While there are enough benefits to being a substitute teacher to keep me in the job, there are also some real, sizeable disadvantages. My aim is to give an honest portrayal of these drawbacks.
I spied her motioning to me as I cut through the library on my way from dropping the class off for lunch. “Come get some food– I saved you a seat!” The assistant who dealt with subs, checking us in and giving us our room keys, had remembered me.
Cautiously, I made my way over to the tables covered in lemon yellow tablecloths and decorated simply with Gerbera daisies in Mason jar vases. The PTO had catered this special lunch for Teacher Appreciation Week.
Though I was a teacher before, I’d traded that title in for many other things, the least important of which included a substitute badge. This change in status had me questioning my belonging among teachers. But today, at this moment of celebration, I was welcomed in.
That thoughtful invitation was among a small portion of kindness shown to me in my substitute teaching career. I wanted to describe it before jumping into the cons of the gig. There have been extensions of goodwill from staff and students, custodians, bus drivers and parents. They have not been forgotten.
Disadvantage #1: The inevitable and frequently flying curveballs
School Surprises
Even I, a person never early for a single event, learned that the only way to avoid major stress and heartache when going to sub at a new school is to give myself an extra bodaciously wide berth of time, and to sometimes arrive early.
Let me illuminate a situation for you: Imagine you’re approaching a new school for your assigned substitute teaching job just in time. But a fun surprise awaits! The parking lot is enclosed within a password-protected gate. No other schools you’ve been to so far have gates, so you had no reason to assume this would. But now you’re in a situation where you’ll likely be late.
Other school surprises include:
Getting lost en route (This really happened to me, as I was without a GPS. A very gracious secretary gave me directions over the phone that included turning left at an Olive Garden. I got there just in time to walk in the door at the same moment as my fifth graders.)
Unexpected traffic situations– I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been caught up in glacially paced parent drop-off traffic just trying to find a spot and get in the school on time. Who designs these traffic flows?
Principal, admin or district offical walk-throughs– God knows why they’d want to walk through the room as I’m making heads or tails of the cryptic lesson plan left for me. But this has happened.
Classroom and student surprises
Besides school surprises, there are often thrilling classroom and student bewilderments.
Surprises like opaque lesson plans. Simply writing that students will need to complete such and such pages in their workbooks but with no guidance or even fun scavenger hunt clues as to the location of these workbooks… I never really stood a chance, did I?
Students can be unpredictable as well. I’ve had students try to run away, fling their shoes off and rub other kids’ necks with their bare toes, adhere bandages to the floor, urinate in a courtyard 10 feet away from the classroom, and snatch the glasses off my face.
Just when I think I’ve seen it all, they invent some new way to contribute to the story that is now stranger than fiction.
Disadvantage #2: Job instability
Though substitute teachers are in high demand right now, that may not always be the case. In some ways, substitutes have great control over their schedule. But if there’s not enough work around, that can leave subs scrambling to accept jobs they wouldn’t normally (let’s face it– not everyone is up to teaching Kindergarten or middle school theater or 11th grade weightlifting.)
I’m lucky to work in a large school district with pretty much my pick of any grade level I want to teach each day. I could work every day if I wanted to.
If you’re not in a large district, branch out to multiple schools to expand your job opportunity volume.
Substitute teaching is also not the most stable job because of the lack of benefits. Most places consider substitute teaching to be part time, so the gig doesn’t include health or retirement benefits.
Disadvantage #3: Disrespect and a demeaned position
As more schools are desperate to fill empty classrooms, reqiurements to become substitutes are lowered. This deprofessionalizes substitute teaching as a whole, and subs are looked down on. Subs may choose to jump ship because of this into another career, firing up the whole cycle once more.
The lack of respect can come from staff and students alike.
I was once performing end-of-day carline duty and a male teacher snapped his fingers at me and jabbed his pointer down at his spot across the walkway to indicate I was to fill in for him now that the clock had struck the exact minute his duty day was complete (I was covering for a paraprofessional, and they must stay 15 minutes longer).
You bet I didn’t return to the school where I was beckoned like a hapless puppy in obedience school.
Though I try to keep my chin up and ignore the haters, it’s hard to work in a position that doesn’t garner much respect.
Substitute teaching is truly a mixed bag
I’ve narrowed my job focus to just five schools and four grade levels to cut down on the chaos a bit, and I still have a wide variation of experiences. Subbing is just that random. But now that I’ve detailed the worst aspects of the job, I hope you’ll take time to read what I’ve written about the sunny side of substitute teaching: the flexibility, a better work/life balance, the opportunity to teach in all sorts of classroooms. It’s a wild but worthwhile ride, to say the least, and I’m happy you’re joining me in it.
Substiute teachers: I’m looking for your opinions and experiences in the comments!
