[UPDATE] Dear readers, It's been a month since my last post, so I would like to share my thoughts: 1. Regarding the duties of a substitute, it is best to stay firm. Depending on the class, some of the students will walk over you if they sense passiveness or hesitation. If they ask "If this your first time as a substitute?", NEVER say no. Every assignment involved teaching at an at-risk school (80% of students for one school is on free lunch), so I had to get used to raising my voice consistently. 2. The lowest grade I taught was second grade; and the highest was special education (high school). The second graders noticed my impediments quickly, and they directly asked me about it. Since I had to tend to so many of them, I did not answer their questions (this was to pretend that I didn't hear them). Despite doing this, I should have just answered their question. They were understanding as long as it was explained in layman's terms (I mean, they are obviously no older than eight years old). For special education (at the high school level), I was only told to engage the students in tasks such as building blocks or assisting them with developing words from Scrabble. This assignment was the easiest I had (so far). The most difficult assignment was teaching at-risk students at the school I mentioned above. Most of them were highly disrespectful and inconsiderate, but it is best to separate the disruptive ones from the rest. Try to not send them to the office unless if they are being out of control. I remember having a poorly behaved student in one period; and using this method to reform his behavior in the next. To my amazement, he performed better than some of the "best behaved" students! 3. Do not punish the whole class if a minority of the students were disruptive. The point of substitute teaching is to cover the permanent teacher's shift by providing the lesson or assignments required for that day. Preventing a class from receiving said lesson causes the permanent teacher to waste time the next day. I did this one day, and I regretted it as soon as class was over. In order to deal with disruptive students, refer to my advice from point #2. 4. The secretary and colleagues are your best friends. If you have any questions, be sure to approach them in person or by phone. 5. If you are new to the school, be sure to schedule an appointment with the secretary to visit the campus. 6. If you need to cancel an assignment for any reason, be sure to call the secretary ASAP. Where I live, multiple cancellations will result in being pulled from the substitute pool. 7. If you want to make a decent paycheck, be sure to take full-day assignments. Only take half-day assignments if you KNOW there is a something else you need to tend to. 8. Do the best you can when taking these assignments. Other teachers and administrators will be grading your performance as well. 9. Make a copy of the attendance roster, and grade each student on their performance. Be sure to make detailed notes for the permanent teacher. 10. Arrive at an assignment by at LEAST fifteen minutes early. Arriving late reflects poorly on you, and you may be pulled from the substitute pool. (One scathing email from a secretary or administrator would easily do this.) Remember, it is better to arrive early than on time! (I do not believe in "bad" students because a child's primary development is at home. A lot of the children here are raised in unstable homes, so their behavior reflects this. Teachers (both permanent and substitute) can only do so much to help them. Despite this observation, I still believe that if one child out of 100 is inspired by my leadership, then I succeeded.) I hope my comments were valuable. If you have any questions, be sure to reply to this thread or send me a PM. Best, CaptainBlackPeacock P.S. Don't forget to relax while speaking to the children and faculty. Most of them know at least who person who has a speech impediment, or they stutter themselves.