{"id":17627,"date":"2015-07-01T00:00:41","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T04:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/2016\/01\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T13:58:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:58:17","slug":"substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trials and Tribulations of Substitute Teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Originally published in TEACH Magazine, July\/August 2015 Issue<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By Edgar Rider<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s 8:25 a.m. and there are no notes left in the classroom. I scramble around the room and a few papers fall from the desk to the floor. I can hear the students chattering in the hall. I then look up and realize that in about five minutes they will begin filing into the room. It\u2019s all on me now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to the trials and tribulations of the substitute teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-woocommerce-memberships-member-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"woocommerce\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"woocommerce-info wc-memberships-restriction-message wc-memberships-message wc-memberships-content-restricted-message\">\n\t\t\t\t<h3>Subscribe to Keep Reading<\/h3>\r\n<p>\ud83d\udd11 You\u2019re one step away from unlocking premium content.<br>\r\nSubscribe now for as low as $5.99 and get full access!<\/p>\r\n<p><a class=\"btn\" href=\"\/product-category\/subscription\/\">Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p><small>If you\u2019re already subscribed, please <a href=\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/my-account\/\">Log In<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\t\t    <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many substitute teachers like me can teach a different grade every single day, from K\u201312. It can be challenging, to say the least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":484,"featured_media":16527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2929,2928,2950],"tags":[3861,3166,3167],"class_list":{"0":"post-17627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-behaviour-management","8":"category-classroom-management","9":"category-classroom-perspectives","10":"tag-attendance","11":"tag-substitute-teaching","12":"tag-supply-teaching"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Trials and Tribulations of Substitute Teaching - TEACH Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many substitute teachers like me can teach a different grade every single day, from K\u201312. It can be challenging, to say the least.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Trials and Tribulations of Substitute Teaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many substitute teachers like me can teach a different grade every single day, from K\u201312. 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It can be challenging.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@teachmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@teachmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Edgar Rider\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Edgar Rider\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a7d0e0a747fd42c6b95330b74915a7a\"},\"headline\":\"The Trials and Tribulations of Substitute Teaching\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-01T04:00:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T18:58:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/\"},\"wordCount\":913,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Trials_Substitute_Web.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Attendance\",\"Substitute teaching\",\"supply teaching\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Behaviour Management\",\"Classroom Management\",\"Classroom Perspectives\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/\",\"name\":\"The Trials and Tribulations of Substitute Teaching - TEACH Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/substitute-teacher-trials-and-tribulations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Trials_Substitute_Web.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-01T04:00:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T18:58:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a7d0e0a747fd42c6b95330b74915a7a\"},\"description\":\"Many substitute teachers like me can teach a different grade every single day, from K\u201312. 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