Substitute teaching - then and now
In the late 1990s, I had my first real job as a substitute teacher. Twenty-six years later, as a veteran educator, I occasionally find myself in the same position, but with a different perspective.
In 1998, I was a fresh-faced 23-year-old searching for an elementary teaching position in the Des Moines area. I graduated in December of 1997 and took a job as a school-age teacher at a daycare. When the next school year rolled around, I applied to be a substitute teacher. I thought this would be a good way to get my foot in the door and get to know some teachers and administrators.
At this time, teaching jobs were not easy to land. Many new education grads were vying for only a few jobs, and many educators chose to stay in the profession until retirement.
I did a short phone interview called the Perceiver Interview, and I was hired. I signed up to sub at the elementary and middle school level as both a teacher and an associate and waited for my first phone call from the automated sub line.
My landline phone would begin ringing the evening before. A robot voice would inform me of the school's name and the position available. I would either hang up on the automated call or refuse the job by pressing a button. When the following day came around, the phone calls began again if I had not accepted a job. While teaching at Beaver Creek Elementary School in Johnston, I student taught for sixteen weeks in a second-grade classroom. At first, I felt more comfortable teaching lower elementary and shied away from upper elementary classrooms.
After I accepted a job for the day, I packed up my black bag. I was armed with stickers, a few books to read aloud, some fun word puzzles, and Brain Quest card decks full of grade-level questions. I wanted to be prepared just in case I had extra time or the teacher’s lesson plans were unclear. I recall a few times, the lesson plans on the teacher’s desk were blank. I would bring along that morning’s issue of the Des Moines Register in case I had time to read it during lunch or after school. I was sure never to leave before the teacher’s contract time was up to try and make the best impression possible. I always left the classroom in order and left a handwritten note telling the teacher how the day had gone, along with my home phone number if I was willing to sub in that classroom again.
When I got to the school, I checked in at the main office and then went to the classroom to prepare for the day. I wrote my name on the board with a happy face underneath. When students began to arrive, I started with a “get to know you” activity to begin learning their names. It was my goal to know every student’s name by lunchtime.
The majority of the time, I subbed in a grade-level classroom. I was also called for art quite often because of my art degree. I arrived at a school ready to cover a grade-level room one day. When I checked in at the office, the secretary told me I needed to cover PE instead. This was when teachers still dressed up for school. There I was, in a long rayon dress with buttons down the front of my skirt, wearing dress shoes, blowing a whistle as I taught PE in a stuffy, old gym.
During that school year, I mostly subbed at the same elementary building and covered two maternity leaves. I called the sub office to let them know I no longer wanted to be called for a job at a middle school. The first (and last) time I subbed at a middle school, I was walking down the hall when a teacher yelled, “Get back to class!” He had mistaken me for a student due to my short stature and youthful appearance.
I met many teachers, some of which I am still friends with today. When the next school year started, I was offered a teaching job based on a principal’s recommendation and was hired over the phone.
Fast-forward through five school buildings, many administrators and colleagues, and countless students. My job as a teacher of multilingual learners consists of supporting students who speak a language other than English with their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. I go into their general education classroom to support them during literacy and math, and I teach newcomers in my own classroom space. I teach them the basics of English and literacy through games, activities, actions, and lots of language.
School districts across the state are struggling to fill substitute jobs, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Support teachers are asked to sub as fewer and fewer retired teachers are subbing, and the role of substitute teacher is not easy. I recall reading a chapter book in elementary school called “Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub” by Jamie Gilson. Gone are the days of spitballs, but a similar; yet less uneasy feeling kicks in each time I am asked to cover a class in my building. My mind wonders, “Will I be able to find all the materials? What if I have to teach fractions or decimals?”
Every so often, I am transported back in time to being a substitute teacher. Instead of grabbing my newspaper, I grab my computer. I still bring along a deck of Brain Quest and I still write my name on the board with a happy face. Most of the students are familiar faces, so I only need to learn a handful of new names. I settle in for the day, doing the best job I can and at the end of the day, I leave the teacher a note via email and head home.
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