u/Future-Outcome-5226

I’m a long-term sub right now and I feel like I’m failing, but I’m also not sure if my situation is just kind of unreasonable.

I just started this week. I did a little bit of prep ahead of time, but I was working full-time at another job up until then. Since this is a daily-paid position with a Monday start, I didn’t expect that I would need to have an entire week of lessons fully planned before I even began. I also didn’t have access to any of the school systems yet, didn’t know my class sizes, didn’t know the students, and didn’t have a clear sense of what they had already learned.

Now that I’m here, it feels like I’m expected to just be ready to teach immediately without much ramp-up, or to do all the prep on my own time. I’ve been trying to keep up, but it’s been taking me around six extra hours each day just to plan. Last night I didn’t sleep at all because I was trying to stay on top of everything.

I’m getting paid $150/day, but I’m doing full lesson planning and grading for two different classes (five sections total). I didn’t even get access to the grading system until a few days ago, and I still haven’t had time to really learn it or figure out a grading structure. Students are already emailing asking about grades, which I understand, but I don’t even know what Im going to assign next, let alone grading system. I learned today that they are all currently failing and I'm supposed to start grading ASAP to make them all pass by the end of the year.

At the same time, I’m trying to learn a bunch of school systems and platforms with literally no training, and they keep adding more. I also have over 20 students flagged with IEPs, but I don’t really know how to figure out what each of them is for yet or what I’m expected to implement immediately. Also there is an instructional assistant in two of the classes, I've never worked with one before and thought he was supposed to help manage the kids with behavioral issues but I was told today that the instructional assistants don't do that and now I'm confused about what I'm supposed to do with the IA. When students throw tantrums (they are highschool but today had a kid rolling on a tabletop for example), I've been stepping aside for him to handle since I didnt want to step on his toes but my department head said that is considered classroom management and I should handle it. Also it feels like I'm just being judged by the IA the whole time and worried he's talking about how bad I am and won't tell me if I'm doing something wrong to my face.

I also have two students who don’t speak any English, so I’ve been trying to figure out translation tools and adapt materials for them on the fly.

The classroom itself had no systems or organization when I came in. Students don’t have supplies. Almost none have notebooks or binders, so when I have them take notes, they say they have nowhere to put it and just throw it away. I know I would normally build routines like binder organization at the start of the year, but I’m trying to create that now while also just keeping classes running. I’m probably going to buy binders myself just so we can function.

I also worry that I’m being judged like a full-time teacher when I’m clearly not operating under the same conditions. For example, I had to print materials right before class today because I have to figure out what Im gonna teach the night before and during my prep period. The printer room was locked, so I had to use the main office printer, and it didn’t finish in time, so I had to send a student to pick it up. That’s not something I would do if I had time to plan ahead and build routines. I would normally have a weekly system for printing and materials. One of the classes I teach is an elective for seniors who graduate in three weeks anyways so I'm prioritizing planning the core class and so I haven't done much in this elective class yet. One teacher told me to ask her if I need ideas of what to do but I have plenty ideas of what I want to do, I just don't have time to plan and prepare them.

Same with classroom management and instruction. I’ve been more lenient about things like bathroom passes than I would be if I had established expectations from the beginning (I did spend 2 days going through behavioral expectations, routine for when they enter the class, and getting to know the students which I feel like any more than that as a LTS this late in the year would be too much) I also haven’t differentiated anything yet, which I would normally do, but I just don’t have the time right now to plan individualized supports or build systems that allow for that.

Today I ran a lab because the students haven’t done a single lab all year, and I’m trying to make the last month somewhat meaningful. But I don’t know the students well enough yet to form intentional groups, so I had to let them choose their own and it went terribly.

I also tried to use a pre-made activity today for the elective class one day because I didn’t have time to plan something from scratch the night before. When I looked at it initially, it seemed like it made sense and would work.But once we actually tried to do it in class, it just didn’t land at all. The directions were confusing, the flow didn’t really work, and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it in the moment. I tried to adjust and make sense of it with the students, but I honestly couldn’t. I think part of it was that I was completely exhausted since I hadn’t slept at all the night before. My brain just wasn’t working the way it normally would. It felt like I couldn’t think clearly enough to troubleshoot or pivot the way I usually could.So it ended up being one of those classes where you can feel it not going well, and you don’t have the capacity in the moment to turn it around, which made me feel even worse about everything.

