Supply Teachers - or is that not politically correct?

Are we supposed to call them substitute teachers? I mean, no one has ever told me it wasn't PC, but everytime I say "supply," I think of a storage room full of teachers, waiting to be picked. Like, the TDSB has a stock of retired teachers hidden in their premises.

Ahem. I'm getting off topic. Supply, or substitute (or whatever) teachers being the topic at hand.

Don't they annoy you? I personally really dislike supply teachers. They throw off the balance of the class. Especially when they don't go with the plan, or don't teach properly. Sometimes, it's nice to just let ourselves work it out, but there are times when you need direct teaching. They might be really nice, and tell stories, or let us do the work by ourselves, but it's not teaching.

Then, there are those really uptight supply teachers that don't let you move or talk. Literally. We had one last year, and when one of us coughed, she threatened to send them to the office. True story. I really hate those kinds of enforced silences. When you can hear every tiny minuscule sound, and you want to speak up, but can't. Those silences are NOT productive. If you ever hear the silence during a test, or during reading time, those are productive silences. I wish I could show all of them the difference. Just because we're quiet doesn't mean we're thinking.

There are only a few recurring substitute teachers I like. One, which we've had for Art (Mr. D) for the last term because our regular art teacher has been away, and another one that I haven't seen for a while, but used to get our class a lot (Mr. M). And I'm sure there's more that I may have missed, but those come to mind. They're nice, but they don't stray too far from the lesson plan, and don't let the class get too unruly either. And they aren't detached. (Some supply teachers just sit back and read, like, a newspaper or a book. That frustrates me. It shows they really don't care if you're working productively or learning anything at all.) You can strike up conversations and talk to them.

So. Supply teachers:

It's a good thing they only come a few times a year. And although they might be really nice, or delay that presentation you had that day, or even be a source of entertainment (I don't support this one. Especially if you're making fun of them. It's not right. Mind you, if they're especially vicious, it helps to laugh them off), most of them aren't good teachers, and not much learning goes on.

No matter how frustrating you find your teacher's assignments are - hey, at least it's not a supply teachers that sends you to the office for coughing.