I’ve been gathering together some letters of reccomendation to put with my application for a substitute teacher. I passed the CBEST, and have three years working at an after-school program, along with tutoring privately and teaching piano.
Right now I’m in a scheduling bind- I want to be a subtitute, while continuing to work at the after-school program. But I thought about it, and if I had to, I would be willing to just work as a substitute on the weekdays if I had to choose one or the other.
However my concern is the reliability of subbing. How could I ensure that I would even be working every day I was available?
The problem is that I start the other job at 3 PM, and I’m a little concerned there won’t be enough time between jobs to get there on time. But I’ll see.
There are always minimum days, or the option of working only one job or the other.
Ask the after-school program if they are a little flexible on your arrival time if you have another gig. They might be up for that if you are subbing. If you get on the lists at several districts, you can expect to be called several times a week. Not every day, but he majority. At least that’s my experience, back before I got my full time gig (has it been 20 years?).
My mom was in charge of calling subs at our school district for about 10 years. Some of the subs had other jobs (restaurant server was a popular one) and would have to decline on the days they worked.
Get on your county’s sub list. Your name will be given to all the schools in the county. At least that’s how it worked here.
Being available more often than not, at least for the beginning of your tenure, is a good thing. Alot of times teachers will request subs they like.
Be sure to let the districts know you’re available to sub for music classes (if you don’t know how to direct, maybe look into learning). Music teachers would rather they have a sub that can carry on a class instead of having to deal with the kids missing a full day of instruction.
The way scheduling worked for my mom was that she’d have a large calendar book in which she wrote the teachers she’d need to get subs for. These days, I’d say about 75% of them are pre-planned days - professional days - that she could schedule a sub for in advance. One or two teachers a day needed subs for sick days.
Be ready to take calls at 5 AM
The best advice for subs is to be a good, reliable sub. Don’t cause problems or turn down too many jobs. The more jobs you can accept, the more calls you’ll get.
If you are willing to sub at the high school level, you can count on getting called almost every day if you sign up with ESUHSD (at least that was my experience ~2 years ago). The sub scheduler there can seem a bit abrasive but if you are good and are open to the tough jobs she is actually quite friendly. I also signed up with an elementary district but didn’t get as many calls there. If you get called out to school you like, leave the teacher a note letter him/her know you’d like to sub for him/her again. You can also introduce yourself around the lunch room and leave a flyer with your name/phone number/sub number to increase the likelihood that they ask for you specifically.
Don’t forget to stock some good videos, worksheets, etc. for the times you aren’t given a lesson plan - Stand By Me saved my butt a few times.
I know this will probably vary considerably from place to place, but may I hijack this with a simple question? What’s the going daily rate for substitute teachers?
When I subbed I got called all the time–because I would not turn down any job. I didn’t care what grade, situation, school district, I just wanted to get my foot in the door as much as possible and scrape up some money. If you make yourself very available, you should be o.k.
Where I live, the going rate for sub pay is about 60/day.
I get $50 a day. At first, I only got a few days but as teachers found out they could rely on me to handle problems, carry out a lesson plan and just work well with kids, my calls increased. I only work at one high school, but it keeps me busy for around 15 of the 20 school days per month. It helps if the school secretary (She Who Schedules the Subs) likes you and if the teachers like you and request you.
Subs get $80 gross here in upstate NY. I’d worked at one district that went as high as $93, but it wasn’t worth the extra $13.
If you want to work a lot, take as many jobs as you can when they call you. Show up on time, and dress professionally. Follow all directions scrupulously, leave notes to the teacher telling her how the day went, say thanks and that you’d work for her again anytime, even if it was a crap day. Talk to the other teachers in the hall and tell them who you are and ask them to request you. Don’t let the kids walk all over you, either. Leave the room clean and in order, reasonably so anyway.
It’s not an easy job, but you can work almost every day if you ingratiate yourself to the sub lady or whoever runs it for your district by doing the above. I subbed for a living for a semester, and by the end, I was booked solid three weeks in advance.
