Having your teacher who you spend a whole school year in the class with gone may seem like a good thing, especially if you have the test or an assignment due. Really substitutes have the authority to do anything that the teacher gives them to do. 

If the teacher wants the sub to give a test, then substitutes may do so.  When subs come to class sometimes, they don’t have a lesson plan to go over with the class which leaves you nothing to do during that class.  When you are in the middle of a unit, then the teacher may have an assignment to give to you.

When it is on a day when you have a test and you walk in to find your teacher not in the class, you may have a little party in your head. In reality you are not in the clear now. As long as it is a test that a sub can give and not a big final, then you better have studied for the big test.

If a test was not assigned for that day and nothing was due that day, then you could be sitting there staring at the wall. You just daydream about what you are going to do this weekend or in your next class. You may sit with all your friends and talk about sports or how hot that guy/girl is that you see everyday.

When you get home or to your next class, you might find yourself wondering why you did not do the work for a class that was due the next day so that you would not have any homework.

If the teacher leaves you busy work, then the teacher should leave you more than enough for the day. If they don’t leave busy work, then you will be quiet or do work for other classes. So the next time that you walk into the class and you don’t see your teacher but a substitute, consider the work they may give you and use your time wisely.