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Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids
In 2014, after a brief orientation course and a few fingerprinting sessions, Nicholson Baker became an on-call substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. What emerges from Baker's experience is a complex, often touching deconstruction of public schooling in America: children swamped with overdue assignments, overwhelmed by the marvels and distractions of social media and educational technology, and staff who weary themselves trying to teach in step with an often outmoded or overly ambitious standard curriculum. Baker is one of the most inventive and remarkable writers of our time, and Substitute, filled with humor, honesty, and empathy, may be his most impressive work of nonfiction yet.
719 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2016
189 people are currently reading
1392 people want to read
About the author
Nicholson Baker
40 books969 followersNicholson Baker is a contemporary American writer of fiction and non-fiction. He was born in Manhattan in 1957 and grew up in Rochester, New York. He has published sixteen books--including The Mezzanine (1988), U and I (1991), Human Smoke (2008), The Anthologist (2009), and Substitute (2016)--and his work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper's, the New York Review of Books, Best American Short Stories, and Best American Essays. He has received a National Book Critics Circle award, a James Madison Freedom of Information Award, the Herman Hesse Prize, and the Katherine Anne Porter Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1999, Baker and his wife, Margaret Brentano (co-author with Baker of The World on Sunday, 2005), founded the American Newspaper Repository in order to save a large collection of U.S. newspapers, including a run of Joseph Pulitzer's influential daily, the New York World. In 2004 the Repository’s holdings became a gift to Duke University. Baker and Brentano have two children; they live on the Penobscot River in Maine.
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August 30, 2016
Four years ago, I moved to England to begin my career as a teacher. Fresh out of Lakehead University's Faculty of Education, the dry job market in Ontario left me looking across the Atlantic. Thanks to Engage Education, an agency that specializes in recruiting teachers overseas for the English school system so desperately clamouring for them, I managed to land a classroom right away. When I moved back to Thunder Bay, I got on the supply list for our adult education centre here, which operates a little differently from high schools--and shortly after being hired, I got contract, and then permanent work. So I've only briefly been a substitute teacher, and never for the age groups or types of schools Nicholson Baker encounters in Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids. I was intrigued to see how his experiences tally with my own, and to get a glimpse behind the curtain of the American education system.
NetGalley and [publisher] provided a Kindle proof of Substitute for review, and it was ... well, rough--and I'm not just talking about the formatting of the ARC (which was abominable, but whatevs, I don't knock the free books). From start to finish this book is a shambles of uneven, uninteresting, and underwhelming storytelling.
Am I supposed to know who Nicholson Baker is? Because I don't. I deduced from what he mentions to the people he interacts with in this book that he is a writer, older with children grown, and that he undertook the substitute teacher thing as a project with the intention of turning it into a book all along. All that's to the good (and I have no problem with stunt books)--I just wish Baker took the time to introduce himself directly to us, to give us some context for who he is, and where he's coming from in his life. Instead, all we get is a brief description of what laughably passes for substitute teacher training in Maine, apparently, before Baker dives into recounting each of his twenty-eight supply days.
Allow me a brief aside: America, what is wrong with you? Why can people with no experience in education become substitute teachers simply by taking a night school class for a few weeks?? I knew your education system was underfunded and that teachers themselves receive very little in the way of support or respect, but I didn't realize the situation was so dire that you're basically letting substitute teachers walk in off the street. No wonder things are in the state they're in.
None of this is meant to besmirch Baker or his intentions, though. He's pretty clear that he just wants a better understanding of how schools function in this day and age, and whether they are really serving our kids the way we want them to (spoiler: they aren't). As someone who fights that battle on a daily basis, I really empathize with him and respect him for leveraging a broken system to get that experience. He certainly seems to try to make genuine connections with some of the students he supervises. Unfortunately, the manner in which he relates his substitute experiences to his readers leaves much to be desired.
Each chapter corresponds to one day of substitute teaching and goes like this: first Baker describes the dispatch call and tells us which school he'll be at and what his position will be. Then he shows up at the school, gets his plans and ID badge, etc., and makes his way to the first classroom. He and the students say the Pledge of Allegiance, and then the day commences. For the rest of the chapter, he basically retells every notable conversation he has with students. While these are occasionally interesting or humorous, they gradually start to add up into a block of banal, boring exchanges.
That's something I've always wondered about in non-fiction books and memoirs: how, exactly, do authors remember these conversations so word-perfectly? Baker doesn't mention taking notes, and it doesn't seem like something he'd have much time for. Does he have some weird perfect recall? Or are these conversations fictionalized versions of what he can remember passing throughout the day?
In any case, the first few chapters of this are fine. We get a good sense of what Baker's day as a substitute is like, of the challenges he faces, the rhythm of the school day, etc. Baker holds no illusions about being a good teacher or even substitute teacher; he is admirably self-deprecating and quick to acknowledge mistakes. Occasionally he makes one-off observations, or his tone communicates his frustration with the system and what it does to kids, or he shares advice given to him by other teachers. These moments are few and far between, however, and they are unfortunately the only things that pass for introspection in this book.
Otherwise, Substitute is literally just twenty-eight chapters of Baker telling us, in minute detail, what passed in each of the classrooms he was in. I was not expecting this format. I went into this book hoping for someone to discuss substitute teaching in a holistic way, for them to relate their personal experiences back to what they perceive to be faults (or virtues) of the education system. I was expecting a lot more analysis, a lot more substance. Instead, drawing these conclusions is left as an exercise to the reader. There isn't even any conclusion or afterword where Baker tries to draw it all together: the last chapter simply ends with him mentioning that this was also his last day substitute teaching, and then the book is over. All this leaves me to wonder: so what?
