Not sure if I posted this here but it bears being said: teachers, if you go on leave (like actual leave, not just “gone for a few days”), then all due respect, you don’t get to complain about what did or didn’t get done or what was done the right or wrong way. You weren’t here. Had a teacher come back from leave and instead of a “thank you for holding down the fort” I get “why did you do this unit that way? Why did this piece not get done?”…

Seriously, there's nothing worse than being second guessed like that. Decisions have to be made in the moment, and when you're dealing with a room full of young people, there's always some element of unpredictability, if not rampant chaos. Always good to assume people did their best at the time.

Took three extended leaves of 3-10 weeks for military service (2012, 2013, 2017). The first one went great with an awesome sub. The second was a disaster. He messed up grades, blamed me, which prompted the principal to send a harsh email to my personal account which I got while downrange in Afghanistan. The sub rearranged a lot of my classroom and storage areas, putting things in the hallway which quickly disappeared. And the sub messed up my school financial accounts and the relationships with a couple of suppliers. Suffice it to say I set a really low bar for the last period of leave. The first and third “held down the fort” for which I was deeply appreciative and expressed such. The sub in the middle forgot he was a temp, that it was my program, and damn neared burn down the fort instead of holding it down.

Completely agree. Who reacts like that? That sounds like a great way to ensure no one ever wants to cover for you again...

I used to Sub and for the past decade I am a full time teacher and so I encountered both sides of that and I find it all depends on the person. I have gone into classes where the instructions are very detailed and the students had halos and I was able to get everything to their specs...on the other extreme on a few occasions I got sub plans that were, give worksheet with wrong schedule and classes that my marine grandfather would say were "a bit rowdy", and yup chaos all around. On the teaching side, dislocated shoulder, surgery, senior week long field trip but other classes need lesson plans. In those times I gave detailed instructions with options based on comfort level like model this math, or show this you tube, or have class read with you these pages with the guided math problems. Some subs gave me detailed reports and of which option along with who did what. Other times I got a scribbled note that said, "its all good" and my students told me the sub played on their phone and they had a study hall day those days. In all instances with all people I feel it is best to be polite and kind. Still if your class was allowed to be destructive and unsupervised while you were away because of a COD game on a phone to that sub [Censored].

Comes with the territory when you are away. A lot of different variables, and I understand that even the best laid out lesson plans can be derailed.

Special education teacher in Baltimore city

I think there is a fine line. When I am out, I have a lesson plan that I expect to be implemented. There was one sub in the past (a nice buy, btw) but he would show Mr. Bean videos instead of doing the lesson. Or they would collect papers when I specifically told them not to.

Mixed feelings. Had a colleague who went on maternity leave but left detailed assignments and instructions, points assigned, etc.

Sub came in and overrode her gradebook and Google Classroom. Told students she was "wrong" about various things. (Sub was not certified and had no background in her content area) He changed the points for assignments so much that previous work was completely overshadowed. He DIDN'T keep things together in any meaningful way.