This diverts any hostility away from you, the Substitute Teacher, and gets the students actively disciplining each other. The first student in the class can tell you the classroom's most desired reward. This method is one of the most effective means of controlling a classroom. Men who are six foot four inches tall, with a moustache, strong chin, muscular build and sporting a pair of sunglasses have a way of maintaining control of a classroom with little or no effort. Unfortunately, some of these traits are possible only through heredity, and in fact, not obtainable for Substitute Teachers as a whole.
Busy work can be a lifesaver.
Even if everything else goes wrong, and you are left with a large classroom of students, no lesson plans, no idea of the subject to be taught, and a very large headache, you still have puzzle worksheets to hand out and keep the students quiet. Then you can go home, take two aspirin, regroup, and wait for your next assignment the next day. This is a proven Power Trick. While questions should be edited for schools, you will find that students are intrigued by these questions, and are eager to behave so that more questions may be asked. Try different teaching methods, and compare their effectiveness.