Substitute Teaching

Years ago I was having some health problems and couldn't work full time, so I became a substitute teacher. That was a job I enjoyed a lot, but I missed having the same group of kids every day and eventually went back to teaching my own classes.

A few years ago ago I was visiting my kids and took my grandson to his school in the district where I had worked fifteen years earlier. To my surprise, some of the other teachers asked me if I was subbing that day. They remembered me after all that time!

Subbing isn't for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot. People doing that job get to meet lots of great kids and develop relationships with other teachers and staff. (Believe me, nobody can be a better judge of teachers than somebody who has subbed in their classes.)

One of the high points of substitute teaching was that once in a while I'd explain something a little differently than the regular teacher did and a student, usually a boy, would suddenly understand something he'd struggled with. Those ah-ha moments happened rarely, but made me feel great when they did.

Of course once in a while I had a bad day, but those can happen in any job and were few and far between.

Soon I'll start substitute teaching again. Since I've worked a lot with kids in Special Education and taught Preschool and Kindergarten chances are good that I'll often be working with classes like those.

I can hardly wait!