Reading twenty-eight of what verge upon transcripts of days in a classroom is, to put it bluntly, dull. It's doubly dull for me, since, you know, I spend plenty of time in classrooms as it is. Even when Baker is in a staff room or other non-contact area and has conversations with teachers, they are about as mundane and far away from talking about teaching as you can get. I'm not sure what this is meant to do, other than add verisimilitude--is he attempting to show people that teachers are harried, flawed humans just like the rest of us? I don't know. All I know is that by Day 10 or so, I started skimming, then I outright flipped to the end, hoping there would be some kind of format shift into a more reflective mode. And even towards the end, when Baker describes something as interesting as a lockdown practice, he never shifts gears. This is a long, excruciatingly detailed book, and the only verb to describe reading it is to trudge. I trudged through this.
So I can empathize with Baker, and I appreciate the rare moments he seeks to show us how the system seems to be ignoring individual kids in favour of collective results. But there I go again--I'm reading into it, projecting my own hang-ups about education onto the book. I'm not sure a reader with less knowledge of the education system would draw those same conclusions, because there is no real point or thesis in here. It's more of a diary, than anything, and it long overstays its welcome. If Substitute reminds me of anything, it's those long, dull, dry textbooks I'm so happy that we're finally rid of.
NetGalley and [publisher] provided a Kindle proof of Substitute for review, and it was ... well, rough--and I'm not just talking about the formatting of the ARC (which was abominable, but whatevs, I don't knock the free books). From start to finish this book is a shambles of uneven, uninteresting, and underwhelming storytelling.
Am I supposed to know who Nicholson Baker is? Because I don't. I deduced from what he mentions to the people he interacts with in this book that he is a writer, older with children grown, and that he undertook the substitute teacher thing as a project with the intention of turning it into a book all along. All that's to the good (and I have no problem with stunt books)--I just wish Baker took the time to introduce himself directly to us, to give us some context for who he is, and where he's coming from in his life. Instead, all we get is a brief description of what laughably passes for substitute teacher training in Maine, apparently, before Baker dives into recounting each of his twenty-eight supply days.
Allow me a brief aside: America, what is wrong with you? Why can people with no experience in education become substitute teachers simply by taking a night school class for a few weeks?? I knew your education system was underfunded and that teachers themselves receive very little in the way of support or respect, but I didn't realize the situation was so dire that you're basically letting substitute teachers walk in off the street. No wonder things are in the state they're in.
None of this is meant to besmirch Baker or his intentions, though. He's pretty clear that he just wants a better understanding of how schools function in this day and age, and whether they are really serving our kids the way we want them to (spoiler: they aren't). As someone who fights that battle on a daily basis, I really empathize with him and respect him for leveraging a broken system to get that experience. He certainly seems to try to make genuine connections with some of the students he supervises. Unfortunately, the manner in which he relates his substitute experiences to his readers leaves much to be desired.
Each chapter corresponds to one day of substitute teaching and goes like this: first Baker describes the dispatch call and tells us which school he'll be at and what his position will be. Then he shows up at the school, gets his plans and ID badge, etc., and makes his way to the first classroom. He and the students say the Pledge of Allegiance, and then the day commences. For the rest of the chapter, he basically retells every notable conversation he has with students. While these are occasionally interesting or humorous, they gradually start to add up into a block of banal, boring exchanges.
That's something I've always wondered about in non-fiction books and memoirs: how, exactly, do authors remember these conversations so word-perfectly? Baker doesn't mention taking notes, and it doesn't seem like something he'd have much time for. Does he have some weird perfect recall? Or are these conversations fictionalized versions of what he can remember passing throughout the day?
In any case, the first few chapters of this are fine. We get a good sense of what Baker's day as a substitute is like, of the challenges he faces, the rhythm of the school day, etc. Baker holds no illusions about being a good teacher or even substitute teacher; he is admirably self-deprecating and quick to acknowledge mistakes. Occasionally he makes one-off observations, or his tone communicates his frustration with the system and what it does to kids, or he shares advice given to him by other teachers. These moments are few and far between, however, and they are unfortunately the only things that pass for introspection in this book.
Otherwise, Substitute is literally just twenty-eight chapters of Baker telling us, in minute detail, what passed in each of the classrooms he was in. I was not expecting this format. I went into this book hoping for someone to discuss substitute teaching in a holistic way, for them to relate their personal experiences back to what they perceive to be faults (or virtues) of the education system. I was expecting a lot more analysis, a lot more substance. Instead, drawing these conclusions is left as an exercise to the reader. There isn't even any conclusion or afterword where Baker tries to draw it all together: the last chapter simply ends with him mentioning that this was also his last day substitute teaching, and then the book is over. All this leaves me to wonder: so what?
Reading twenty-eight of what verge upon transcripts of days in a classroom is, to put it bluntly, dull. It's doubly dull for me, since, you know, I spend plenty of time in classrooms as it is. Even when Baker is in a staff room or other non-contact area and has conversations with teachers, they are about as mundane and far away from talking about teaching as you can get. I'm not sure what this is meant to do, other than add verisimilitude--is he attempting to show people that teachers are harried, flawed humans just like the rest of us? I don't know. All I know is that by Day 10 or so, I started skimming, then I outright flipped to the end, hoping there would be some kind of format shift into a more reflective mode. And even towards the end, when Baker describes something as interesting as a lockdown practice, he never shifts gears. This is a long, excruciatingly detailed book, and the only verb to describe reading it is to trudge. I trudged through this.
So I can empathize with Baker, and I appreciate the rare moments he seeks to show us how the system seems to be ignoring individual kids in favour of collective results. But there I go again--I'm reading into it, projecting my own hang-ups about education onto the book. I'm not sure a reader with less knowledge of the education system would draw those same conclusions, because there is no real point or thesis in here. It's more of a diary, than anything, and it long overstays its welcome. If Substitute reminds me of anything, it's those long, dull, dry textbooks I'm so happy that we're finally rid of.
September 18, 2016
Just couldn't finish this. Boring, filled with irrational conversations that go nowhere. Author was a substitute teacher for 28 days, and it feels like instead of actually teaching, he instead spent all his time writing down every word every kid said during class, making no effort to provide any context. I couldn't believe he would go on that way for the entire LONG book, so After the first 20%, I skipped ahead. Nope, same ramblings halfway through, and also at the end. No attempt to summarize or make a point at the end. So disappointing!
