You do not say whether you provided the sub with the material presented,
or the sub provided his/her own.  Some subs do a very good job of
contributing to the class, but I have known of some who simply "read the
book" to the students.  

Nothing excuses the disrespectful behavior of the students who attended
the beginning of the class and then left, as far as I am concerned, but
there could be a reason they felt free to leave.  

Also, for the students who skipped the class completely, students have
often learned from experience that subs sometimes waste the class time
and that the material is often not on the exam, so there is little to be
gained by attending, or lost by skipping the class.  I think it is the
fault of previous teachers and profs who "showed" the lack of value of
the subs.  I don't think it excuses the disrespect of the students in
prejudging the worth of the material this particular sub was prepared to
present, but it could be that students have learned from experience to
avoid classes taught by subs.

FWIW, I rarely missed classes, but made a practice of dismissing classes
when I did.  Unless, of course, it was (or could be turned into) and
exam period.  Hardly anyone ever walked out on my subs or failed to show
up for that class. 

The idea of having a written explanation is a great one.  Once you know
why they left, you can decide what to do about it.

Rick suggests a reasonable consequence, I think.  If time to prepare a
pop quiz is an issue, you could make sure to have several extra MC
questions, or even an essay question (dust off the ol' BS detector),
from the material presented by the sub on the next regularly scheduled
exam.

For that matter, the pop quiz could be an essay question or two
specifically calling for the points the sub added to the material in the
book.


-- 

----------==========>>>>>>>>>> ��� <<<<<<<<<<==========---------- 
Sometimes you just have to try something, and see what happens.

John W. Nichols, M.A.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Tulsa Community College
909 S. Boston Ave., Tulsa, OK  74119
(918) 595-7134

Home: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols
MegaPsych: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/megapsych.html

---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Reply via email to