By: Virginia Gatica & Jorge Leal
On Monday during 3rd period, Mark and Lucy were finishing up their work, paying attention to the teacher, and following the rules like always. However, on Wednesday, in the same class, they had a substitute teacher and Mark is not doing any of his work, walking around the class, and he talking a lot. All the while Lucy is trying her best to pay attention and do her work, which is impossible with a substitute.
There is always days when your teacher is not be able to be at school and a substitute teacher will have to teach the class. Many students enjoy these kind of days, but do you ever wonder why students enjoy having a substitute teacher? Why is that students do not have the same respect to their substitute, as opposed to a normal teacher? Students only see substitute teachers as a chance to just let go of all responsibilities of being in a class and do whatever they want without any consequences.
“I don’t see the substitute as an actual teacher, but more like a babysitter”, said 11th grader Luis Maravilla. Students like these see the days of having substitutes as amazing, a day where they are not forced to do any work in that class and rather just lay their head down and do nothing.
However there are other students who believe having a substitute is miserable. “I dislike having a sub because not a lot of work gets done and it’s hard to focus in the class,” said 12th grader Yalitza Itsaiz.
There is no statistics to show how many students change their behavior with a substitute, but the ones who listen to the substitute teacher are more likely to successfully meet the objective.
12th grader Ilse Bravo said, “I feel concerned because I’m going to fall behind.”
“Once students see a substitute teacher they assume, ‘Nothing is going to get done and I will not learn,’” said 12th grader Jairo Echeverria. Furthermore, to what Jairo express about substitute day it’s common that students express negative behaviors when they have a sub that does not care for student’s education.
Freshman Juana Flores said, “It’s not okay to behave different because it shows that you’re not well mannered.” This indicates that students are well aware that the change in behavior in their peers is disrespectful to the substitute that is present.
On the other hand, teachers are concerned for their students when they have substitutes because they get no work done. 9th grade English teacher, Ms. Siemientkowski said, “It depends on the class to get any work done.”
This comment demonstrates that there are students who do no work, and others who try their best even with a substitute teacher present. 11th grade History teacher Mr. Sandoval said, “This is not okay, this is the one opportunity for them to show a positive behavior.”
All in all, substitute days can be amazing for some people who can concentrate, but for others it can be a nightmare having so many distractions around you. Not only this, but this rude behavior also makes a bad representation of the entire school. It makes the substitute believe all students at the school have no manners, and not want to come back.