July 2, 2016
Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids is about author Nicholson Baker's experience as a substitute teacher in a school system in Maine. Baker captures the feel of a school day (as a teacher, some of this was very familiar to me)-the life of the children and the repressive feel of today's classroom with its often inappropriate curriculum.
Baker clearly enjoys his time with the students and his interactions with them. Although he seems to respect the good intentions of the teachers, he seems to find them trapped in a system over which they have little control and few choices. By the end of the book, I thought, "If I had a child today, maybe I'd have to homeschool him or her." With all the educational changes that have occurred, it looks like, at least in this school system that Baker works in, school is designed to squash children's creativity and spirit.
Baker describes his days in great detail. Sometimes I felt that gave me a good sense of what was happening but there were other times I felt overwhelmed by the amount of detail, the transciption of seemingly every interaction. There was an intense focus on the daily experience of Baker and the students with whom he worked that for the most part allowed that experience to speak for itself without articulating an agenda about education. As a teacher, I appreciated that focus although at the same time it limited the view of what was happening in these classes, why there was so much stress on compliance and quiet.
Although it seems Baker enjoyed his time with the students, I was feeling a little depressed throughout the book. It felt like these children were in jail and there was little time for them to enjoy their childhood or experience the joy of learning. Everything had to be quantified and accounted for. Literature was so broken down into various components and features that there was no life left in the story.
Hopefully, Baker's experience does not reflect on all of education in the U.S., although I know that the emphasis on technology and worksheets is widespread. We don't seem to trust either our teachers' abilities to teach or our children's abilities to learn.
I want to thank NetGalley, Penguin Books (Blue Rider Press), and Nicholson Baker for the opportunity to read this well-written, thoughtful book in exchange for an honest review.
Baker clearly enjoys his time with the students and his interactions with them. Although he seems to respect the good intentions of the teachers, he seems to find them trapped in a system over which they have little control and few choices. By the end of the book, I thought, "If I had a child today, maybe I'd have to homeschool him or her." With all the educational changes that have occurred, it looks like, at least in this school system that Baker works in, school is designed to squash children's creativity and spirit.
Baker describes his days in great detail. Sometimes I felt that gave me a good sense of what was happening but there were other times I felt overwhelmed by the amount of detail, the transciption of seemingly every interaction. There was an intense focus on the daily experience of Baker and the students with whom he worked that for the most part allowed that experience to speak for itself without articulating an agenda about education. As a teacher, I appreciated that focus although at the same time it limited the view of what was happening in these classes, why there was so much stress on compliance and quiet.
Although it seems Baker enjoyed his time with the students, I was feeling a little depressed throughout the book. It felt like these children were in jail and there was little time for them to enjoy their childhood or experience the joy of learning. Everything had to be quantified and accounted for. Literature was so broken down into various components and features that there was no life left in the story.
Hopefully, Baker's experience does not reflect on all of education in the U.S., although I know that the emphasis on technology and worksheets is widespread. We don't seem to trust either our teachers' abilities to teach or our children's abilities to learn.
I want to thank NetGalley, Penguin Books (Blue Rider Press), and Nicholson Baker for the opportunity to read this well-written, thoughtful book in exchange for an honest review.
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September 9, 2016Had a great time talking with Nicholason Baker about what school is like for far too many children in this country. Watch the video here:
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https://www.facebook.com/poststyle/vi...
February 20, 2019
Why was this so long? I really adore Nicholson Baker. I do! So, why was his editor on vacation at a time like this? This is a diary of Mr. Baker’s 28 days of substitute teaching at public schools in Maine. Great. Got it. He has jotted every I and crossed every T of his experience. So... where is the heart and depth of the experience? I appreciate every recorded memory and experience but something tells me there are deeper conversations and experiences to be explored that never were. A more defined, whittled down retelling would have proved to be more powerful. I “liked it” but I wanted more.
September 9, 2016
I had really high hopes for Substitute. As a former teacher, I thought it would be interesting to get an outsider's view on what goes on in our education system and get a glimpse inside of lots of different classrooms. I thought the cover was clever, with the author's first name crossed out in the byline and replaced by "Mr." After reading the introduction and recognizing some of the routines I use (such as Daily 5/CAFE), I was interested in seeing what the author thought of them.
However, this book did not hold my attention enough to finish it. Instead of offering any thoughts, opinions, or analysis, the author chose to write (usually word for word) the dialogue of the kids in the classroom and what they're doing. There's a lot of yelling about hair styles and stolen pencils. When I got to a page that described what each of 22 kids wrote in their essay on what they did over the weekend, I was done. Perhaps the point was that this is a monotonous assignment and kids should not be forced to write about it, but since the author didn't make any comments along this line, I don't know.
Another frustrating aspect, as a teacher, was that the author seemed to do very little teaching while he was there. I know that this may largely be because of the sub plans left, but there are also times when he encourages the students to talk about monster trucks and One Direction instead of trying to go over a math concept or read aloud from a book. I think if the events of the day had been summarized, instead of written in detail, and more comparisons and opinions had been included, this would have been an excellent book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
However, this book did not hold my attention enough to finish it. Instead of offering any thoughts, opinions, or analysis, the author chose to write (usually word for word) the dialogue of the kids in the classroom and what they're doing. There's a lot of yelling about hair styles and stolen pencils. When I got to a page that described what each of 22 kids wrote in their essay on what they did over the weekend, I was done. Perhaps the point was that this is a monotonous assignment and kids should not be forced to write about it, but since the author didn't make any comments along this line, I don't know.