Outside of school, I’m spending all of my time lesson planning and answering emails and trying to figure out all the online systems (about 6 additional hours on top of the normal hours im at the school so 14 hrs a day im spending for $150 a day. I dont wanna teach for the money, but its more of the principle of it. It just feels so unreasonable to do all that and i end up feeling not good enough, not even doing good for the kids, and am taking a major paycut (In my previous job, I made in a day what I make in a week as a LTS), and I’m still behind. I have over 100 unread emails at this point.

I guess I’m just wondering if this is what long-term subbing usually looks like, or if this situation is actually a bit much. And if you’ve been in a similar position, how did you manage it without feeling like you were constantly falling short?

I’m a long-term sub right now and I feel like I’m failing, but I’m also not sure if my situation is just kind of unreasonable.

I just started on Monday. I did a little bit of prep ahead of time, but I was working full-time at another job up until then. Since this is a daily-paid position with a Monday start, I didn’t expect that I would need to have an entire week of lessons fully planned before I even began. I also didn’t have access to any of the school systems yet, didn’t know my class sizes, didn’t know the students, and didn’t have a clear sense of what they had already learned.

Now that I’m here, it feels like I’m expected to just be ready to teach immediately without much ramp-up, or to do all the prep on my own time. I’ve been trying to keep up, but it’s been taking me around six extra hours each day just to plan. Last night I didn’t sleep at all because I was trying to stay on top of everything.

I’m getting paid $150/day, but I’m doing full lesson planning and grading for two different classes (five sections total). I didn’t even get access to the grading system until a few days ago, and I still haven’t had time to really learn it or figure out a grading structure. Students are already emailing asking about grades, which I understand, but I don’t even know what I’m allowed to change vs what the previous teacher had set up.

At the same time, I’m trying to learn a bunch of school systems and platforms with literally no training, and they keep adding more. I also have over 20 students flagged with IEPs, but I don’t really know how to figure out what each of them is for yet or what I’m expected to implement immediately.

I also have two students who don’t speak any English, so I’ve been trying to figure out translation tools and adapt materials for them on the fly.

The classroom itself had no systems or organization when I came in. Students don’t have supplies. Almost none have notebooks or binders, so when I have them take notes, they say they have nowhere to put it and just throw it away. I know I would normally build routines like binder organization at the start of the year, but I’m trying to create that now while also just keeping classes running. I’m probably going to buy binders myself just so we can function.

I also worry that I’m being judged like a full-time teacher when I’m clearly not operating under the same conditions. For example, I had to print materials right before class today because I have to figure out what Im gonna teach the night before and during my prep period. The printer room was locked, so I had to use the main office printer, and it didn’t finish in time, so I had to send a student to pick it up. That’s not something I would do if I had time to plan ahead and build routines. I would normally have a weekly system for printing and materials.

Same with classroom management and instruction. I’ve been more lenient about things like bathroom passes than I would be if I had established expectations from the beginning (I did spend 2 days going through behavioral expectations, routine for when they enter the class, and getting to know the students which I feel like any more than that as a LTS this late in the year would be too much) I also haven’t differentiated anything yet, which I would normally do, but I just don’t have the time right now to plan individualized supports or build systems that allow for that.

Today I ran a lab because the students haven’t done a single lab all year, and I’m trying to make the last month somewhat meaningful. But I don’t know the students well enough yet to form intentional groups, so I had to let them choose their own and it went terribly.

I also tried to use a pre-made activity today for one of my classes because I didn’t have time to plan something from scratch the night before. When I looked at it initislly, it seemed like it made sense and would work.But once we actually tried to do it in class, it just didn’t land at all. The directions were confusing, the flow didn’t really work, and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it in the moment. I tried to adjust and make sense of it with the students, but I honestly couldn’t. I think part of it was that I was completely exhausted since I hadn’t slept at all the night before. My brain just wasn’t working the way it normally would. It felt like I couldn’t think clearly enough to troubleshoot or pivot the way I usually could.So it ended up being one of those classes where you can feel it not going well, and you don’t have the capacity in the moment to turn it around, which made me feel even worse about everything.

Outside of school, I’m spending all of my time lesson planning and answering emails (about 6 additional hours on top of the normal hours im at the school so 14 hrs a day im spending for $150 a day. I dont wanna teach for the money, but it just feels so unreasonable to do all that and i end up feeling not good enough, not even doing good for the kids, and am taking a major paycut (In my previous job, I made in a day what I make in a week as a LTS), and I’m still behind. I have over 100 unread emails at this point.

I guess I’m just wondering if this is what long-term subbing usually looks like, or if this situation is actually a bit much. And if you’ve been in a similar position, how did you manage it without feeling like you were constantly falling short?