Substitute Teacher's Corner: What's This All About?

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

Hello there! My name is Heather Long and I'm the managing editor here at Families.com, you may be more familiar with my name showing up in fitness and marriage, but Karri's graciously allowed me to come and play over here in Education. First and foremost, let me tell you a little about myself. I'm a substitute teacher for the school district we live in.

Primarily I work with the elementary schools, but I'm sure sooner or later I'll make the kick up to the higher grades. Currently, I just like the little ones better (it helps that my own is in elementary school so I'm a little more familiar with these kids). I have an Associate's Degree and I'm working on my Bachelor's. It's my goal to get teacher's certification and actually go to teaching full time, but for now I satisfy myself with being a helper to the teachers, the schools and the kids.

Substitute Teachers Help

A substitute teacher is a helper and that's how I've always defined it. I know when I went to school, I always felt dread when I walked into a classroom and saw a sub instead of my own teacher. Typically, we either did nothing on our lessons or they would make us just hang out quietly for an hour. Some subs were actually really good and they would tackle our subject matter from a different angle and even give a fresh perspective.

I hope to fall more in the latter than the former category. As a substitute, it's my job to walk into a classroom on the fly and pick up where the teacher left off and help guide the students to where they should be for when the teacher returns. Sometimes that means showing up in the middle of the day, in the middle of a lesson, if a teacher had to leave for an emergency. Other days, it means walking in on a Monday morning to hand out assignments, walk kids through grading their own papers and teaching them how to use rulers.

We even get to give spelling tests.

Substitutes aren't just subs. They're teachers. Or they should be. I know there are some subs out there who don't take that attitude and I don't think they should be around the kids if they aren't going to be teachers. It's my job to be the best teacher I can be as a service to the children I'm working with. Our district pays just $60 a day for substitutes, so it's not raking in the big bucks that brings a substitute teacher through the door.

The new Substitute Teacher's Corner here is going to tackle some ideas, suggestions and more for substitute teachers to make the experience a great one for all involved.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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