Life as a Substitute!

Welcome back!

While I was taking education classes I met this amazing woman named Molly (you can meet her too! check out her website: duchessoffork.com). Molly and I became fast friends. We worked together on many projects and often talked about the amazing charter school where she worked. She quickly had me convinced to sign up to be a sub at her school. During the summer I helped her set up her classroom and she introduced me to her principal. I was very nervous about being a substitute...honestly I was afraid that it would scare me off from teaching altogether....like running away as if your hair was on fire...and I have a lot of hair. Scary thought! I agreed to sub for her 5th grade class, provided that I could go volunteer in her classroom first so that I could see the way a typical school day went. Also, I wanted to see how her kiddos behaved. I volunteered, I copied stuff, I graded stuff, the kids were nice....all in all it was a good day.

The next day was the anticipated first day of subbing! I barely slept the night before. Honestly, it went great. I am a pretty enthusiastic person and I love to entertain a crowd so the kids stayed engaged. Plus I was sportin my no-nonsense attitude of "listen here, I am a professional substitute and I KNOW how things go around here. No funny business. So now let's learn stuff and have some fun."

I conquered! I loved every minute of it! I quickly became a regular sub at her school. I subbed in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades pretty regularly. Within two weeks the principal had sought me out for a possible permanent sub position for a pregnant teacher. I was beside myself. In the meantime I was subbing almost every day at the school. I learned a lot about the school's expectations of both students and teachers. It was a great way to mold myself to their "way" and make myself more desirable of a job candidate. I did sub in second grade one day. Within the first five minutes of class a child threw up her breakfast ALL over her desk and surrounding areas. Super....more fluids. Back to third grade I went! I never turned down a sub job, unless of course I was already scheduled for one.

Here are a few sub tips:
* Always remain professional, polite, and stay out of any drama/gossip.
* Always say yes to the job...even if you are afraid of the age group.
* Don't show fear! The kids can smell it and they will eat you alive if they do!
* Adhere to the schools rules. Always.
* Take candy.
* Take some sort ball. Koosh balls are great for silent ball. Have the kids stand in a circle around the room and toss it to each other. This is great for those 10 minute lulls when a lesson ends early.
* Leave the room cleaner than you found it.
* Leave DETAILED notes. I took notes all day long on the schedule/plans that were left for me. This allowed for the teacher to handle any issues that arose.
* Don't relax during the planning period. Make copies for other teachers on the grade level, grade something for the teacher you are subbing for (if they wouldn't mind). I always told the teachers that if they would leave me a key and a grading scale, then I would grade whatever work the kids did. They LOVED that. There was always a key left for me.

Trust me those few extra things paid off in the end. I was highly recommended around the school and there were TWO permanent sub positions that came available and BOTH teams requested that the school hire me for their spot.

Ultimately, my hard work paid off and I got the permanent sub position. I taught 4th grade Reading & Language Arts from December to the end of the year. I was so excited! I entered that position with as much gusto and flair as one could possibly muster.

I was very nervous about the parents' reception of me. I was fearful of how they would react to a first year teacher teaching their precious darlings. To my amazement, they welcomed me with open arms. They were very generous and understanding. Now don't get me wrong, not every moment was sunshine and lollipops! I rode one heck of a roller coaster for the rest of the year.

I learned so much about team dynamics, the rose-colored glasses that you wear your first few years, being an overachiever is hard in a profession where perfection is impossible (I'm still working on that one), and school has changed since I was in elementary! All that said, there were great learning opportunities in every rough patch.

At the end of the day what kept me going wasn't the validation that I was getting from my team, or administration, it was that light in the kids' eyes when they got it. When they finally figured out the concept that I was teaching. That was the moment that I looked forward to every day.

Next up: You're hired!