Another frustrating aspect, as a teacher, was that the author seemed to do very little teaching while he was there. I know that this may largely be because of the sub plans left, but there are also times when he encourages the students to talk about monster trucks and One Direction instead of trying to go over a math concept or read aloud from a book. I think if the events of the day had been summarized, instead of written in detail, and more comparisons and opinions had been included, this would have been an excellent book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
December 13, 2016
I have never read anything by Mr. Baker before, but I now understand that he is a well-respected author. I, however, am a teacher. Mr. Baker, I am sorry to say is a teacher's worst nightmare. He lets the children run the classroom and creates noise and disruption throughout the school. The teachers around the classroom of this kind of substitutes have to repeatedly leave their own rooms to mediate the situation. Every teacher knows that you can't rely on kids for instructions. They may be great and want to be helpful, or they could be trying to get away with things by making a fool of you. I am writing this as a teacher, but not a strict uptight teacher (these words can easily portray me as such.) I have a good rapport with my middle school kids (the hardest ages) I've learned not to sweat the small stuff and you can build a lot of trust between you and the kids. This book stressed me out and let me know that even the most educated people may not be able to teach. Teaching is a noble profession that does not get the credit it deserves. This is not an accurate portrayal of life in the classroom.
December 14, 2016
DNF... I can't even begin to write everything that annoyed me, especially since I've been a substitute teacher for three years. How does he have time to record all of those conversations and still maintain the classroom.... Oh wait, he doesn't. Bleeh.
September 25, 2016
A substitute teacher's day can either be a hell or fabulous. As Mr. Baker tells us, it's all in how you introduce yourself. Tell them your name and just get started on what they need to get accomplished. Never, I repeat, NEVER, say the word, substitute. It's the equivalent of a four letter word inappropriate for school. You don't have to be tough or rude, just in charge. You can even laugh at an occasional, age-appropriate joke, but nip it in the bud. Substitute, is an accurate account of a substitute teacher's day, almost to a the letter. I would have raised my grade to four stars, if there were not so much detail.
We really didn't need everything. However, if you've ever subbed, even for a day, you have to read this book. You'll laugh out loud or at least groan a little.
We really didn't need everything. However, if you've ever subbed, even for a day, you have to read this book. You'll laugh out loud or at least groan a little.
August 18, 2016
Well, this is the first time I have ever started a book and just couldn't bring myself to keep reading (not even hate reading). I received Substitute through Penguin Random House's First to Read program and thought it sounded like it might be an interesting. A writer in Maine becomes a substitute teacher and writes about his experiences. After completing a substitute workshop, Baker starts substituting at all grade levels and writes a chapter for each day he subs. My problem was that each chapter reads like a log entry or transcript of what happened that day. And reading dialogue of middle schoolers is about as scintillating as you might expect. There were no overall observations, ideas, analysis, or themes - just a dry accounting of each day. I knew when I felt dread at the prospect of having to keep reading this book it was time to just stop and spend time on books I actually enjoy reading.
February 9, 2017
I wavered back and forth between 2 and 3 stars, and ultimately I guess it would be a 2.5. Interesting idea, but very repetitive.
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See my full review on my blog:
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November 21, 2016
Avoid this book. It is like reading the diary of a terminally boring person. I'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish by writing this book.
November 12, 2017
oh no this book is my life
except I barely speak my students' language
oh no
except I barely speak my students' language
oh no
August 12, 2016
First of all, I'd like to thanks Penguin for giving me the opportunity to read this book as an ARC!
I, personally, did not like this book. I read this book and in all honesty, it bored me. It's probably just me and my feud with memoirs but still. First few 100 pages were great, I was getting into it and then god knows what happened, I lost interest. American education is something I never had any interest in and I thought by reading this book/memoir, it'll broaden my knowledge but it didn't. 700 pages was just way too long.
I, personally, did not like this book. I read this book and in all honesty, it bored me. It's probably just me and my feud with memoirs but still. First few 100 pages were great, I was getting into it and then god knows what happened, I lost interest. American education is something I never had any interest in and I thought by reading this book/memoir, it'll broaden my knowledge but it didn't. 700 pages was just way too long.
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December 21, 2021I had no idea this was so long when I started it. I'm a pretty big NB stan, but I think 350 pages of this was enough for me. Good stuff, but I'm not reading another 350.
November 25, 2016
Nicholson Baker is my favorite living writer, and I’ve been a working teacher for fifteen years, so I was delighted when I found out this book existed. It did not disappoint.
I’ve taught in public and private schools, written curriculum for schools and online programs, and homeschooled and tutored private students, and I can attest to the absurd amount of time wasted in a typical classroom day. If we surgically removed relentless and ineffective behavioral interventions, illogical busy work, unnecessary interruptions and transitions, and endless worksheets, Baker is absolutely right that a student could learn all he or she needed to know in two hours a day, tops.
The question is, what do students need to know? I teach at the elementary level, so fortunately I’ve been spared the crushing experience of forcing teenagers who have no aptitude or interest in an advanced subject to do forty-seven sample problems on an obscure math or science topic. However, I do need to work with the Common Core standards for elementary school, and discern the best ways to teach them.
Here’s the problem. There is nothing objectively wrong with Common Core. It lays out clear developmental goals and defines the skills and concepts that will serve as a foundation for students’ thinking. The problem is in the interpretation and implementation. Schools are so pressured by standardized assessments that they end up drilling holes in students’ brains and trying to force this information in so that nobody loses their jobs or funding. There’s no joy in it—no joy in the children themselves and no joy in the art of teaching and learning. And that’s so heartbreaking.
My favorite thing about this book was Baker’s fondness and affection for the students, even (and sometimes especially) those who were a pain in the ass. I feel like this is what’s fundamentally missing in those classrooms that fail – and I mean fail both morally and academically. When a student walks into my classroom, it’s my job to love them first and foremost. To listen and to get to know them, to understand who they are, how they personally learn, what they care about, what their strengths are, and where they need support. Personally, I do begin this process by establishing myself as the authority in the classroom, because I believe children need to know that they are safe, that someone is in charge and can be trusted to manage any problems that arise. All discipline, though, is explained clearly and with compassion. What makes it work is its consistency and fairness, and the fact that I respect my students—truly. I believe in them, I like them, and my high expectations of them, I believe, make them feel good about themselves in the end.
