“I know…” she shook her head and mustered a pitying smile at me when I suggested substitute teaching as means for occasional extra income while raising little ones.
“I just could not sub. There’s no way,” my friend, also a former full-time teacher, told me.
It’s what I hear from most of my fellow ex-teacher pals: Subbing is a different game, and they just aren’t interested in playing.
Balancing the benefits of substitute teaching with its challenges
Despite its lack of popularity among resigning teachers, I’ve incorporated substitute teaching into my life quite snugly, like pulling on a pair of perfectly fitting jeans. It just works. I find it works especially for the life I maintain now as I take care of a little one and a small mountain of housework and business tasks.
For various personal reasons, I’ve taken on a job that can be wildly different each day (and yet, threads of sameness run through. Kids are kids, after all).
What keeps me going in a tough, random, and dare I say disrespected position? Am I addicted to the thrill of each cortisol-spiking experience of walking into a new classroom and trying to play leader for the day?
Don’t get it confused: I despise the thrill. It upsets my tummy.
But I’ve developed systems for subbing that create a pretty sweet gig.
With slivers of healthy practices, enacted day after day, I’ve been able to look back and see the grander landscape of change, a beautiful better version of my life.
By cultivating small habits, inspired by what I’ve learned from James Clear and B.J. Fogg, I’ve set up useful guard rails for all of those predictable predicaments– which leaves me ready to catch the remaining 2% of unpredictable situations with ease.
Here are my sanity-saving tricks for substitute teaching:
Habit 1: Consistently manage your expectations and mindset
This earned the number one habit spot for a reason: My mindset has effected this job more than anything else.
I hold both the hardships and the blessings of this job in my mind. But it’s not going to push me further to dwell on the negatives.
I’m in this gig for a reason, and I try to remind myself of that. It’s going to be hard, but the alternatives are harder– that’s why I picked subbing.
It also helps to maintain healthy expectations when it comes to the kids. Taking everything personally will destroy you (take it from a chronic taking-personally person)!
I find that holding high expectations lightly does the trick, usually. Students rise up to high expectations more often than accidentally floating up there.
I try to think the best of students. Do I still get disappointed? Oh, yes. The substitute position is not often one where students are vying to display their best behavior.
Do I sometimes ruminate on the poor behavior of students, the possible causes from society and its effects on society, and all of that philosophical stuff?
Of course– but it rarely makes for a helpful substitute teaching endeavor.
I have to realize that it’s going to be challenging while also trying out a positive mindset. Because they’re kids. Right now, I’m in the unique position to help some of the ills I’m witnessing. And that is powerful.
Teaching is uniquely, relentlessly, subversively optimistic. I get to be a part of that.
Habit 2: Prepare the night before
There are several items to prepare for a day of subbing– if you have little kids, this share increases.
But I found that getting everything in place the night before significantly helped the flow of preparations the next day. It’s been fundamental to getting me to school early or on time (see habit 4).
Here are the items I usually get ready the day before a sub assignment:
-Water bottle/cup
-Travel mug and lid (placed next to the coffee maker)
-My lunch
-My daughter’s food and drinks, placed in the fridge
–Sub bag containing various supplies
-School district staff badge
Sometimes I even prep an easy breakfast the night before for extra speed.
But can you see how assembling these things can drastically cut the harried rush and the chances I’ll forget something or be late?
I’ve really worked to hone this habit, and its results have lead to happier, saner substitute teaching.
If you’re considering adopting this habit but don’t know where to start, start small. Try readying one item for a few days before adding in another. Consistency and practice will help build the momentum you need.
Habit 3: Work within a cohort of favorite schools, classrooms
One way to cut down on the sheer randomness of substitute teaching is to take the guesswork out of the school.
There’s a layer of familiarity you can achieve by going to the same schools– and, with time, the same classrooms. Surprises will still be a facet of the job, but there will be less of these fun occurances.
I now keep to my small group of three schools. I’ve gotten acquainted with the traffic patterns, parking situations, front office staff, and general check-in procedures. The way they broadcast the news each day or quiet a class, what the general expectations are for students.
Plus, I’ve subbed enough at these schools to start to get to know some of the kids.
Having my school beat deletes a lot of question marks, and that makes the job saner for me.
Habit 4: Be early
Personally, this habit took many iterations of refining.
My concept of time is a fuzzy abstraction that leaves me late to plenty of functions.
I’m not late, however, when I sub.
Being late as a sub not only knocks you down a few football fields’ lengths on people’s perception of your professionalism, but the lateness actually is a detriment to your work day.
Ever have 60 seconds to look over the entire day’s lesson plans versus 15 minutes?
I need that time before the students arrive to plan and prepare each detail of the day, or at least enough to tide me over until the break. It’s the crucial difference between a disaster day and one of doable dandiness.
How did I build my early-bird habit?
I endowed my travel time with more of a buffer. I prepared supplies the evening before to make the morning rush less hectic. And I whittled down my schools list to just a few schools so I didn’t have to be thrown off course by unexpectedly complicated parking situations.
Habit 5: Practice effective behavior management strategies
I have a rather plush arsenal of classroom management techniques at the ready that I can implement in a flash based on fresh factors that I face.
With one class of over-achieving fourth-graders, they just needed a five-minute break to talk, scribble on scratch paper, and organize their extensive key chain collections. A gap in their iron schedule to let loose.
Another class really needed more hand-holding. I divided the day into 20-minute chunks, and they worked to earn incentives for each increment.
Why the collection of management tactics?
Each situation can warrant a different approach. I don’t always get it right. Sometimes my measurements are off. But I use it to teach myself and to pivot to a new strategy.
Then I practice the best strategies– the ones students have been most receptive to– over and over until I feel my sub muscles strengthening. Walking into a new classroom is a lot easier if you are pretty sure of what to do and how you’ll get this class through the day.
How habits make me a happier substitute teacher
Substitute teaching is already a massive storm of uncertainty– from the unexpected twists of any given school day to classrooms full of strangers to lesson plans left in varying states– the only promise of each day is that there will be mystery.
So I like to whittle down that uncertainty as much as possible. I control the factors within my reach.
Developing habits helped me face this job full of twists, turns and plenty of hard days. And it helped me actually enjoy or at least partially surrender to the surprises, too. I’ve minimized the times I get “pulled off course by the urgencies of life,” as James Clear describes in his Habits book:
“Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way. Professionals know what is important to them and work toward it with purpose; amateurs get pulled off course by the urgencies of life.”
James Clear, “Atomic Habits”
Substitutes: Am I missing anything? What are some of your must-have habits surrounding this job? I’d love to hear from you!
