Substituting midway through the semester

[Parasaurolophus]

I've just learned that I'll likely have to step in as a substitute for a colleague's courses for the last month of our semester. It'll probably be two additional courses, but maybe three if we can make the timing work. That's at least a doubling of my current load, and one new prep. So that's good and bad news for me: good, because I need the money, and bad for obvious reasons.

But now, friend Forumites, I need to know what your advice is for someone stepping in mid-semester. For those of you who've had to do it, what kinds of nasty surprises should I anticipate?


For the purposes of maintaining a record, as well as continuity with the old forum, similar questions were previously asked here and here, and there's what looks like great advice there already. But what can we add for our shiny new forum?

[clean]

I did it twice, actually.  First, A coworker had to have knee replacement surgery and was out from Spring Break to the end of the term.  He left a sort of outline of what needed covered.  Still, the students were not happy with the change.  He was 'easy' and I am not!  Also, he still gave the final grades, so I gave whatever tests were required for that half of the class and graded them, but he gave the final grades.

The second time was summer school.  A coworker was served with divorce papers and I was thrown into taking over his course. I  dont think that I was given a choice!  Those students were particularly upset when it became clear that the original (also easy prof, who would 'review for the tests by reading the MC questions the day before the exam) guy was bailing.  I brought in the department chair to discuss the change with the students and he calmly explained that the students had the option to drop the class and that he would make sure that they could take it when the next summer term started (with another faculty) if they wanted to start over.  We were in week 3 of a 5 week class then. 

So the biggest issue is going to be if your grading and expectations are significantly different from the other person's, or if the students had 'shopped' for this particular faculty member for whatever reason. 

[AvidReader]

I have done this, as an adjunct at a community college covering for another adjunct who had to leave mid-semester. There was a two-week HR gap in the middle in which two other faculty covered classes, so by the time I arrived, they were just grateful to have a stable instructor again. I believe they were offered the option of dropping the course, but most did not.

In my instance, I didn't have any communication with the original instructor, which was a real issue: a batch of papers were lost, homework submitted in hard copy (or to the other instructor's email) was gone, and the syllabus was untenable for me in several respects. In your instance, you'll know exactly what you are stepping into.

Things that really worked: I spent a day getting to know the students, having them write me introductions, and gave them a LOT of leeway on deadlines. Because the syllabus was infeasible--and we were more than two weeks behind--I wrote them a new one after I had met them. We talked through it, and I explained the changes I had made. I also offered a lot of leeway: I dropped a larger number of assignments than usual, so students whose work had been lost could choose to re-do it or to use a drop on it, and this let them get used to some changes in grading as well. I was very clear about which things would now be harder (they couldn't submit all work at the end of the semester, suddenly!), and how I was addressing those by adding other benefits or incentives.

I was very, very clear and up front with them about how we would run the class, acknowledging that things had been difficult but that we were all in it together. I also built in extra student meetings, even though we were short on time, to make sure I could catch problems immediately. I think being clear is the most important (e.g. You've been used to doing X for professor Q, but I prefer Y. If you forget the first time, I'll remind you. After the third instance, the usual late penalty will apply). Never denigrate the other instructor, just be matter-of-fact. Also don't allow the students to complain about the other instructor (this is a fine line, but important--it will eat your class time, and it's unprofessional). They can tell you matter-of-factly if something is new, different, or confusing (so that you can respond to it), but it should never feel like a venting session.

Since this is a planned transition, attending one of the other classes might benefit you; you'll get a feel for what students will expect so you can address changes immediately. Make sure that you have a plan for accessing all student work if needed. Having a way to contact the other instructor to verify things would be useful, but have a plan in case that instructor can't reply (e.g. a student says "Doc. Q said I could submit all my work on the last day of class, so I don't need to turn in this paper on time).

Also, make sure you ask for and receive copies of accommodations. I had students who had submitted accommodations forms to the other instructor, but since we never transferred documents, they were lost. I asked all students to tell me whether they had accommodations, and then was able to get copies from our accommodation department immediately (because many of them didn't have spares). If you can get notes of how your colleague handled those accommodations, things will go even more smoothly, but you might want to meet with those students individually in your first week. The accommodation students I had were very anxious about the change, and talking through things with them smoothed the first two weeks immensely.

My sub classes were really hard, but they ended up going very well in the end. Don't be afraid to lose some time in the transition: it is natural that the first few days will have issues, and expecting that--even acknowledging that to the students--may make those hiccups seem less dramatic.

AR.

[Parasaurolophus]

Just did the first of my new courses. Holy carp, do things in there seem disorganized. The students missed a few weeks already due to instructor illness, and were a few weeks behind on the material on top of that, and so nobody could actually tell me what had been going on, what they had last covered, how their in-class assignments worked, etc. Everyone kept contradicting everyone else. Plus I've got a bad flu at the moment, so my foggy brain was having a hard time figuring things out.

Lesson learned: I'ma have to tear it all down and build it in a way that makes sense for everyone. There's just no realistic way for me to preserve their experience of this particular course so far, especially without detailed info from the previous instructor.

[AvidReader]

Ignore my comments upthread, then--it sounds as if you are in exactly the same sort of situation I experienced when I took over a course. Not having access to the original instructor is especially difficult.

Is your chair willing to authorize an administrative withdrawal for students who want to re-take the class with fewer disruptions? Giving them that offer would be a real benefit to you also, as the students who stick it out will be willing to pull together.

Can you get them to write you something describing what they have done and learned so far so that you can collate and verify at your leisure?

If it helps, I changed everything about my courses: deadlines, actual assignments, etc. I referred students to the course objectives so they could see why they still had to do certain things although the timing was tight, and I provided lots of out-of-class support. Your goal is to help the ones who have accomplished the objectives show their mastery thereof. If you keep that as their focus, most will appreciate your efforts even if there are hiccups.

AR.