It's Okay to Use a Substitute Teacher

Teaching can be physically and emotionally exhausting. It's perfectly fine if you need a break every now and then!

Don’t be afraid to take that break and use a substitute teacher to fill in for you.

​Substitute teachers are ready to help. They can offer your students a break from the regular routine with a new person and offer a fresh perspective. Additionally,  they will need your students’ help to run your classroom smoothly, which makes the students feel responsible and important. 

In the midst of this global pandemic, you need a break from your classroom even more than you usually do. Teachers are being asked to do so much more to maintain the health and wellness of their students in addition to the already tall stack of expectations heaped on teachers with curriculum, assessments, and grades. With all the stress that you are under as a teacher, you need to take some time for yourself. Don’t be afraid to use a substitute teacher to give yourself a break. ​

We all hate to leave our classroom in the hands of another person. It makes it even harder when we leave our students with someone we don’t know. Don’t be afraid of leaving a substitute in charge; they are teachers, too. Often, substitutes have been to school for teaching, and may even have the same level of education as you do. They have been experience running a classroom, and have been in many different classrooms, so they are flexible and adaptable. Subs are used to figuring out lesson plans fairly quickly and teaching your students all sorts of different things. Your substitute teacher is ready to handle your class, so let them. 

Don’t use your students and their behaviors as an excuse. Utilize a substitute. You may have a challenging group of students with varying behavior issues, but I’ll hazard a guess that it isn’t anything a substitute teacher can’t handle for a day or two. Substitute teachers provide a new face and a new way of learning for your students and will present material in a different way than you as well. This is good thing, let your students have a different perspective! Your students will also be able to practice your expectations for behavior in the classroom when a guest teacher is in charge. They need to exercise their ability to be respectful of different adults in the classroom as well as learning to be tolerant of other ways of doing things. Your substitute will undoubtedly need help throughout the day. Students love to be helpful and will be excited to help a substitute teacher figure out what needs to be done next in the day. With a sub and your students working together, you have nothing to worry about. 

Subs also want to help you so that you can take a break and get the rest that you need to be the best teacher you can be. Everything will work out, so trust your students to a sub soon and give yourself a bit of relief!

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