[tootsie roll]

I taught for 7 years in an inner-city school and I have had my share of successful and unsuccessful substitutes. I had little to no say of who would come to my classroom (the only way I could choose would be if I had cleared the job with the sub early on and the sub agreed to cover for me). I have had 3 different subs that were asked to leave before the school day was over. One sub decided to give out all of the answers to a worksheet that went with a video, so that they did not have to watch the video. Then, she went on the internet while the kids did whatever they wanted, including video games, and left my room open during lunch so kids could hang out in there. I had another sub that was preaching to the students about going to hell. A third teacher got into a verbal argument with one of my toughest students and was close to having a physical fight. Whenever there was a problem with the sub, the administration was made aware of the situation. I also talked with the head secretary that would block that sub from working at our school again. I have had some great subs, too, and when I did, I made sure to get their numbers to call on them in the future. I would prepare my students ahead of time if I knew I was going to be absent, and I reminded them of the consequences of poor behavior with a sub (loss of privileges, detention, office referral, phone call home, talk with coach, etc.) In a district with 130 schools, many substitutes can fall through the cracks. It is not the teacher's fault for having a poor sub.