We are an urban public school. There is always a sub. This was three years ago–this year, when I was out one day and the sub was 5 minutes late, I had 10 out of 25 kids text me to ask if they still had to do the in-class essay since they would not have as much time as the other class. My kids KNOW I am always a phone call or text message away if they have questions or concerns. Not understanding is never an excuse.
That’s okay; You probably did make it clear (I’m just an easily confused person). Still though, I think it’s safe to say that the typical substitute can’t possibly have a sufficient level of knowledge to flex the social dynamic in their favor, leaving them only draconian measures like, well, detentions (though whole-class detention was certainly both unwarranted and unnecessary).
Oh, and I just noticed:
Never an excuse for your students, that is. I’ve never had a teacher who was even close to that accessible; heck, some of them were pretty hard to understand even when they happened to be present.
Jesus Christ, that’s the year I graduated high school.
I now officially hate the OP.
Whippersnapper. 
~faithfool, class of '86
Bwahahaha! Fear our youthful wrath ye of the wrinkly skin and aching joints!
I agree, but if a teacher has enough respect/control, the attitude that “we behave in here” will last for at least a few days. I substited for a semester or so before I got a real position, and I was shocked at how differently the same kids would behave in different teacher’s rooms. It wasn’t just weird combinations of kids–in Ms. Smith’s room, all the classes would be good, but the next day in Ms. Jones’s room, those same kids would be terrible, every class. And that would repeat on later visits.
On the other hand, there are hell classes. I had one group one year that I simply couldn’t leave. Eight or ten of the most aggressive kids I’d ever taught and they all were either in love with or hated each of the others. One time I had a doctor’s appointment and had to leave them for half an hour: the security guard came to watch them–I warned her that they were a handful and she said “Oh, kids don’t give ME problems”, like I was the rookie. In that half-hour, she had to get the dean in the room. I never missed that class again.
I’m lucky to teach at a school that has a culture that encourages us to be avalible, and I feel strongly that teachers need to be avalible in lots of different ways–kids have different comfort zones, so they can text or call or email or post on the class message board or come before/after school. The price the kids pay is that there are no excuses for not trying.
Believe it or not, my neighborhood is mostly composed of families raising young kids, and some of those kids think I’m old. I guess to them, the criteria for “old” is old enough to remember a pre-Dora/Diego/Doodlebops era.
I know. That’s what would make it sting.