Goodness, our subs get 120 a day, I believe. That was the higher pay for long-term subbing back when I did it. Now they do anything they can not to have to pay someone long-term, so they’ll hire you and then get someone else the last day before your pay would rise to the long-term level. Incubus, if you don’t have your degree yet you might want to see if the CBEST is all that’s needed. I heard rumblings about how you need a degree as well now, but I can’t remember if that was just us or the whole state.
I graduated half-way through the year so I decided to sub till I could get on full time. In the districts near my college they called subs alphabetically. My last name doesn’t start with a Z but it’s close enough. I was always called last minute by the time they worked down the list to me. In that district I learned not to teach junior high-- the pay wasn’t worth the danger. Second or third grade was good and when the teachers at a school learned I did a good job, I was requested. Still, I was rarely called every day of a week and turned down the junior highs every ten days or so as well. If I’d stayed, I’d have had to get a couple of roomates and moved to a skanky apartment.
Instead, I moved back to my hometown district. Right away I was called pretty much every day and then was requested so often I had teachers booking me two months ahead. Sure I was a good sub, but that district was desperate for subs too. Half-way through the year I was hired long-term for an art teacher at the high school who was leaving and then hired full time for the next year. So no more subbing for me. Now I can afford to get sick and stay home, yay!
When I worked in NYC I had to call up every single school to get work. But it worked. I not only had work nearly everyday I also wound up with a full time position. I didn’t keep the position because I realized I had teaching but I certainly found work.
My mother is a subsitute teacher, and I think she generally gets around $100/day - depending on the school or district, the hours they need her, and she may get more than some other subs, as she used to be an actual teacher.
Often she doesn’t know whether or not she’ll be working until, say, six AM that morning. Not a job to consider if you dislike the phone waking you up.
Definitely put your name in with any private schools around, too.
It’s busier, of course, around breaks and in winter (when people get sick more often). Sometimes she’ll get three different calls for one day; other times she’ll go for a week without anything.
She has three different ‘kits’ on standby usually - one for elementary age, one for middle school age, and one for high school. Various videos, workbook-type pages, games, and things like that. Teachers don’t always leave very good lesson plans, and occasionally they don’t leave any at all, so that’s definitely an issue.
I have been substituting on and off for many years. Every time I lost my job – which happens occasionally to sales people and to those of us who work for start up businesses – I substitue teach. Sometimes it takes quite a while to get approved by the district. Here in FL it took me six months just to get approved, with the appicaiton process taking so long, and having to be fingerprinted on a national level. By the time things got going, and after they never contacted me, since I left something important off of my application, but they never notified me, it was summer time. Now that I’m a senior citizen, it’s actually a better opportunity for me, becuase I don’t want to work five days a week. When I first applied as a substitute, I went to every school in the county, to introduce myself. Most of them have their “favorites” that they call on a preferred sub list. That’s the way it is with most schools these days, as far as I can tell. Even if they say that they’ll put you on their preferred list, you may not get called. The reason that I believe I work so much at one high school in a good neighborhood, where the kids are great, is not because the teachers like me or call me personally – I almost never meet them – I usually get called at 5:30 AM by a computer – but because the administrators and kids really like me. Most of the time the teachers ask the kids who the sub was, and how things went, and if they say that he or she was great, you may get called by the teacher. But here in FL, the teachers generally put their needs on the computer, and take their chances. It’s only when they tell the assistant principal in advance that they’re going to be out that he uses the preferred sub list. One gal said to work in as may districts as you can. Here in FL, each county has their own application process, and their own fees for applying. And too, many of the schools here a rough; they’re a crawling with police and sometimes the police come into the classroom to arrest the kids. So getting assignments at safe schools, where most of the kids actually want to be there, and where they care aobut their educations, is tricky. I used to teach at the community college, and I have two degrees in business. I know how to run a classroom; plus I was a college administrator. Be nice to the kids and kid around with them, since you need to have a sense of humor to do this work, rather tgan trying to show them who’s boss. As a sub it doesn’t work; they’ll remember that you’re mean, and their behavior will be worse the next time they see you. When they see me, they applaud, and some of them come up and hug me. I always hear, “you’re our favorite sub.” That’s really heartwarming. Why’s that? I always have a smile on my face and wave hello at the kids the minute I walk in the door, so they know what to expect. Hope my pointers help you. Even the rough kids know me. When they test me, I look them in the eye and smile, saying firmly, “don’t mess with this old broad!” and they know that I mean business. Everyone gets a good laugh. Keep it light if you can, even when things get slightly out of hand, and you’ll see that it makes a big difference.
