Substitutes deserve our respect

It’s the first period of the day, and you sit in the classroom, waiting for your teacher to arrive. The door swings open, and a substitute teacher enters instead. Some students turn to each other and start whispering, while others outright disregard the substitute’s attempts to regain control of the classroom.

Although it might seem like just another class, the way students treat substitutes and TAs matters. These staff members take their time to keep the class flowing and support students when they need help, often with little recognition. Respecting substitutes and TAs keeps the classroom organized, helps everyone stay focused, and ensures that learning runs smoothly.

The roles of substitutes, teacher assistants, and student teachers are to serve as support, whether by assisting the lead teacher with a lesson or being an additional source of guidance for students. Albert Arwas, a veteran PHS substitute teacher, is familiar with the importance of this position.

“A substitute teacher, in my opinion, ought to be the alter ego. In other words, an extension of the teacher,” said Arwas. “I have my way of interpreting exactly what the teacher wants me to do, and I carry it out. I walk around and make sure that people work and so on. If someone is not doing any work, I sort of say, well, is there a problem? Basically, to make sure that the class runs smoothly in the absence of the teacher.”

While substitutes focus on keeping order in the classroom, TAs and student teachers take their role a step further. Besides passing out papers and taking attendance, they work and learn under the guidance of a more experienced teacher to complete their secondary education training. Eric Soltys, a new student teacher at PHS, assists with a genetics elective as well as two accelerated and AP biology courses. As a senior at The College of New Jersey, he continues to train to become a full-time teacher while already taking on classroom duties.

“A lot of students expect [a] substitute to come in and know all the answers and be perfectly confident and secure, but they might still be confused about … classroom routines. It’s perfectly okay for a [student teacher] or a substitute to come in and learn to adapt to a classroom experience,” said Soltys.

These jobs that substitutes and TAs hold may seem simple. Still, they face a variety of challenges daily that make their job much tougher than students might realize. Specifically, Farzana Ahmad, a substitute teacher at PHS, has experienced a variety of issues during her time in the classroom.

“Sometimes if students don’t have anything to do, or if they don’t want to complete their work ... then they would just ... not listen.” said Ahmad. “They’d be throwing papers and talking out loud ... sometimes I’ve seen that they would video record what other students are doing.” Substitutes and TAs may not be present every day, but they play a vital role in facilitating our education. We as students must work to treat these individuals with the appreciation they deserve, and in doing so, make the classroom a better learning environment for everyone.