Substitute Teaching
Helps You Practice for Success

Your Gateway to Full-Time Teaching Careers

The road to a full-time job often passes through the substitute teaching phase, so this section provides plenty of advise for success in this critical role.

Subbing may be a career choice for those people who want more flexibility their job, or it may be the unfortunately necessary step that a candidate must endure before finding a permanent position. Either way, being a substitute will definitely sharpen your skills as a professional educator.

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Waiting for the call

The first step is to become established in the school district's system. Every district has a different method of registering sub teachers, but once you are in and assigned some kind of identifying number (for the larger districts), you are all set to start...waiting by the phone.

You can market your subbing services, but you can't easily do it in advance by cold-calling schools to give a sales pitch; your marketing comes after you get a call and you demonstrate what a great guest teacher you are.

But don't worry - eventually you will be called in as a guest teacher. There are always situations where all available substitute teachers are called in, such as training that pulls in a large number of classroom school teachers or certain holidays where many teachers take off an extra day.

And once you are in, you have the chance to follow these steps to keep your foot in the door.

Be prepared

The first thing to consider is what you can expect when you show up in the classroom, and how best to prepare for anything you might encounter. Subs are called in for all kinds of emergencies, and you must be confidently ready for a whole range of circumstances.

Getting the day started right is the next step...you will want to be well settled and confident of your direction for the day before you face the kids.

Managing "sub behavior" is also critical..."when the cat's away, the mice will play." Expect it and be ready for it. Long-term subbing (replacing a teacher who is on an extended absence) carries it's own challenges, especially if the class has had a rough time up to the point where you show up.

I cover all of these topics on this page.

They called! Now what?!         "Teacher Interviews 101" The resume gets their attention, but the interview gets the job. Read and listen as I walk you through it step-by-step.

From subbing to full-time work

Getting asked back is is the whole point of substitute teaching. If you follow the proper steps, you will. Perhaps the most critical item is how you leave the classroom for the regular teacher when he comes back...and the all-important "what happened while you were away" note. And make no mistake: What you leave out of that note is more important than what you put in it.

Like student teaching candidates, good substitute teachers understand that there is much to be learned that will serve one well in any number of teaching careers. Make the most of the experience and you'll never regret that you spent some time in such a wide variety of challenging situations...and if you handle it well, you could find a full-time job waiting at the end.

Substitute Teaching Success Articles

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