I remember it like yesterday. It was my first year of teaching and I had to attend a meeting. It was going to be the first day of school that I had ever missed. Still wearing my rose-colored glasses and never having left my seventh graders in the hands of a substitute teacher, I never anticipated what “could” and probably “would” happen during my absence. I thought I had all of my bases covered. I had left explicit instructions for the substitute teacher-down to the last detail. I told my students I would be out, that a substitute teacher would be with them, and that I would see them the day after. By this time I had my classroom management system well organized. My students knew what I expected, and they followed all of my procedures beautifully. So I had nothing to worry about. Right? Oh, how very wrong! I returned the following day to learn that my little “angels” had turned into raging devils in the hands of the substitute. The substitute vowed never to come near my class again. She was devastated and so was I. How could this have happened? What had gone wrong? I learned the hard way that I had missed one crucial step. Yes, I had provided the substitute teacher with explicit instructions, but I had totally forgotten about the instructions for my students. So just as the poor, unsuspecting substitute teacher vowed never to enter my classroom doors again, I vowed never to let such a situation occur again should I be absent.