This study distinguishes whether substitute teachers enact coping strategies that mitigate the source of work-related stress (problem-centered) or coping strategies that enable them to adapt to stress created by work-related stressors (avoidance-centered). The author gathered data for this analysis by conducting 37 in-depth interviews with substitute teachers and shadowing 14 of them for a total of 122 hours of observation. Through a grounded theory analysis, a trend emerged that showed substitute teachers engaged in both problem-centered and avoidance-centered coping strategies, with a slight numerical advantage given to problem-centered strategies. By understanding how substitute teachers deal with these issues, scholars can prepare future generations of substitute teachers with successful coping strategies.