I am going to be going back to school to finish up my degree but in the meantime I am on the fence about whether or not to apply as a substitute teacher in Nevada. I just switched my major to Elementary Education and have no teaching classes under my belt. I know my local district is in need, but I am a little hesitant because I have never taught before. I don't know if I should get a semester under my belt first, or just dive right in. My only experience is being a full-time daycare employee, where I would teach kids basic songs, keep the classroom clean, etc. I am asking to be kept in your prayers, please? So that the Lord may show me what I should do.
Substitute teaching really isn't teaching. All a sub does is follow the directions the teacher of record has left for a sub to follow. Substitute teaching is all about classroom management, and ensuring the students are safe. The classroom basically runs itself because most teachers have well, organized classrooms. So, there really shouldn't be anything to be hesitant about. Substitute teaching is a perfect way to find out if you want to be a teacher or not.
While I disagree with the statement that "substitute teaching really isn't teaching," it IS a great way to get a feel for whether or not you enjoy teaching. Subbing won't give you a feel for planning, meetings, and all the other extra stuff that goes into teaching, but it will give you a HUGE step up in classroom management techniques because there's a good chance you won't get a well organized classroom with students who magically and consistently do what they are expected to do. In elementary especially, you will be teaching content as a sub most days. As a sub: elementary days were my busiest. I was always left regular lesson plans for the day and expected to teach what the classroom teacher had planned to teach that day. Very rarely, I'd get extra "filler" activities or not have plans at all (emergency absences will do that), but those were the exception. As a teacher: I always leave regular plans for my subs, or slightly modified plans that still cover the same content. My regular lesson plans sometimes only make sense to me, so that's when I'll pull together modified lessons. Subs who don't teach the lessons teachers leave cause problems. Now kids are behind, the teacher has no idea what actually got done (if anything), and the class is in low to mid-level chaos the next day. The classroom will not run itself, that's why subs exist. Subs are teachers; just with fewer daily responsibilities (though obviously there are places where subs are not required to have any education experience at all, which is a different discussion). Get some classroom management books: I'm partial to "Tools for Teaching" by Fred Jones, "Teaching with Love and Logic" by David Funk and Jim Fay, and "The First Days of School" and "The Classroom Management Book" by Harry Wong. They will help a ton as a sub. You won't have to do the overall management setup and hopefully the majority of teachers you sub for will have something solid in place, but it's also helpful to know your own expectations and management strategies so you can explain them to students clearly when you arrive. This is especially helpful when a teacher's management system isn't clear or well laid out, because subbing in that context is a recipe for disaster. Also, I started subbing after graduating and I still felt wildly unprepared. Subbing is a "jump in with both feet" type job no matter what!
After subbing for a bit, I have to say your comment was rather awful. You more or less called it glorified babysitting without out right saying that's what it is. Aside from making plans and sitting in meetings, I am teaching. I am standing up there, writing the plans on the board and answering questions. I am ensuring they are on task, escorting them to their specials, etc... I am their teacher for that day.
Kylina, I am so glad that you are happy with your decision to substitute. Hopefully your college courses will give you all that you need to be a successful and brilliant teacher. As for your comments regarding the post of studenteacher21, I think you might need to read between the lines that the poster wrote, without knowing you, I might add. You will note that the author of the post mentions, correctly, that the permanent teacher will have left directions for the sub to follow, meaning that the sub does not have to figure out what plans should be written on the board. Subs usually have some undergraduate credit under their belts which makes them qualified to answer any questions that may arise about those plans, or they will at least know where to look to find the answers. Based on your information that you had experience in daycare, studenteacher21 quite correctly encouraged you to take the chance to be a sub and see if teaching was something that you liked well enough to change your major. As you get deeper into your major as an educator, you will see just how much a sub never needs to really know that a credentialed teacher must know if they are to be a successful teacher. Before you take my words the wrong way, I already had my BS and was only six credits shy of my Master's degree before I ever set foot in a K-12 classroom. I had taught fundamental courses to university students while I was working towards my Master's degree, but I had not ever taught anyone who wasn't old enough to attend college. I can assure you that the difference between those early elementary classrooms and the university classrooms were so different that they could have been on different planets. Once your degree is completed, and perhaps even a graduate degree has been earned, you may find yourself feeling more generous to the post that studenteacher21 offered up as a response to your query. Teaching, done right, does incorporate all of the intangibles that include the theory of teaching, the practice of teaching, and the intangibles that make the person who writes the lesson plans, executes the plans, and then evaluates the success of the lessons aware of how much learning has taken place. As you get deeper into your education courses you will realize that figuring how much learning took place will always be vital to knowing "where do you go from here." Fortunately, that aspect of teaching is not usually something that a sub needs to worry about, but the fully credentialed teacher always has this in mind. Let me wish you the very best of luck in your studies as you become more immersed in your transformation from substitute teacher to a fully functional teacher candidate looking for your own classroom to call home. I learned a great deal from the time I spent in classrooms subbing. Although a part of me wishes that I could have become the veterinarian that had always been my initial goal, life throws unexpected curve balls into our lives, and for me, that curve ball was the birth of our son, who was born with developmental delays and learning disabilities. The shifting from original goal to the one that supported our son's educational needs was something that I have never had to second guess or mourn the necessary changes in mindset. I have always been grateful that subbing gave me the foot in the door, allowing me to become fully immersed into what became my new goals in life. These life plan changes not only allowed me to be the parent that our son truly needed, but the changes have allowed me to acquire real insight into all that it means to be not "just a teacher", but to be the best teacher that my significant investment into graduate coursework has enabled me to become. I am grateful every day for how my choice to enter teaching allowed me to support our son, and learn more about his needs through the close contact with his truly gifted teachers. Because my life journey veered sharply because of unforeseen factors, our son's life was altered as well. I am honored to say that our son is also an educator, happy in his job, and appreciated by the school district that employs him. I know that teaching is not for everyone - I've worked with teachers who would be far better at something other than teaching, and it usually is evident by how they tend to do just enough to barely get by. My friend who falls in this classification barely gets there before absolutely necessary every morning, leaves on the dot in the afternoon, uses all sick days almost as fast as they are earned, and never misses a chance to bad mouth her job and her students. She's a good person who missed the chance to find a job that she could do well and love at the same time. Please accept my sincere wish for you that education be a home you love not only today but through the years yet to come. May your future in education be truly enjoyable.
I totally get the hesitation—it’s a big step, especially since you haven’t had formal teaching classes yet. But with your daycare experience, you’ve already got a good foundation for working with kids. I’d say if you’re feeling ready, applying as a substitute could give you some real hands-on experience while you finish up your degree. If you’re unsure though, maybe you could try shadowing a teacher first or volunteering to get a better feel for it.
