The Substitute Name Tag

I mentioned in a previous post how I dislike having to wear a name tag as a substitute. I have always disliked them in general for reasons that I can barely even articulate. I guess I'm of the mindset that if you want to get to know me, come talk to me and ask me my name. But sometimes they're necessary and I can understand that.

Now on to the substitute name tag. A lot of schools these days require all adults to wear identification. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why, so I can definitely understand that. Teachers don't always wear their badges, but everyone has one with their picture on it. Now, substitutes do not have these badges. Instead, when we report to the office at the beginning of the day we're given a name tag that says "Substitute" in big letters and are asked to write our name below it. I learned early on to write Mrs. Last Name instead of my full name since I really don't want students calling me Mary.

I already stated that I understand why we need identification. Regardless of that, I am firmly against the substitute name tag. Yes, I do wear it at school. I don't really want to get into an argument about it or potentially lose out on work because of it. However, I am starting to think about not wearing it while teaching. I will probably accomplish this by sticking it to a cardigan for walking around the halls but not for the classroom.

I'm sure you can probably guess why I hate the name tag. First of all, it's hard enough to be a substitute without having a big label stating it. Surprisingly, I'm sure, students aren't always on their best behavior when they have a substitute. They know that their regular teacher is gone and can sometimes see it as an excuse to act out. They also don't usually realize that their substitute may have the same training as their regular teacher and could actually teach them something. So they don't have the same respect. When you add a "SUBSTITUTE" sticker on top of that, it's almost impossible to be taken seriously.

Maybe I'll get over it some day but I seriously doubt it.