) I would probably have left less detailed instructions, and merely left notes about topics that needed to be covered.

talitha712 · December 2011

Mrs.AMB07:
AfterAll:
While it is rude, it completely depends on the culture in your school. Maybe she thought it was rude that you left explicit instructions for her. Once you leave, it is not really "your" classroom anymore. In my school, the long term replacement teaches are actual teachers, certified in our subject areas, so leaving them a notebook full of explicit instructions is not only not necessary, but may be offensive to the teacher who is covering.
This. In my school, it's the norm that I won't really be leaving many plans but my grade level partners will be sending their plans to her to copy as he/she likes. (I have one weeks left and STILL haven't heard who my replacement is.) But we tend to share lessons and be consistent across the grade levels anyway.
I had a hard time letting go on my first leave and was so concerned about the sub doing thing my way because it was my class. But honestly, as soon as DS was here, I completely forgot about work altogether. It was not a priority at all and I couldn't have cared less what she did because it was her class now. She was a certified teacher and I had to trust that she knew what she was doing.
It's hard for teachers to give up control over something they usually are so careful about and something they put so much thought and care into... but it'll be fine even if it's not the way you would have done it. Try to relax!

Same here. I'm leaving full lesson plans for the first week, and then the units that need to be covered while I'm out without specific plans. But my sub is also our building sub and a certified teacher who did a mat leave in the same grade level in another building last year. But no one in the two buildings I've taught in has planned out for their entire long-term leave in detail. Kudos to you for doing so, since that had to be a lot of work, but maybe there are places the sub can tweak things or put her own spin on things? I've learned that quality of instruction is better when teachers can bring a bit of themselves into the classroom. Either way, I'm sure your students will be fine while you're out enjoying you new baby.

mudluscious4 · December 2011

Yeah I gotta say I don't understand why a sub wouldn't be very happy to have day by day plans to follow. I could see if she had read them over and felt like your style was very different from hers and needed to change based on that, but having not even read them over, and just wanting to "entertain the kids"... it sounds like she isn't taking it very seriously, maybe because it's "just theater" (don't listen to me too much, sometimes I see the worst in people). I appreciate that a theater curriculum could be very rigorous but I could see how an all-around sub might not.

I'm just thinking back to my first year teaching when I had to start mid-year and I was SO grateful to have the teacher's planning books from the previous year. Of course I ended up doing my own thing after some time but it was so helpful to have the scope and sequence mapped out, with activities that I could easily turn to.

Thinkerbelle80 · December 2011

I teach music and I left the same thing. A really really detailed lesson plan book with daily plans, information on every possible type of thing, tests, worksheets, etc. Probably I went overboard.

I have not actually gone out on maternity leave yet but I kind of anticipated this same exact situation coming up. So, I didn't want to burden another person with having to do something the exact same way that I do it. I also wrote out an incredibly detailed Learning Goals and Objectives paper that lists every single thing The students need to know by the end of the semester. For their performance based tests, I made an incredibly detailed rubric that the sub must use for evaluating every skills test or performance. I'm telling the sub which songs he absolutely must test them on using the rubric provided and that he must use the tests I have provided for him. As long as they are able to do well on those tests using the standards I have already set up, I'm ok with him using a different teaching method to teach them. Everyone has their own style of teaching and sometimes it is difficult to follow someone else's style.

However, there are certain guidelines that absolutely must be taught and cannot be ignored. Tell her there are standards that must be met by the end of the year and that those goals and objectives cannot be replaced with ones she comes up with. She absolutely must give your unit tests and teach the learning objectives in those units. Past that, I'd let her develop her own plans as long as they pass the tests.

kaybe24 · December 2011

I worked in the public school system for many years and if the sub wants to entertain the students by letting them watch movies and goof off she's actually going to have more problems with them instead of keeping them on track with your lesson plans. I'm sorry you put so much work into your plans if she doesn't use them.

GingerWife · December 2011

I have yet to write a single plan for my time out

On the to-do list at over break...I'm supposed to go back one week after Christmas break (we'll see)

eklanger · December 2011

theaterbahai:
AfterAll:
While it is rude, it completely depends on the culture in your school. Maybe she thought it was rude that you left explicit instructions for her. Once you leave, it is not really "your" classroom anymore. In my school, the long term replacement teaches are actual teachers, certified in our subject areas, so leaving them a notebook full of explicit instructions is not only not necessary, but may be offensive to the teacher who is covering.
.
I completely understand this, but unfortunately, that is not the case here. There is only one Theater Arts person in the sub pool, and he was taken, so whoever I have, though qualified in something, is NOT certified in theater arts. And if it were me as the sub, I would at least look at the material that was being covered by the plans before I jumped off and decided to do my own thing. While I may use my own ideas to teach the material, it would still be the same material. I think that's what got me the most here. She suggested to me that she have them be "entertained" instead of learn something they need to have covered for their semester exams.
But yes, if she were certified in Theater (in AZ, this is separate from English) I would probably have left less detailed instructions, and merely left notes about topics that needed to be covered.

Speaking as a former sub, I think the way she asked you was gutsy, but she was probably just testing the waters. Has she subbed for you in the past? I would think she is trying to figure out the dynamic and what you are expecting--obviously she didn't read through the entire plan before calling you, but if she has a day with super low attendance due to weather or whatever, she probably wanted to know if there was wiggle room. You told her your plans are important and hopefully she understands that now and will follow through. Deep Breath, enjoy your leave!

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