One of your greatest responsibilities working as a substitute teacher is to maintain control of the classroom.  Some of your days will only be maintaining control of the classroom. Preparation for this task is essential for successful classroom control.  This preparation includes:

The substitute teacher’s day often begins as early as 5:00 a.m. Monday through Friday.  You are on call every day, whether or not, you actually receive a teaching assignment.  Therefore, one of the first qualifications a substitute teacher must possess is the ability to be ready for duty every day.  It is best to develop a routine as if you will be working that day.  Unless you eat at the school (and sometimes this is not a good choice at all as some schools seem to serve worse meals than what you can find in a frozen T.V. dinner), prepare yourself a bag lunch or at least some healthy snacks to take along in case you are called for duty.