The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation offers a handy booklet for occasional, or supply, teachers. At 36 pages, it’s not a quick read, but a scan can provide some useful tips and pointers, especially when these are suggested by students. Chapter Four, which starts on page nine, is dedicated to the students’ point of view. According to students, effective occasional teachers “actually teach,” “don’t anticipate the worst,” are “not prejudiced,” “not scared of class,” and are “patient,” among dozens of others comments. Students list what they hate and like about occasional teachers, and on page 11 they even list some tricks they play on them from time to time. These include, changing the time on the clocks, “using different names,” “switching seats,” “hiding chalk,” and “coughing at five-second intervals.”