We’ve all been there: we rock up to work, with our day ahead planned; we know how many lessons we’ve got that day, the duties we need to do and the perfect time frame for a (hopefully peaceful) lunch. 

However, you get into school and find out that you’ve got a lesson to cover. And just like that, the hour you’d pencilled in to get some planning done, call parents or write reports, has vanished. 

It’s easy to groan at this and see it as an imposition. But actually, there are plenty of ways in which covering a lesson adds value to your teaching practice - here are five benefits I think it’s worth remembering.

Research: Why teachers need education research that works in the real world

Classroom practice: What happened when I didn’t talk for an entire lesson

Must read: Does a student’s face tell you they’re learning?

How teachers benefit from covering lessons

1. Interacting in a different environment 

Normally, I only ever see students in my maths lessons or during their tutor periods, and never get to see them in any other scenarios.

When I’m covering, it’s brilliant to be able to interact with students around a different subject and set of skills, rather than just the ones that you’re usually teaching them. You can often find inspiration from this for your own lessons, too.

2. Discovering likes and dislikes

Cover lessons really allow you to see the subjects students actually enjoy. I know we all want students to love our subjects, but this isn’t going to be true for all students.

I’ve seen so many students come alive in other subjects: covering is a great way to build relationships with students and to develop engagement and enthusiasm back in your own lessons.  

3. Becoming the pupil

In my own lessons, I place particular emphasis on students’ accurately talking through the steps that they have taken in attempting a problem. As the subject expert, I already know why these steps have been taken.

However, in a cover lesson, I’ve found that the vast majority of the time I’m learning something from the students. I don’t know how to make a clock, or to interpret the script of the latest play they are studying in drama.

It’s hugely enlightening having the students talk you through what they’re doing, and so empowering that they are actually getting to teach you, as the teacher, for once. 

4. Doing something different 

I know that, since I’ve been teaching, many of my hobbies have dropped to one side. Covering other lessons gives me the time to try something different: analysing An Inspector Calls or learning about calligraphy in art is very different to teaching maths.  

It’s great for students to see you outside of your natural environment, too. Perhaps Year 9 were quite shocked with my Mr Birling impression as we read more of An Inspector Calls (they gave me 10/10 for effort and 1/10 for quality...), and maybe another group of Year 9s were impressed by my theatrics in drama (a certain theme of me coming out of my shell is emerging here...).

It’s great for them to see us as real humans, and nice for us to let another part of our personality out.

5. Trying alternative pedagogies

Very often, specific strategies aren’t suitable for our subjects, but getting into another subject for cover provides an excellent opportunity to see where these techniques are used, how they are used and how students respond to them, and therefore how their learning is supported.

Make sure you take the time to then reflect on how to bring these ideas into your own teaching.