The learning is also meaningful, relevant, and contextualized to the best of my ability, and you’d be surprised by how unusual this is. If I’m teaching something, my students understand why they need to know it and how it applies to the real world. If I’m teaching something that’s boring because I have to, since it’s necessary, I acknowledge that, and I limit the time we spend on it and try to make it fun. Most of the work is project-based. All of it is organized around the joy of being someone who thinks deeply, who develops skills out of pride and intellectual interest, who communicates clearly and also knows how to listen. We’re building a community here—one that is capable of creatively solving the problems of the complex world we’re handing over to our children, who knows how to communicate, collaborate, negotiate, and listen to and consider multiple conflicting points of view.
I don’t always succeed at this, of course, but this is how I define success. Not by managing to arbitrarily fill six and half hours a day or checking off boxes on a taxonomy poster. What Baker is showing here—with a wonderful mix of humor, sadness, and bafflement—is how profoundly we are missing the boat on what education could be. Useful. Relevant. Intellectually engaging. Loving. Compassionate. Joyful. This isn’t impossible to do. It’s goddamn hard, but it’s not impossible. And it’s what we really should be aiming for.
* Side note: From now on, whenever I am sad, I’m going to play “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” and eat coffee chocolate.
I’ve taught in public and private schools, written curriculum for schools and online programs, and homeschooled and tutored private students, and I can attest to the absurd amount of time wasted in a typical classroom day. If we surgically removed relentless and ineffective behavioral interventions, illogical busy work, unnecessary interruptions and transitions, and endless worksheets, Baker is absolutely right that a student could learn all he or she needed to know in two hours a day, tops.
The question is, what do students need to know? I teach at the elementary level, so fortunately I’ve been spared the crushing experience of forcing teenagers who have no aptitude or interest in an advanced subject to do forty-seven sample problems on an obscure math or science topic. However, I do need to work with the Common Core standards for elementary school, and discern the best ways to teach them.
Here’s the problem. There is nothing objectively wrong with Common Core. It lays out clear developmental goals and defines the skills and concepts that will serve as a foundation for students’ thinking. The problem is in the interpretation and implementation. Schools are so pressured by standardized assessments that they end up drilling holes in students’ brains and trying to force this information in so that nobody loses their jobs or funding. There’s no joy in it—no joy in the children themselves and no joy in the art of teaching and learning. And that’s so heartbreaking.
My favorite thing about this book was Baker’s fondness and affection for the students, even (and sometimes especially) those who were a pain in the ass. I feel like this is what’s fundamentally missing in those classrooms that fail – and I mean fail both morally and academically. When a student walks into my classroom, it’s my job to love them first and foremost. To listen and to get to know them, to understand who they are, how they personally learn, what they care about, what their strengths are, and where they need support. Personally, I do begin this process by establishing myself as the authority in the classroom, because I believe children need to know that they are safe, that someone is in charge and can be trusted to manage any problems that arise. All discipline, though, is explained clearly and with compassion. What makes it work is its consistency and fairness, and the fact that I respect my students—truly. I believe in them, I like them, and my high expectations of them, I believe, make them feel good about themselves in the end.
The learning is also meaningful, relevant, and contextualized to the best of my ability, and you’d be surprised by how unusual this is. If I’m teaching something, my students understand why they need to know it and how it applies to the real world. If I’m teaching something that’s boring because I have to, since it’s necessary, I acknowledge that, and I limit the time we spend on it and try to make it fun. Most of the work is project-based. All of it is organized around the joy of being someone who thinks deeply, who develops skills out of pride and intellectual interest, who communicates clearly and also knows how to listen. We’re building a community here—one that is capable of creatively solving the problems of the complex world we’re handing over to our children, who knows how to communicate, collaborate, negotiate, and listen to and consider multiple conflicting points of view.
I don’t always succeed at this, of course, but this is how I define success. Not by managing to arbitrarily fill six and half hours a day or checking off boxes on a taxonomy poster. What Baker is showing here—with a wonderful mix of humor, sadness, and bafflement—is how profoundly we are missing the boat on what education could be. Useful. Relevant. Intellectually engaging. Loving. Compassionate. Joyful. This isn’t impossible to do. It’s goddamn hard, but it’s not impossible. And it’s what we really should be aiming for.
* Side note: From now on, whenever I am sad, I’m going to play “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” and eat coffee chocolate.
August 31, 2025
It’s like really going to school: too long, boring, full of characters, funny, sad, inspiring, frustrating and you can even learn something if you pay attention.
October 26, 2016
My not-so-secret dream for much of my life has been to be a teacher. Probably high school, but I've imagined/romanticized teaching younger kids as well. The closest I've ever gotten to actually doing it was when I applied for that NYC Teaching Fellows program in the mid-aughts--I LOVED the process, including the five-minute lesson I gave to the panel of "judges"--but didn't get in because they only needed math and special ed that year. Or, at least, that's what they told me. Anyway, I thought that dream was dead--I love my jobs now, so I'm not mourning--until I read Nicholson Baker's Substitute, an epic, intimate record of the 28 days he spent as a sub in Maine's public school system, holding down the fort in everything from a kindergarten room to a day's worth of remedial high school math classes. This, I realized, is what I could do when I need to "retire", or if my dual receptionist/photojournalist careers go south! I could be a full-time sub somewhere!
I say all of that because even though I loved Baker's 700+-page portrait of the schools, teachers, daily routines, lessons, and--best of all--the students of whatever real-identity-changed district in rural Maine this is, the author's fondness for minutia might be too much for those with no feeling for the subject. So, the setting: because it's Maine, almost everyone, teachers and students, are white, and clearly the district has some money. All the classrooms are outfitted with tech-y teaching tools, there are Ed Techs (these are humans, not robots) galore to help out specific students and give general assistance, and all the middle- and high-school kids get iPads. Baker comes to loathe the latter and, in fact, the whole concept of contemporary schooling, which is more about keeping kids busy (with ENDLESS inane worksheets and projects, which are often discouragingly difficult for al but a few of the kids) and compliant (with constant shushing and yelling and punishments) than education. There's also the not-small matter of medicating kids, which hits Baker hard in one of the later chapters. Made me really happy I'm not in 4th or 8th grade today, though who knows, maybe it was the same (though different) back in the 1970s.
