Sub•ter•ra•ne•ous

adj. existing, situated, or operating below the surface of the earth; hidden or secret underground.  I’ve witnessed some crazy behavior in the 5+ years I’ve subbed (3yrs inner city, 10yrs ago & past 2 yrs in AZ). As in most vocations, some activities go undetected beneath the surface of what can be seen which may directly or indirectly impact a substitute teacher.  Though the ethics of such “off-radar” practices may be questioned,  the actual legal threshold may not necessarily be breached.  Here are just a few of my firsthand brushes with the “strange-but-true” in the world of subbing:  

Nanny state surveillance –you may be secretly recorded via electronic devices. Over the past year I’ve had at least three sub assignments (that I’m certain of ….possibly more), at three different schools where the teacher I was subbing for primed a few students to secretly video tape/record me with their cell phones as clandestine, in-class moles. While this eerily resembles a real “nanny state”, it may just be the bizarre technological reality in the era of the millennial student.  What I find most troublesome about this practice is how students are manipulated by teachers to deal in the realm of deception and then they wonder why students may embrace the ubiquitous practice of cheating.  See related story: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/02/19/pa-school-laptops-used-spy-students-home/

Cyber stalking –if you use a social network (i.e. facebook, twitter, etc.) you might assume a reasonable expectation of privacy that may not really exist and can easily be compromised.  I’m aware a few public school administrators who actively gathered internet “reconnaissance” on subs.  Be very careful of not only how you set filters on websites you use, but be sure to exercise prudence on what you disclose about yourself on those sites.  

Lest the power of suggestion lead you down a dark path of paranoia, let me encourage you to  stick with it.  Don't look (or worry) about something that "might" impact you as a sub -none of us can afford the luxury of expending such valuable energy.  Just be aware that your duties as a sub may be more closely monitored than you  may realize.  

Sub·stance (noun) substantial or solid character or quality

Sub⋅lin⋅gual

adj -situated under the tongue, or on the underside of the tongue. With the gravitas of timeless wisdom, an ancient proverb offers "The Teacher" a rubric for life: “Where words are many, sin is not absent, but the person who holds their tongue is wise”. The student of master-teaching soon discovers that the best teachers teach by everything they do and are careful to use words only when necessary. Sociological research consistently reveals that approximately 85% of communication is nonverbal.

Unfortunately there are teachers (and more than a few subs) who equate education with excessive verbiage (my propensity ....in case you couldn't tell). I suspect that some of us may stumble into this pitfall more out of our own insecurities (lack of prep, disruptions, interruptions, etc., etc.). It's easier to "appear" prepared by simply adding more words rather than owning our lack of preparation that would have helped avoid this occupational pitfall. I was recently reminded of how clarity trumps babble when effective communication is the goal. Most probably know

that President Lincoln's famed "Gettysburg Address" (arguably the greatest Presidential speech ever delivered) was only 272 words in length. But did you know that Edward Everett (speaker just before Lincoln) spoke for over two hours and did so totally from memory? Thirteen thousand words in length! Ancient rhetoricians referred to these marathon orations as "the grand style". I'm convinced that many of us (perhaps unknowingly) are guilty of employing this counterproductive style still today (in the era of "text messaging" & "sound bytes"!) The only thing "grand" about unnecessary gab is the irreplaceable enormity of time that is wasted with students.

Not long ago I attended a sizable (over 4K in attendance) education conference where the guest speaker, John Maxwell said, “Educators tend to take things that are simple and make them complex while communicators take things that are complex and make them simple.” The laughs across the five thousand seat auditorium was only validation of just how true that statement was -though I must admit not all in attendance were laughing. We've all had teachers who couldn't communicate to save their lives and yet, some of us have also known competent communicators who couldn't teach others a lesson with any lasting substance. The best teachers know what high-octane learning looks like when it's driven with the combination of studious preparation and the art of communication.

We might be able to impress people an abundance of words, but real impact takes place when educators authentically commit to being communicators. Teachers who master the art of “economizing words” (saying more with less rather than less with more) will not only see the compounding fruits of their labor but will also enjoy the much more satisfying, savory sweetness that only such fruit can offer.

