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  1. Charmaine on It’s Gonna be May: A Substitute’s Survival Guide to the End of the Year
  2. Felice Barlett on It’s Gonna be May: A Substitute’s Survival Guide to the End of the Year
  3. Charmaine on Substitute Teaching: How to Endure (and Maybe Even Enjoy!) the Mayhem
  4. amanita muscaria mushroom on Substitute Teaching: How to Endure (and Maybe Even Enjoy!) the Mayhem
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Charmaine

Journalism school + editing + university newspaper 2010-2013 Education grad school + full-time teaching internship 2013-2014 Teaching elementary grades + Substitute teaching 2014-2023
  • May 18, 2024

A Year in Review: Substitute Teaching in 2023-2024

A teacher smiling happily with smiley faces and daisies in the background.

I'm hanging up my substitute teaching hat for the rest of the year, folks. Summer break has officially started for me! The announcement is a little less climactic than, say, the official...

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  • May 10, 2024

It’s Gonna be May: A Substitute’s Survival Guide to the End of the Year

The author and substitute teacher with a drawing of a beach ball in her hands instead of a globe.

One might think that nearing the finish line of a long and busy school year would be a smooth-paved path of ease and simplicity. One might think that-- but the complete opposite...

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  • May 4, 2024

Summer’s Coming: What to Do as a Substitute Teacher

A little girl playing with drawings of typical summer outdoor toys like a beach ball and inner tube.

What's that in the air? Unbearable heat, humidity, and the excitable chorus of children soon to be released from the daily constraints of modern schooling? Whether you're rejoicing over the end of...

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  • April 26, 2024

Leaving a Sub Note: Examples and a Free Template

A photo of a substitute note stationary template on a wooden desk.

After another breathlessly chaotic day substitute teaching in a new class, I slumped into the worn office chair loitering bedraggedly behind the teacher desk and poked under piles of papers and half-sticking...

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  • April 20, 2024

Before Quitting: A Brief History of My Teaching Experience

It's great to be organized as a substitute teacher. Pictured is the author in a classroom, ready to teach.

Though this blog is now mostly dedicated to chronicling my stories and advice from substitute teaching and motherhood, my roots reach all the way back to classroom teaching. If we pan back...

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  • April 12, 2024

3 Ways to Help Kids After Quitting Classroom Teaching

Teaching can be with your own kids, too! Here I am with my daughter, amazed by the azaleas!

One of the hardest parts of leaving teaching after five years was telling my favorite students I wouldn't be coming back. I had just "looped" with most of the class from third...

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  • April 6, 2024

How to Show Appreciation for Your Long-Term Substitute

Asmiling substitute teacher using the strategy of proximity in a new classroom.

"Being a long-term substitute is a scam." -Reddit user. The job of a long-term substitute is never easy. These adventurous, and often naive, people can get gobsmacked with an avalanche of classroom...

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  • March 29, 2024

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas for Every Type of Educator

Holding up a vase of fresh daffodils.

Right before a teacher packs up his clsasroom for the summer, something glorious happens. (Or-- depending how it's celebrated-- a week of lackluster attempts at fanfare comes and goes.) However a school...

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  • March 22, 2024

Secrets to Summer School Success

An apple next to two chocolate ice cream barrs, signifying summer school.

It's possible you've found your way here because you've decided to teach summer school this year. You've taken up a noble quest. You will join the ranks of myriads of other tough...

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  • March 21, 2024

Surf’s Up: A Free Summer School Behavior Management Resource

A photo of a surf-themed behavior management system simliar to a clip chart being used on a classroom whiteboard.

"Hi! Come on in!" I cheerfully intoned as I swung open the door amidst the sweltering summer heat to a squiggly line of bouncy almost-Kindergarteners. My summer school students were eager to...

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  • March 14, 2024

Should You Teach Summer School? The Ultimate List of Pros and Cons

An apple and two ice cream bars to signify the switch from the school year to summer break.

When school's finally out for the summer, it's debateable who's more thrilled: the students or the teachers. Summer break in traditional schools can be seen as a restorative stretch of freedom, a...

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  • March 13, 2024

The Worst to Best Side Hustles for Resigning Teachers

A smiling teacher holding up a globe in a classroom.

If you're planning on this spring being your last semester in the classroom, first: Go you! (I know it's not easy to leave this love/hate career) Come up with a strategy for...

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Posts pagination

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Charmaine
Charmaine

Former Teacher ☼ Substitute ☼ Writer ☼ Mom

Recent Posts

  • A teacher smiling happily with smiley faces and daisies in the background.

    So, You Want to Quit Teaching and Better Your Life?

    April 16, 2025
  • "Amos Takes the Skyway" is a children's book about an Amish boy who is determined to cycle over the Skyway Bridge.

    Amos Takes the Skyway: An Engaging and Informative Classroom Readaloud

    December 2, 2024
  • A happy teacher sporting her DIY teacher pencil shirt.

    How to Make a Simple Pencil Shirt

    October 15, 2024
  • How to live your best pumpkin spice era this fall (for cheap!). The author is smiling amongst a pile of mums and pumpkin spice creamer.

    How to Live in Your Pumpkin Spice Era for Cheap

    September 24, 2024
  • Substitute teaching: Pandemic Edition. It features a photo of a face mask over a plain blue background.

    Substitute Teaching: Pandemic Edition

    September 5, 2024
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