Education

The Rogue Sub

By Bryan Toporek — March 31, 2010 1 min read
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When an illness forced Mei Flower to miss three days of school, she figured her classes could get along without her after she left explicit lesson plans for her substitute teacher.

Little did she expect, she drew a “rogue sub” for her class on day three—a substitute that appeared intent on ignoring every one of her instructions.

The Rogue Sub does not follow the teacher's lesson plans. She sometimes complains to the class about the worthlessness of the teacher's lesson plans, and then she picks and chooses what to share with the class. She ignores the teacher's request for notes detailing her classes' behavior and work ethic, and she rearranges the teacher's desk so the teacher cannot find anything when she returns.

Much to Mei Flower’s chagrin, the Rogue Sub struck again.

And so, once again, I am screwed in regards to what I had planned to teach, because the Rogue Sub has some sort of comprehension issue. My kids have NO idea what's going on, because they're more confused than ever. Meanwhile, I can't find ANYTHING on my desk, so I don't know what work my classes have or haven't done.
Sigh. This is why I will die at school, because I can't subject my students to another day with the Rogue Sub.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Blogboard blog.