As the administrator of a substitute calling system I’m surprised how different our policies are from many of those posted in this thread. (Our pay rate is hourly, higher for half day or less jobs, $110 for eight hours, and higher long term pay starts on the first day if it is known in advance the job will last more than 10 days.) You have already gotten good advice on how to stay busy but I’m going to list what I tell eager new substitutes.
Follow the lesson plan.
Maintain classroom discipline
Arrive on time and stay until the end of the assignment.
Leave the classroom neat and tidy and don’t mess with the teacher’s stuff.
Leave notes for the teacher on how the day went.
Offer to help the secretary or other teachers if you end up with free time.
Be amenable if you are asked to fill in for other absent teachers during prep time, switch to a different classroom, or even switch to another building in an emergency.
Make an effort to be available for late calls.
(For automated systems) If you cannot make an assignment, in addition to cancelling on the system notify the school.
Create business cards or flyers with your contact information, introduce yourself at the school office and ask that they be distributed to the teachers.
If you particularly enjoy working at a particular school, tell the school secretary and ask that they consider calling you more often.
Substitutes who follow the above guidelines and do a good job end up with an assignment nearly every day. I know because they call me looking for work on the rare days they don’t get calls.
I can actually give you more examples on how NOT to stay busy as I am amazed on a nearly daily basis at what substitutes think is a good idea.
Play the videotape of your appearance on Judy Judy instead of following the lesson plan.
Show up late for the third time and use the excuse that you couldn’t find the school.
Dismiss the kindergarteners 45 minutes early and let them make their own way to the buses.
Tell traumatic personal stories, proselytize, or just ignore the class and read your book.
Ask the secretary where the coffee machine is and when she tells you drinks aren’t allowed in class make sure you walk right past her with your coffee cup and head into the classroom.
Talk on your cellphone when you aren’t surfing the internet.
Grab those mouthy kids and give them a good shake.
Let the students know their school is inferior and/or run down the teacher’s lesson plans to the other teachers. Better yet, read the teacher’s notes to you (including which students to keep an eye on and why) out loud to the students.
Leave all the tops off all the paint in the art room over the weekend or, if you are musically inclined, take the key to the band rooms home and lose it.
Fall asleep. This is particularly effective when the district superintendent happens by.
Okay, I have to stop, this is supposed to be my holiday break. Good luck to you OP, and in the interest of classroom decorum I hope your user name isn’t your real name.
this is the single solitaire subject of praise, that I have for my ex.
She volunteered to tutor minority kids ( very young ) in our house, that were our daughters classmates…the schools, and parents, had given up on them. Kept her busy while I traveled.
She showed me their progress reports; from D’s and F’s with a C here and there, and high absenteeism, to more A’s than B’s and an occasional C.
She never taught because she went only 3 yrs in college, then came home to take care of her little siblings when parents divorced.
She now teaches teens that are in jail…seems the law requires they must stay “in school”. Similar success there, as well…I saw in the paper (year end Salaries to county staff) she was paid just at $10K per year.
I was going to add a very cruel spoiler, but since its the Holidays, I’ll pass.
It’s a little secret, just the Robinsons’ affair
Most of all, you’ve got to hide it from the kids
Well, you missed one. When I was a teacher in another county, there was a substitute who, and I am SO not making this up, decided she needed a rest room break. Now. As in immediately.
So she hiked up her skirt, straddled a waste basket in the classroom, and let 'er rip. Thank goodness it was a liquid emergency…