Baker doesn't complain or proselytize (much), nor does he blame the regular teachers who have to be with these kids every day while he gets to breeze in and out and be the "good guy". He also realizes how ineffective his "method" of respect and gentle encouragement can be; some of the funniest moments in the book are when he loses control of his classrooms, which is pretty much every time he teaches.
Ok, I can tell I'm going to go on too long with this so just know that Baker's narrative strategy usually involves long passages of the actual lessons--math problems, history "lectures", story-time, whatever--with well-timed and usually endearing interjections from the students. Really, it's Baker's instinct for pacing and, most important, his obvious affection for these kids, that makes Substitute such a pleasure to read. For me.
I say all of that because even though I loved Baker's 700+-page portrait of the schools, teachers, daily routines, lessons, and--best of all--the students of whatever real-identity-changed district in rural Maine this is, the author's fondness for minutia might be too much for those with no feeling for the subject. So, the setting: because it's Maine, almost everyone, teachers and students, are white, and clearly the district has some money. All the classrooms are outfitted with tech-y teaching tools, there are Ed Techs (these are humans, not robots) galore to help out specific students and give general assistance, and all the middle- and high-school kids get iPads. Baker comes to loathe the latter and, in fact, the whole concept of contemporary schooling, which is more about keeping kids busy (with ENDLESS inane worksheets and projects, which are often discouragingly difficult for al but a few of the kids) and compliant (with constant shushing and yelling and punishments) than education. There's also the not-small matter of medicating kids, which hits Baker hard in one of the later chapters. Made me really happy I'm not in 4th or 8th grade today, though who knows, maybe it was the same (though different) back in the 1970s.
Baker doesn't complain or proselytize (much), nor does he blame the regular teachers who have to be with these kids every day while he gets to breeze in and out and be the "good guy". He also realizes how ineffective his "method" of respect and gentle encouragement can be; some of the funniest moments in the book are when he loses control of his classrooms, which is pretty much every time he teaches.
Ok, I can tell I'm going to go on too long with this so just know that Baker's narrative strategy usually involves long passages of the actual lessons--math problems, history "lectures", story-time, whatever--with well-timed and usually endearing interjections from the students. Really, it's Baker's instinct for pacing and, most important, his obvious affection for these kids, that makes Substitute such a pleasure to read. For me.
February 23, 2019
Couldn’t finish this book. If I hadn’t worked as a substitute on and off for 10 years I may have found it sort of cool to learn about what it’s like to be a sub, but reading it kind of made me go “so what?”.
Nothing super interesting happens (in the first half at least), and the author spends most of his time recounting bland or predictable conversations he had with middle schoolers. I know this is nonfiction, so I didn’t expect a dragon to attack the school or anything, but I thought the book would be more insightful than it was.
Furthermore, after subbing in 6 different districts across 3 states, I can tell you that it’s very different from place to place, and it weirdly annoys me that this guy subbed for 28 days in one district and considered himself enough of an expert to write and publish a book about it.
I picked it up thinking it might be cool to “compare notes” with the author, but it just wasn’t an enjoyable read. Maybe I need to finish it to understand the point of the book....but I don’t have the patience to find out.
Nothing super interesting happens (in the first half at least), and the author spends most of his time recounting bland or predictable conversations he had with middle schoolers. I know this is nonfiction, so I didn’t expect a dragon to attack the school or anything, but I thought the book would be more insightful than it was.
Furthermore, after subbing in 6 different districts across 3 states, I can tell you that it’s very different from place to place, and it weirdly annoys me that this guy subbed for 28 days in one district and considered himself enough of an expert to write and publish a book about it.
I picked it up thinking it might be cool to “compare notes” with the author, but it just wasn’t an enjoyable read. Maybe I need to finish it to understand the point of the book....but I don’t have the patience to find out.
August 31, 2016
SUBSTITUTE: GOING TO SCHOOL WITH a THOUSAND KIDS is a lengthy (416 pgs.) account of the author’s 28 day stint as a substitute teacher at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Each day is told in such minute detail that I was wishing the end of day school bell would ring just to end each chapter sooner. While the subject of the US educational system does fascinate me, the author said little about his thoughts on what’s right/wrong with public schools today and what changes he felt should be made. My thanks to Penguins First to Read for the advance reader copy in exchange for a review...
April 18, 2017
For me, this book felt like 719 pages of the horrible film "Groundhog Day". As a substitute teacher in a school district in Maine, Nick Baker saw it all. From kindergarten up through high school, he muddled along the best he could with sub plans, taxonomy charts, I pads, and attitudes.
A straightforward look at some of the challenges facing the public school system. At other times redundant. You didn't feel like he actually enjoyed it until the final few paragraphs. A book that could have gotten its point across in fewer pages. It was mediocre.
A straightforward look at some of the challenges facing the public school system. At other times redundant. You didn't feel like he actually enjoyed it until the final few paragraphs. A book that could have gotten its point across in fewer pages. It was mediocre.
February 7, 2025
Hardly worth the thrift store price with little to no reflection on the content. If you’re going to go through the effort of becoming a substitute teacher just for a book project, at least review the experiences rather than give a moment by moment retelling of how the day went and the people you saw.
March 11, 2017
Poor thing: she was already fed up with being asked to do inane worksheets and she was only in kindergarten. Twelve more years to go.
—p.575
The title of Nicholson Baker's Substitute may make The Who start playing through your head too, the way it did for me, but I realized about halfway through that a better fit would be the Beastie Boys—when you really have to go to school, even as a substitute teacher, there's no doubt that you've gotta fight for your right to party.
And, much like the Beasties, Substitute shows very little humility. On the strength of twenty-eight days—a mere four weeks' worth—spent in various classrooms, Baker seems to consider himself qualified to judge the entire American public education system—and of course he finds it deficient in many ways.
This is, perhaps, part of the problem—even when it works well, public education can't get much good press.
