This is my 5th school year being a substitute teacher. I started about 4 years ago near the beginning of the 2nd semester of the 2018-2019 school year. In the school district I work in there, are 3 types of substitute teaching jobs. Substitute Teacher, Long Term Sub, and Building Sub. A substitute teacher is exactly what you think it is. You come into a school and replace the teacher that is gone that day. A long-term sub replaces a teacher when they are gone for 4 weeks or longer. This is often due to maternity or paternity leave but these are not the only reasons. A building sub is assigned to a particular school and is the first line of defense when teachers call in sick the day of school or perhaps leave during the course of school. I spent my first 2 years as a regular sub, I have been working primarily as a long-term Sub since February of 2021 and last month started my new adventure as a building sub.
One advantage of being a long-term sub or a building sub over a regular sub is that the base pay is better. An advantage to being a building sub over a long-term sub is that often times a long-term sub has additional duties like grading students and preparing lessons that a building sub does not have. I really enjoy being a building sub because I get to know all of the kids in the school and my day to activities are extremely varied. The best part of my current position is that I work with my wife. She is a School Psychologist in the district and I work at her school. Most days we drive in together which is not only a great way to spend time together but also a great way to save money.
Most days I don't get my assignment for the day until I'm on my way to school. Some days I'm subbing for multiple teachers due to meetings or trainings, others I'm in for just one teacher. The latter occurred earlier this week. I went into the classroom and was sitting at the teacher's desk reviewing the plans that had been laid out for me. I heard a commotion brewing in the hallway. On this day the teacher had come to school, realized she was too sick to teach, and left before the school day started. She was not able to leave the building before being spotted by some of her students. The commotion I heard brewing was the students discussing the prospect of who their sub would be.
The kids are supposed to sit by their cubbies until the teacher lets them in their room at a certain time. Buoyed by their excitement at the prospect of a sub they kept popping up and looking through the glass window in the door to see who their sub was. One by one I heard the delighted shrieks of "It's A Boy Sub!". At that moment I knew what my next blog entry would be titled.
This is my 5th week at the school and most of the students know who I am by now. So when the comments switched from it's a boy sub, to it's Mr. Roller, I met them at the door and let them in a few minutes early.
While there are certainly more female teachers than male ones in my district, there are still quite a few men teachers. What there aren't a lot of are male subs. I've only encountered a few in the time I've been subbing. Even so, I didn't really expect that kind of reaction from my students that day. I think that one of the reasons I like being an educator, especially a building sub, is that most every day I experience the unexpected.
Love,
Dave
