I remember one sub that would come in often, when I was in elementary school. I never enjoyed it when we found out he'd be teaching, because he seemed mean to us. Once, in the 6th grade, I had been given 5 minutes to come back from the 2nd-grade classrooms and I came in 30 seconds late. I also came in with a bang, as I slammed my walker into the doorframe after losing control of it. I had been running away from a boy who always teased me and who had been chasing me down the hall, and we were both laughing, out of breath. The sub took a quick glance at our smiling faces and our loud entrance and quickly said, "detention, the both of you. Not a sound."
Boy, did my smile drop. I felt like I needed to straighten my back like a board and keep my lips shut tight. I didn't wanna look at anybody. I didn't want to be in the classroom, or even in the school, itself. All I wanted was to race home, jump under my covers, curl up in a ball like a snail and never come out. My cheeks were so red and so hot and I was shaky all over from fear and embarrassment.
I thought it was unfair that he assume we were late intentionally. I used a walker and was always slower than the rest of the kids. It was unfair! I thought. He [the boy] was chasing me, too. He should get in trouble, not me...
Then there were some teachers who just could not control their classes no matter how hard they tried. The students had no respect for authority, I would notice, and they thought that they could get away with things that they normally couldn't if the routine teacher was present. Like, talking over the instructor, laughing at their attempts to discipline or just refusing to answer when they were asked a question. When this happened, the teacher would become worried about their personal power and would raise their voice or say, "that's it, book work until they end of class. No talking. If I hear one sound, I'm writing you up."
It was in times like these that I would automatically have high respect for my teachers and be prepared to do what they asked of me without question. I realized that they were good people and that they were only feeling vulnerable.
A teacher of mine once said to her students something I will never forget: