Working with a Substitute Teacher

I have been teaching many lessons during my elementary internship, but they have all

been under the watchful eye of my mentor teacher. She would give me suggestions and I would

ask her questions during the lesson about what to do next. One day, my mentor teacher took

leave and left me to teach the whole day with a substitute, who had a limited knowledge on

string instruments. This was a great opportunity for me to work with someone new and teach

some classes without the crutch of my mentor teacher’s assistance.

I have had to teach alongside a substitute teacher before in my middle school internship,

but that substitute did not have any music knowledge and I taught the entire class by myself. This

case was more collaborative because the teacher knew how to support a music instructor. The

substitute teacher offered to point at the music for any student who seemed lost, which worked

out well. During each of the classes, the sub found a student who needed assistance and pointed

to where we were in the music for them while I was leading the group. I found it easing for this

sub to offer to do something helpful for the students without me having to ask. If the sub had not

done this on their own volition, I could have asked them, but they did it on their own anyway. As

the day went on, I noticed the sub would accidentally get in the way of me seeing the student’s

left-hand position while they were playing individually. I did not ask the sub to move because I

thought it would complicate the situation, but in hindsight, they probably would not have minded

if I asked them to move.

The sub also understood how to tune the cellos, which is a usual routine for my mentor

teacher and myself to do before any classes begin for the day. After the sub did the tuning and I

started a cello class later on, I noticed that a couple of the cellos were still out of tune. I was

slightly frustrated to pause the lesson when I did not think I would have to, but I did not let it
affect my disposition towards the substitute. The sub had gone out of their way to tune the cellos

for me before school started, and did not have any ill intentions, so I was not planning on

blaming them. I knew saying something to them would have a good chance of hurting our

relationship for the rest of the school day, too.

In both of these situations, I wanted to say something to the substitute teacher, but I

decided not to. I am the type of person who does not like to bother people when I think they may

get annoyed at me. I have encountered types of people who do not care about others’ feelings

towards them, but I am the opposite. Despite this, I know I should tell people when I want to see

a change. When I start teaching, I will speak up when I feel the need to say something and I will

respect others’ feelings when they have something to say to me.