Sub•poe•na

verb (used with object). Summoning of witnesses or the submission of evidence (records/documents), before a court or other deliberative body. All teachers are issued a subpoena (of sorts) by administrators each day when they submit attendance. Submitting attendance is not just a “good idea” or simply a “guideline” –it’s the law! The law applies to substitute teachers as well. School districts have an added financial incentive because it affects the amount of funding they receive based on their “ADM” (or “average daily membership”). see www.ed.gov/

By law a substitute teacher needs to be conscience of two irreducible imperatives: 1) Taking attendance and 2) Maintain order/safety in the classroom (which includes being able to give account for the whereabouts of all students marked present in your room). Realistically, there are few substitutes (or human beings for that matter) who can do this without fumbling a few balls every once in a while (schools have contingency systems which operate on that assumption). Here are a few ideas that have helped me improve my own accuracy more consistently:
1) First, if your at the same site or even the same school district work at learning first names (don’t allow yourself the luxury of engaging in the “stink think” of leaning on the crutch of an excuse that “you’re just bad with names”). In the words of the great philosopher “Oscar Mayer” – baloney! You can do it. Believing you “can” and, at the very least, you will increase your ability to do so dramatically.
2) Wait till halfway through class to take attendance. Hang on! Before changing the channel (I can hear administrators crying “foul” at this point) let me explain how this can help not only in submitting more accurate attendance records but also as a strategy in classroom management (keep in mind that most administrators have spent little if any time in a real classroom and those who do have actual classroom experience haven't been in a classroom since the 20th century):
A. First, taking attendance later in the period affords you more time to engage in “heads-up”, civic skills (eye contact, greeting, observing, etc.). While greeting students I will actually begin to utilize a little behavioral profiling and observe things like, volume, posturing, high-energy, verbiage, etc. But for this to really work, you need to listen carefully for names (try “first” names initially). If you suspect a student might be a problem later, circle their name on your attendance sheet. Later if that individual doesn’t settle down and becomes a behavioral challenge you can say their name with personal authority ---adding a little more edge to your attempt to redirect. I have found that 90% of the time it will catch the student off guard and they will comply –because you’ve got their name. *I employ this utility more often with well behaved students employing my own shorthand to indicate “awesome students” (i.e. help with attendance, fetched a text book for another student, picked up trash). Give the good kids more ink then the mischievous ones.
B. Allows you to direct students to assigned work quicker and most of us know that getting (and keeping) students on task quickly may be the most important step in preventing behavioral challenges.
C. Often students who may be absent at the beginning of class end up coming in late and if you had already taken attendance you may have to interrupt the flow of teaching to correct. If you wait, you’ll probably not have to make any adjustments.
D. Document, document, document. If possible record electronically (be creative) in how you do this. But waiting until you can focus on recording may be better then trying to do when the rush of transition traffic will be at its peak. Remember in most school districts subs are “at will” employees -meaning that employers can let you go or block you from a school for no reason whatsoever. The flip side of that coin is that a sub can also choose to end employment "at will" -anytime for any reason.

Caution: Regardless of how you do it, you must remember to take attendance --that's not negotiable. In the schools I serve in I will usually take attendance at the top of the hour (marks the approximate halfway point) during a regular bell schedule.

Sub⋅lime "Treat others the way you want to be treated" -The Platinum Rule

(verb) -to make higher, nobler, or better. Impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or inspiring excellence, veneration, etc. German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”
There are few professions that are as noble and praiseworthy as that of “teacher”. Yet, if your like me, we need periodic reminders that excellence in students is more often “caught than taught”. It helps me to envision parent’s of students sitting in the classroom with their child or to sometimes I tap into the “dad” part of me (I have four kids of my own) and ask myself, “how do I want other adults to treat my son or daughter?”

Not long ago I was sharing a duty assignment with a teacher who began to rant about “how kids today are no longer polite or courteous”. To escape the deluge of verbal toxicity spewing from this teacher’s mouth, I diverted my focus to other tasks. Later that same hour I watched how this same teacher verbally interacted with students. I was not surprised to hear harsh, terse language from “the adult” toward students. I finally reached my “Popeye” moment, when “I had all I can stanz and I couldn’t stanz no more”! I walked over to the teacher, locked-eyes and said (discreetly yet clear), “hey, Ebenezer, you better be careful or you might get visited by three spirit’s tonight.” I knew it was risky, but fortunately the teacher got my lame attempt at a bit of poignant, but long-overdue sarcasm. We both broke out laughing at the painfully obvious contradiction between the earlier rant about impolite students followed by an onset of constant discourteous barking from the teacher. We can’t blame students for behavior we ourselves are not willing to model.