I have to admit that I'm not an unbiased witness myself, though. I am an employee of a public school district (though not in direct contact with students; I work in administration) and have been for more than twenty years. Which means that, while I share Baker's admiration for anyone who can work in a classroom day after day, I also have acquired some understanding of (and even sometimes a little sympathy for) the many budgetary and bureaucratic imperatives that prevent classroom staff from being entirely the masters of their own domain.
There are parts of Baker's testimony that I can definitely corroborate. He's as skeptical of classroom technology in general, and in particular of so-called "one-to-one" initiatives that put individual computers into the hands of every student regardless of ability or need, as I've come to be. The iPads that his Maine students have been issued do seem more of a distraction and a pacifier than an instructional tool. He and I also share a rather bilious view of the many so-called "Learning Management Systems" currently proliferating as part of the for-profit educational technology gold rush. And yes, kids, please do learn your multiplication tables by heart—that'll serve you well later in life, possibly more than anything else you learn in math class.
However, sometimes Baker does get a little... squirrelly. Despite Baker's love of language when it comes to other fields, he's oddly annoyed by and suspicious of scientific nomenclature, like the difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes... in several different places in Substitute, Baker insinuates that scientific jargon must be part of a scam. Oh, yeah—all those superstar scientists' inflated salaries must be the result of a conspiracy...
Baker kept counting the days, marking them off... he often seemed dispirited at the end of yet another work day. I get that, I do. Sometimes I feel that way myself, and sometimes reading Substitute did feel like... homework. (And yes, I know, I've used that comparison before.) In general, I like Baker's fiction better than his nonfiction anyway. He's truly an accomplished wordsmith, but despite a few brief flights of fancy, the best parts of Substitute come when Baker gets out of the way, and lets his students' own stories shine. And, to Baker's credit, he does that a lot.
So read Substitute, even though it's flawed. Read it for those stories—for the many kids who are struggling, for the ones who are doing just fine, and for the few who can excel (sometimes in spite of themselves and the system of which they're a part). Read it, both for Baker and for us. Because really, in the end, what Nicholson Baker did—what we're all doing—is (to coin a phrase) for the children.
May 10, 2017
As a sub teacher ..prek-12, I love this book! So spot on to what sub teaching is like! I jwpt shouting and laughing !
He breaks the book down by assignments qnd it's exactly what it's like! The description of the lessons, the kids shoutinf..even though they think it's helpful and the feeling of..Did I teach enough? .
The writing is superb..I want all teachers and parents to read..but really all sub teachers will unite.Awesome read!!
He breaks the book down by assignments qnd it's exactly what it's like! The description of the lessons, the kids shoutinf..even though they think it's helpful and the feeling of..Did I teach enough? .
The writing is superb..I want all teachers and parents to read..but really all sub teachers will unite.Awesome read!!
September 23, 2016
This review is of a book I got for free from Netgalley.
I had a hard time with this book, as a middle school teacher. Part of it was the format of the book–it reads like a transcription of all the 28 days the author subbed, and it’s so detailed that by the ninth or so day it becomes really difficult to read and process. Part of it is also the premise and the author’s opinions about education, and the idea that subbing for less than a month can give someone who isn’t in education an accurate picture of the education system. The day-to-day running of a school varies so much school to school and district to district, that what the author dislikes about the one district he subbed in may not even be an issue in other districts. The author’s opinions about specific lessons were particularly frustrating, because teachers purposely leave very simple work for subs to do with students–and yes, very often teachers leave worksheets for subs, for a slew of legitimate reasons. When the author started actively undermining the teachers’ instructions, particularly in terms of writing essays, it was really difficult to read.
I did really find it fascinating to see what a day is like in different classrooms and at different grade levels, especially across schools in a district. I think I would have gotten much more out of the book if it had been structured with a day in primary, middle, and high school at the beginning of the month; a day in each school at the middle; and a day at each school at the end. That would have given me a snapshot of the experience, with different age groups of students, over the whole 28 days. I also would have appreciated some sort of concluding chapter, laying out the author’s conclusions and what he took from the experience. As well as his next steps–like, how has this changed him? What does he intend to do about it?
It was an interesting read for me, but it definitely has made me much warier of subs.
Review also posted here: http://mrskaoreads.com/2016/09/22/the...
I had a hard time with this book, as a middle school teacher. Part of it was the format of the book–it reads like a transcription of all the 28 days the author subbed, and it’s so detailed that by the ninth or so day it becomes really difficult to read and process. Part of it is also the premise and the author’s opinions about education, and the idea that subbing for less than a month can give someone who isn’t in education an accurate picture of the education system. The day-to-day running of a school varies so much school to school and district to district, that what the author dislikes about the one district he subbed in may not even be an issue in other districts. The author’s opinions about specific lessons were particularly frustrating, because teachers purposely leave very simple work for subs to do with students–and yes, very often teachers leave worksheets for subs, for a slew of legitimate reasons. When the author started actively undermining the teachers’ instructions, particularly in terms of writing essays, it was really difficult to read.
I did really find it fascinating to see what a day is like in different classrooms and at different grade levels, especially across schools in a district. I think I would have gotten much more out of the book if it had been structured with a day in primary, middle, and high school at the beginning of the month; a day in each school at the middle; and a day at each school at the end. That would have given me a snapshot of the experience, with different age groups of students, over the whole 28 days. I also would have appreciated some sort of concluding chapter, laying out the author’s conclusions and what he took from the experience. As well as his next steps–like, how has this changed him? What does he intend to do about it?
It was an interesting read for me, but it definitely has made me much warier of subs.
Review also posted here: http://mrskaoreads.com/2016/09/22/the...
