Substitute Teaching in the NOW Times.

Being a substitute teacher can be a fun and rewarding job. Sometimes it can also be a demanding and challenging one. In this strange world we find ourselves in now, it seems new and scary. Every day wondering, " Will I have a job tomorrow?" With cases constantly rising and dropping, no one really knows.

I have been a substitute teacher for about five years now, and I've worked in a few different schools. I always went back to my Alma Mater, and I am currently "permanently" employed by them, as well as the subbing company I am certified with.

In the NOW that we are al living, schooling is a bit different. Trust me, I understand the frustrations of parents, students, and the teachers who I work along side. I am a Co-Teacher, in class, with a Virtual teacher. I don't know her reasons for wanting or needing to work from home, and that is not my business. We get along great and we are a team trying to teach our students to the best of our ability, from where we are.

Let me say, I have heard and read ( on social media) many parents complaining about virtual learning, or their schools hybrid system. Parents ranting and raving that they want their children to go back to school FULL TIME, because their kids aren't learning anything with the way schools are currently set up. Like I said, I understand their frustrations with the kids not learning. It is NOT the schools fault the students are getting bad grades or even failing their classes. It is NOT the fault of the teachers or their in class help, like myself. Again, I understand. The parents need to go to work and cannot be home the entire day watching their kids and making sure they are actually going and attending their online classes. They are tired of getting emails and phone calls from teachers telling them their kids are missing a lot of work.

Teachers and in class help are doing the best they can in the situation that this year has brought us all. We are not physically in the room with many of the students. We can only work within the honor system, trusting that the students will come to class online, and do the work assigned. I have witnessed almost every day, students making excuses in class for why they have their mics or cameras off, or why they can't get their work done. Internet issues are a thing, and do cause some problems, but internet issues are not the only problem. Some school issued devices may be broken or old and in need of repair or replacements. Parents or guardians may not always have the time or a convenient chance to bring the damaged device in to get a replacement. That's ok, we understand its hectic, but someone somewhere at some time, needs to bring it so the student can get a new one and be able to do their work.

My school has a rule, when in the Google Meets, they are to have their cameras turned on, so we can see them. If they come to class and the camera is off, we don't know that it is really them, or that they are even actually there. There are programs that we , the educators, use to see that they are working on the assignments, and not playing games, or on social media platforms. Some might think this is an invasion of privacy and what not, but it is to ensure the students are doing their work, getting an education, and not playing around. It seems many students have found loopholes, and they still do other things other than school. If it is during school hours, they should be visible and doing their school work as they would if they were physically in the classroom. Again, I understand if there is an actual problem with the school issued Chromebooks. The school has a system where they will take in the damaged computer and give a loaner to the student while theirs is getting repaired. Some students don't bring in the damaged one for a loaner, and they suffer for it. They don't get their work done and end up with bad or failing grades, all because they don't want to get anther computer. They think that it being broken is a good reason to not do the work, or show up to class online. Then, we, the educators get yelled at by parents because the kid isn't doing well.

There are some students that come online for class with their camera and microphone turned off. Educators know the student isn't actually there or paying attention, because of the other app we use to know what they are working on. We can see very clearly that no work is being dont. Students think that, just because they showed up in the Google Meet, that they should get full credit for doing quite literally Nothing. And again, we get angry emails and phone calls from parents and guardians, wondering why the kids are being marked absent or failing. If the student does not come to class online, there is nothing that we as educators can do. We cannot physically pull the kid to class. All we can do is let the guardian know the student did not show up or stay.

Another thing is, some students may not like a teacher or a subject, so they just don't show up to that class, thinking they will still be marked as present for the day because they went to their other classes. Kids today don't understand they must attend all classes every day to be marked as present. They think just by showing up to their first, or second class, that it counts for the entire day. We had a system at first, where the students would sign in and mark their own attendance. This was shot down only after a few weeks because office staff were noticing that the students would show up for a minute, mark that they were in classes, and then leave. Students did not realize that the Google Meets also had a timer and would be sent to the teachers and staff the time the student arrived in class, and the time they left. Things are hard enough for everyone right now, we really don't need to make it harder for those of us that work in the school systems.

In all, this is a bit of a rant in support of school workers. We are doing our best to make a pandemic school year work. It is new for quite a few of us. There are many online and home schooling situations that have been in play for a while and seem to work great. For the rest of us, this is new, confusing, and at times very hard to maneuver. I know there are others out there in a similar boat to mine that understand where I am coming from, and there are plenty of other boats that are very different that see this in an opposing way, and that is okay. Somehow we have to all work together to make things work or we are all going to start sinking.

The adults are getting burnt out from trying our hardest to make a living, stay safe, and teach the children. Please stop complaining about the kids needing to come back full time when there is still a surge in infection. That puts the kids in the line of fire with illness, and makes it more difficult for the teachers to stay safe and healthy as well. We will not all see the world go back to normal, but at least we can try to keep the numbers of loss down.