2.5 stars. This caught my eye on a library shelf. The author, with no apparent previous experience in education, signs up to substitute teach. (In the U.S., it's common that to become a sub you only need a high school diploma.) The book is just a retelling of each and every day of Baker's sub career. He taught all ages of kids in several different schools.

Though I found myself getting caught up in some of the retellings, I found this book problematic for a couple of reasons. First, is the structure of the book itself. It is just a play-by-play of each day. It gets pretty dry after a while. There is subtle commentary occasionally about how Baker feels about his experience, but not much. I had to skim parts to make it through.

Second, I really struggled with Baker's attitudes toward the system and the teachers he was working with and for. I understand that the systems in place in our schools are not always ideal. In particular, iPads and other electronics are put in the hands of children who are not emotionally mature enough to deal with this temptation in their faces all day. And we expect kids to conform to our structures. But those very structures can be good for some kids. Baker assumes that his casual way of operating a classroom is best for all kids. He totally ignores teachers' incentive plans (both positive and negative ones). He assumes he knows what should be done about a kid's medication, for heaven's sake. He's spent 20 minutes with the kid. Maybe he's right, but maybe he's just confusing the issue by throwing his opinion into the mix. I got annoyed by his know-it-all attitude by the end of the book.

And yet, I found some of the classroom dramas and interactions kind of interesting. Interesting enough to plow through this book, at any rate. ( )

Deep into Substitute, Nicholson Baker talks to a third grader about an article she has to read regarding stink bugs. On one of the hundreds of worksheets Baker distributes during the course of his short career, students are asked, “Why did the author write this article?” Baker says to the student:

I said, “Why on earth did the writer write this article? Why did she write it? Well, probably because she’s paid to write articles for schools. But it’s also the feeling of pressure inside you. You want to say something. She learned about stinkbugs and wasps, and she thought, Wow, I want the world to know this.”

That desire to share what one has learned is, presumably, why Baker wrote Substitute, a 750-page small-font cinderblock about his twenty-eight day stint as a substitute teacher in Maine. But this desire is strangely fulfilled: Baker shares—and shares and shares and shares and shares—what he has seen and heard over those twenty-eight days, but very rarely—and then, only for a sentence or two—offers any opinions. A friend of mine said the book turned him off because it seemed polemical. “It’s the dead opposite,” I said. “There were times when I wished it became polemical, just so I could engage with it more.”

Baker has said in interviews that his goal was to show what school is like: the day-to-day operations and expectations. He does this, sometimes to a fault. There are passages that are genuinely funny, like when he tries to get a class of first-graders to clean up and is reduced to yelling, “Just put the thing inside of the thing!” But there are pages of data without comment or color, as if one were reading Ulysses without the style. There were times when I grew impatient with scenes that read as exact transcripts of what Baker must have recorded on his iPhone as he went through his day. The classic rule of writing a film scene—enter late, leave early—is flouted on almost every page.

And yet, I suspect that this is all by design. By offering the many examples of busywork that kids are expected to complete—as well as the assumption that making a Keynote presentation is educational or fun—Baker makes his point. There’s too much homework, too many rules, and too much micromanaging. But he never makes it by becoming hysterical or engaging in sentimentalism. He never comes across as smarmy or one who knows better. With a few exceptions (such as the irritating Mrs. Spaulding) the teachers are good folks who want the best for their students. And the kids are fine, too. This is not to say that things are all good: perhaps the best scene in the book is when Baker is asked to show a video of Oprah interviewing Elie Wiesel to a packed group of high school kids who don’t know anything about the Holocaust and whose rudeness gets Baker genuinely angry. Some kids are, in fact, obnoxious. But most of them are funny and fine.

Of course, kids automatically behave differently when a sub is in the room. This could be regarded as one of the book’s strengths (see the real kids as they are in school) or weaknesses (kids are more real when they are with real teachers).