July 28, 2018
Something is in the air. Time of year? Seasonal? My psychiatrist would say so. (I'm avoiding him.) Just this ineluctable sense of wonder that people go on. I like to think of myself as an affable chap, but I seem to currently riding a wave of generalized misanthropy and and persistent malaise. It really is ridiculous to be flung here amidst the great unwashed. To be forced to participate. To communicate, and strive, and try to forge relationships. To have to make a goddamn living! And the institutions. Blech. Don't get me started on the institutions. No matter how bad it is now, at least I am not a kid ... forced to go to school ... molded by the hands of mediocrity in a stultifyingly soul-deadening Gulag. Phew. So Nicholson Baker more or less comes along at the right time. I needed you, Nick. Grazie. Baker started out as a writer w/ some edge. There was an insolence and a creeping darkness. But always compassion. Always amusement and wonder and curiosity in the face of human travail. And he has grown into a man who looks at life w/ joy. Still that amusement, wonder, and curiosity. An easy going and compassionate man, he doesn't entirely look away from workaday suffering, not at all, but he assimilates it all w/ the same warmth w/ which he draws in the niceties. He can be caustic and aghast, like the observational-mode standup comics he in some ways resembles, but he likes people, he cares, and reminds us that it is a waste of time not to get as much out of being here in this world as we possibly can for the finite time we are here. I feel noticeably better for having read this book, especially by virtue of the funk I was in when I came to it. But it is about school. Day after day in school. So it's, errrr, still kinda the stuff of nightmares. (Full disclosure: I'm still kinda in a funk.)
February 12, 2017
This book deserves five stars for the accuracy with which Nicholson Baker writes about being a substitute in a public school system; unfortunately, both the work and the book can often seem repetitive and drudging with one or two bits of amazement each day. If you have never worked as a substitute, this will give you a good feel for what it is like.
Baker doesn't offer much analysis, but there is plenty of reflection in each of his 28 days of subbing. Baker's powers of observation and recall are astounding, and he writes with a clear and unassuming prose style.
An excellent book that provides a window into a difficult and often thankless job, but not a page turner.
Baker doesn't offer much analysis, but there is plenty of reflection in each of his 28 days of subbing. Baker's powers of observation and recall are astounding, and he writes with a clear and unassuming prose style.
An excellent book that provides a window into a difficult and often thankless job, but not a page turner.
October 2, 2016
It took me a long time to figure out how to rate this. Substitute has a lot of negative reviews, and I can sort of see why, but I loved it.
It's true that this book is repetitive. It's literally just a recount of a month's worth of days at school. He just tells you what happens. That's it. No interspersed chapters on insights, no interviews, no research. If you don't want to read that, just put down the book. You'll absolutely hate it.
I got really into it, though. We see some kids multiple times, and I cared about what happened to them. I also felt for the kids when the district did something phenomenally stupid that punished all of them. This book really highlights the problems with the education system.
Still, it's not depressing. The kids are lively, and it's nice to read about their interactions and the ways they have fun. It's a great look into the youth culture of Baker's community. Having read this book, I feel like attended school there. I really got into the world. It was just interesting for me to read, and the writing was engaging. I usually dislike long books, but I couldn't put this one down. Once I finished it, I immediately wanted more.
I can see why this book might not appeal to a lot of people, but for what it is, it's extremely well-written. If the premise sounds good to you, don't be dissuaded by the low average rating.
It's true that this book is repetitive. It's literally just a recount of a month's worth of days at school. He just tells you what happens. That's it. No interspersed chapters on insights, no interviews, no research. If you don't want to read that, just put down the book. You'll absolutely hate it.
I got really into it, though. We see some kids multiple times, and I cared about what happened to them. I also felt for the kids when the district did something phenomenally stupid that punished all of them. This book really highlights the problems with the education system.
Still, it's not depressing. The kids are lively, and it's nice to read about their interactions and the ways they have fun. It's a great look into the youth culture of Baker's community. Having read this book, I feel like attended school there. I really got into the world. It was just interesting for me to read, and the writing was engaging. I usually dislike long books, but I couldn't put this one down. Once I finished it, I immediately wanted more.
I can see why this book might not appeal to a lot of people, but for what it is, it's extremely well-written. If the premise sounds good to you, don't be dissuaded by the low average rating.
Read
September 1, 2016"When you finish Nicholson Baker's seven-hundred-plus-page tome, minute-by-minute account of his several-week stint as a substitute teacher in rural Maine, you will be exhuasted by the accumulation of minutiae, irritated by the endlessly distracted chatter, and numbed by the sheer relentlessness of human interaction in large groups: You will, in a word, have been schooled. Very much in the mode of his trademark pointillist style, he offers a virtual transcription of each of his twenty-eight days in a range of schools and grades.
Repetition, after all, in both its tedious and revelatory guises, has been the essential educational mode for centuries. Baker's accretion of closely tracked ticks on that round, white clock above the classroom door conveys to bored, aching heads exactly what it feels like to teach and to learn in an American school. Just in case you have forgotten."
-Albert Mobilio on Nicholson Baker's Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids in the Fall 2016 issue of Bookforum
To read the rest of this review, go to Bookforum:
http://bookforum.com/inprint/
Repetition, after all, in both its tedious and revelatory guises, has been the essential educational mode for centuries. Baker's accretion of closely tracked ticks on that round, white clock above the classroom door conveys to bored, aching heads exactly what it feels like to teach and to learn in an American school. Just in case you have forgotten."
-Albert Mobilio on Nicholson Baker's Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids in the Fall 2016 issue of Bookforum
To read the rest of this review, go to Bookforum:
http://bookforum.com/inprint/
October 19, 2016
If you've taught in a public school in the last ten to fifteen years or so, most of the kids Mr. Baker meets will seem familiar to you. So will most of the teachers and the schools.
In not writing a traditional exposé, Baker has shown exactly what "teaching" is today (in many, but not all, schools): a continual push to do more faster and better by moving ahead all the time, often without a mastery of the basics.
This book brought back fond memories of my time as a substitute teacher. I had every one of these kids in class at one time or another and, no matter how difficult the days may have been, I loved each and every one of them for being there.
In not writing a traditional exposé, Baker has shown exactly what "teaching" is today (in many, but not all, schools): a continual push to do more faster and better by moving ahead all the time, often without a mastery of the basics.
This book brought back fond memories of my time as a substitute teacher. I had every one of these kids in class at one time or another and, no matter how difficult the days may have been, I loved each and every one of them for being there.
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