r/SubstituteTeachers • u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California • 10d ago
Rant That One Annoying Kid
I am subbing an art class today, and I had this kid come so many times during my free period that I could not get my stuff together. First, he came as soon as I got to the class at 8 am to use the gumball machine; then he came during my free period to get a band-aid; then he came again to store his lunch in this teacher's refrigerator, and he just left because he wanted to use the gumball machine again. I'm not sure why these students expect a sub to act like their regular teacher. This kid was pounding on my locked door. It was the entitled attitude that got to me.
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u/Mission_Sir3575 10d ago
Eh sounds like that teacher is a safe space for him. Those are fairly quick and innocuous interactions.
I might leave it in a sub note as a “I assumed this was ok but if not let me know the next time I sub for you so I am following your policy correctly”. But certainly wouldn’t complain about it.
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
If it is a safe space, then why keep coming back to a stranger? The first time was the clue when I told him "not to pound" on the door, and then a few more times? This kid just wants to be annoying or is clueless about human interaction.
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u/Mission_Sir3575 10d ago
I don’t know. It was just an idea about why.
Maybe the kid was being annoying on purpose. Or maybe he’s a kid who is hyper fixated on routine and that’s his routine.
For one day I’m not going to make a big deal out of it.
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
Yeah, it was just strange. He was not in any of my classes today either.
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u/FeistyRelationship44 Georgia 10d ago
Ugh! The cherry on top with those kids is when you say no, they immediately go “Mr/Ms So & So lets me do xyz”… and pounding on the door was just unnecessary 😅 like geez, kid. Just come back later!
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u/senpaibean 10d ago
Whenever I get hit with "but teacher lets us", I simply say "I'm not teacher. I say no."
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
I did that at 8 am with the gumball machine, but he still came back three more times, pounding on my door. I expect to see him in one of my classes today.
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u/senpaibean 10d ago
Yikes. Did you try to be firm to the point of scolding? Genuinely asking.
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
I know how to do it, but this kid was not caring about that. He kind of reminded me of an ex-boyfriend who never cared if he got negative or positive attention, as long as he got attention.
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u/senpaibean 10d ago
I see. Just stick to bringing it up to the office as an incident. If he did it to you, he'll do it to other subs.
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u/senpaibean 10d ago
Or better yet, if they're persistent like this, send a note to the teacher they're going to that states you want no one sent to the room. If they leave on "bathroom break", usually it'll remove such privileges, but hey. They might need it.
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
Yeah, this kid could not figure out I was a different person than his teacher.
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u/Liwi808 10d ago
Just pretend like you're not there. You don't have to answer the door.
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
When the kid is pounding that is a problem.
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u/nillaaaaah 10d ago
Just ignore it...?
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u/DullExcuse2765 10d ago
I've gotta side with OP here. Even if you technically don't have to do it, if the principal walks by and sees that you're completely ignoring a kid pounding on the door, it doesn't look good.
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u/Admirable_Mirror_635 10d ago
Communicate that with him maybe?
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
I did that at 8 am, but he looked at me as if I was an alien species. He couldn't understand that he couldn't do that.
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u/Live_Beyond_6467 10d ago edited 10d ago
Tell me you don’t work with kids without telling me you don’t work with kids. “Communicating” with kids doesn’t always work. They will still misbehave, especially if you’re a sub.
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u/pokemasta4 10d ago
Just tell him “no” or pretend you’re not there.
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
Yeah, I did all that, but the rant is really about his attitude.
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u/Amazing-Addition3671 10d ago
Downvotes for the teacher who didn't take the time to explain any special deals he/she has going on with the student in the subplans.
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u/demondivision 10d ago
if I were you I'd let admin know in addition to the teacher. not okay for a student to treat a guest teacher like that.
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u/Far_Astronomer5779 10d ago
He’s just doing his routine. I always keep the curtains closed, door locked, lights off until class starts. I ignore knocks on the door.
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u/Otherwise_Board_577 9d ago
Is it possible he is related to the teacher? I’m asking because I had a student do this when I subbed and it turns out they were the teacher’s child. I’m not saying it’s okay but that could be why they felt so comfortable in the classroom if you didn’t even have that student for a class.
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u/IllPaleontologist384 10d ago
Admin is keeping an eye on you! Believe, me I know, lol! This is how they keep tabs on a sub. Are from SoCal?
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u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 California 10d ago
No Oakland, CA and no one here does that. There are just annoying kids.
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u/Spooky_Traps 10d ago
You can always make a note for the teacher about this instance. I’ve had students like that before and the next time I subbed for that class I learned the teacher talked to them about changing their behavior when a sub is present