Sub in Math Class

Today I am support a math class.  The students are all having private conversations and the sub can’t even share the information.  We are doing areas of circles.  He is explaining pie or 22/7.  The girls in the front of the classroom are very disrespectful sitting in alternative seating.  I have asked them to be quiet and they just mimic me.  Now the table in the middle is talking so loud I can hear every word in the back of the classroom.

I feel bad for the sub.  Perhaps he just doesn’t care.  He just writes the information down and asked them to write it down.  Now he is saying ‘sh, sh,’.  They are quiet now.  Everyone can take notes.  Two students to my right just got their computers out.  He is reminding them to write down the information to help them pass high school.  The sub teaches physics in summer school for all the people who fail. Another two students went up to get their computers.  One student did not write down any notes.  He says he just knows it.

There are many Fridays with subs in this math class. I hope they are learning. Their math text book is on the computer.  So a student moved so I won’t see his screen so I moved to.  He quickly switched to the math book instead of his game. Another student is just drawing after he received a 43% on his last test.  I can’t motivate him to write down the notes. One student is on cool math games and says he does not need to be doing work from his math book.  The girls in the row are just writing a note to a friend and doing it as a group being very loud.  I don’t know how anyone can get work done during this math class.              

I don’t know how to help students in this class!!  Any ideas?