This is a book to read off and on over the course of a month or so. There’s no plot and Baker’s voice is almost absent, so there’s no great sentences to appreciate (as in The Mezzanine) or clever design that creates an argument (as in Human Smoke). But for reasons I can’t really articulate, I read every word and enjoyed it.
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I chose to read this book as soon as I've seen the description. I work as a substitute teacher in a high school, tho I am not an American, which means that I've had to finish university and pick this job up as an intern. But I've seen some great comments and I really wanted to know how different American school system is from ours. It's REALLY DIFFERENT.
This is the experience of someone who was never a teacher and that's why it's so interesting. Every day of this 28-days-of-school is about someone not used to teaching business getting to meet different children and preparing to spend some time with them. That's not an easy job. From what is allowed for a substitute in the classroom to how it affects your daily life, Nicholson Baker writes it all. But perhaps there is too much detail. For example: every conversation with a child is written in so many details that a person who really cares only about a quick read will never care about it. I like how Nicholson talks with children and how they react to him and though I'm not familiar with the author I trust him somehow.
Again, this book will probably be a good insight into an educational system and I'm glad I've read it since I knew nothing about American schools. I do wish the book was shorter but I find myself quoting it all day to my friends who also work as substitute teachers with me.


I find this book on NetGalley and I offer an honest review. Thanks for sharing!
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As a certified teacher I have been substitute teaching for a few years trying to find a full-time position, so I am quite familiar with the joys and sorrows associated with this position. However, I decided to read this book with the hope that perhaps the author would provide me with some tips or insights into the wild world of substitute teaching. Sadly, that was not what this book was about. Instead it was a mind-numbing look at 28 days of substitute teaching done by the author who is not a teacher, but a writer looking for his next book. What surprised me most was that the school district allowed him to tape his classes, (the transcription of the dialogues between him, other staff and students is too precise for any other method to be used). It is obvious that the author does not have a high opinion of our system of education, instead preferring to chat with students about a variety of topics, many of which are not in his lesson plans. He also did not appear to have strong classroom management skills and often became frustrated by the noise levels in many of his classes. This is a very long book filled with minute-by-minute accounts of his days as a substitute teacher with no real sharing of insights. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did. ( )

Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids by Nicholson Baker is an overly long-winded account of his 28 days as a substitute teacher in Maine. It was so-so for me but recommended for anyone wondering and needing a complete description of what a typical classroom day might resemble for a substitute teacher.

In 2014 Mr. Baker took a brief night class, got fingerprinted, and was then eligible to earn $70 a day as an on-call substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. Once he was called in to a school he arrived and did his best to follow the lesson plans/sub plans left by the teacher. Be forewarned that this truly is a moment to moment, day by day account of Mr. Baker's days as a substitute teacher, in grades K-high school, a roving sub, and also several times as an "ed tech" in special education (which is called by other names in other states, but usually a paraprofessional).

I guess I need to disclose that I have been a licensed teacher (many years ago) and a paraprofessional in sped (more recently) in the public schools. I too struggled to get fingerprinted (apparently my fingerprints are also hard to take). There are several differences that any reader of this account needs to take note of before making assumptions that Mr. Baker's experiences are all applicable across the USA. Subs are required to have a college degree and the teacher preparation program in my state; paraprofessionals need to have the equivalent of an associate's degree or take a test.

There are some high points and more low points in this overly long and detailed account. For anyone who has ever worked in the public schools you will recognize his struggles and accomplishments, as well as the various personalities he encountered. There is the ever-present struggle to maintain order and quiet, to teach students of greatly differing capabilities and diversity, the arduous scheduling of the day, and worksheets galore. It must be noted that sub plans are often easier, and can consist of more worksheets and busy work than a normal classroom day. I would agree with him and the teacher who declared that iPads are the bane of education. The quality of subs differs widely and Mr. Baker didn't strike me as a particularly well-qualified one, no offense to him. Obviously he was doing it in order to write this book. Many subs are retired or former teachers and are much better at classroom management than Mr. Baker.

This book would have been more effective if it wasn't a day-to-day detailed listing of everything that happened every day. The days could have been summed up and the highlights noted. Then Baker could have included some personal thoughts and reflections about the day. The current book drones on too long and becomes tedious and repetitious.

Highlight: Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine! (A joke I've heard and had to laugh at numerous times.)

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher for review purposes.

http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/2016/09/substitute.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1750165903 ( )