First off, I know that you’re not finding this blog because you’re a crack substitute teacher who knows his or her stuff and is on the fast-track to a full-time position at the dream school with perfect parents and ideal administrative support. You might also be a teacher looking to use your subs better, leave better plans and generally get more out of your kids when you have subs. I can help with that, too.
No. If you’re a sub, you’re frustrated. You feel targeted. You’re a substitute teacher desperately seeking some advice and coping skills for a job that your teaching education (if you had any) didn’t prepare you for.
1. Subbing is 95% management. Especially at first. Almost nothing we could do in student teaching would prepare us for this daily struggle.
2. Knowing which battles to choose is impossible to do perfectly, every time. Just accept that there will be good days and bad days. In time, the good will outnumber the bad.
3. Some basic strategies CAN get you through. You will survive.
This blog is for substitute and classroom teachers who want to do more, be more and accomplish more out of their workday (or their subs). Subs have a target painted on your forehead from the moment they walk into a school office. It’s okay.
I’m here to help.
Who am I? I’ve been a substitute teacher in Washington State, on and off, since 2004. I graduated from a school of education with a history degree and teaching certificate. I did my student teaching in 8th grade, with the smartest kids in the school. I hold a provisional primary endorsement in 4-12 Grades Social Studies and History, and a lifetime P-12 Substitute Teaching Certificate.
When I started subbing in Spokane, I realized that jobs for non-coach history teachers were few and far between, only coming via lateral transfer in the vast majority of cases. I couldn’t do that, because I wasn’t qualified to start anywhere but history.
Then my family obligations intensified and substitute teaching became an ideal role for the flexibility I needed. If only the job came with benefits and a decent salary! Now I have what I can only describe as ADD of the career, happily embracing the day-to-day variety that comes with substitute teaching. It’s definitely a calling.
In the past eight years, I’ve worked for six different districts in the three major population centers of Washington. I spent 143 days in one school, then ran afoul of politics at the start of the following year when a new teacher joined the staff. I found a home in two other schools primarily, working with their gifted students and gradually increasing my referral base. I am a middle school teacher by vocation, and a high school teacher when necessary. Elementary school kids, while adorable, are just a touch scary. Tattling is just not something I handle well. Passive aggression and the silent treatment are right up my alley, though. Bring on the middle schoolers!
I hope you find a home here, with some solid advice and encouragement for this incredibly challenging job. Good luck, and feel free to comment. I'll do my best to respond.
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