Do you feel comfortable being absent from your classroom?

Absolutely not. How can I expect my students to be here if I do not model the same behavior?

Great post, I see racial self-segregation all the time, and I want to investigate the issue more thoroughly. I always find something new and interesting every time I come around here - thanks.Newstrade.org

This year for the first time we have been given the sub list and call our own subs when we know ahead of time we will be out. If we are lucky and the one or two subs who are really good are available then our kids do learn. If not then no learning takes place. If we are sick then the office staff tries to find a sub but we are in an inner city school and not many people want to sub for us. Then our Teacher assistants (we share with another teacher) become the sub. I rarely am out for illess (3 days over the last 5 years) but do have to go to professional development or district wide events. It is very stressfull for teachers and students. I leave alternative plans that are easy for a sub to follow and have taught my first graders routines to help the day go smoothly. Sometimes it works but often it doesn't.

We have pretty good subs in our suburban district, although the pay could be better. As a special-subject teacher I only see each class once a week. So if I miss a day or two when I'm sick, each class is only missing one forty-minute period with me. This makes me feel better when I do have to miss a day. Although I have to say, I typically ask the subs to do keyboarding with the students instead of the lesson I would have done on Internet safety or PhotoShop or Google Earth.

We have some substitutes at our elementary school with no experience teaching at all. Some are African and are limited in their English literacy. Yet amazingly, when I take the time to "script" the lessons-- typing out every word they say and every action to perform, the results are fine. It takes me about an hour to do this using the Word file I keep on my computer, which already has the schedule for that day on it. I label the files Sub Plans Wed or Sub Plans Thursday AM. It's definitely worth the effort of scripting the plans since I don't lose a day from the subject area curriculums.

There is never a problem getting a sub, but the quality is not necessarily 'great' However, the solution I have found is to make the kids responsible and somewhat independent. We use Moodle for classwork in and oout of school, so the kids always know where to go to find out what to do. The hardest part is the "discipline minded sub' who won't let them talk about what they are doing. Much of our work is collaborative, within the room and around the world, so they need to talk!

Well one can only speak about our own experience... I don´t like leaving my students with others and when I have to do it i plan classes in advance ( my plans are for the minute...) Last year my 4th child was born in March yet in mid April I was back to school, I know i´m priveliged because I work in my own space according my own rules, but teaching as I see it has to be faced as a mission and we must get ready to take it! Before getting a cold drink orange juice face days with hope and high spirit!!!

I was just absent for a professional development conference. I was told to take sick days because professional development monies had not been released and otherwise the system would not pay for a sub. Upon my return I found that 10 teachers were out -- classes were combined and as a result my sub had a class she had taught already (we see classes once a week) and the class was combined with a K class. There was very little support for the sub. When I am integrating technology I find the sub cannot "continue as usual" and the students are the ones who miss out. I will probably cut my professional development short because of this and because as a special area teacher I am on a fixed schedule and not a flexible one.

I team teach with 2 other teachers in the same adjoining 2 rooms. When one of us is absent, it is up to the other 2 to cover our classes. For that reason, it is always necessary for us to leave work, everyday, according to our plans. I do not like to be out unless necessary because it takes time away from the other teacher's classes and leaves me lots of work to catch up on and concepts that were not fully understood to be reviewed.

One advantage to teaching in an alternative urban school is that we have a number of teachers who substitute for us frequently. This may be because our school tends to hire new teachers from teachers who have frequently substituted for us. The advantage to that is that not only do they know us and our unique program but also that we know them and how they teach.