Substitute Teaching: The Ins and Outs of Subbing Middle and High School Students

I can remember like it was only a few months ago (mainly because it was) calling the company that heads the substitute teaching department in my county, eager with questions about what it means to be a substitute and the requirements of being one. The call started with a transfer to a recruiter who could answer my many questions and ended with one breath taking and out of nowhere question to schedule an interview. I’ve never been, with such quickness, offered an interview before. As someone who has spent a straight year searching, applying, and meeting with managers seeking one job, this offer was exciting and alarming at the same time. Though this job interview caught me off guard, it was testament to what I had been hearing about; the demand for substitute teachers exist! So, to anyone with the desire to substitute, there is hope. A lot.

In this article, I plan to layout the ins and outs of not just operating in the classroom, but also the process of getting there as well. I hope this article equips you with a resource and discernment of what to expect as well as give you tools that will allow you to manage the classroom well. I have split this article into three parts including: The Process, The Classroom, and The Future Educator. Each section will seek to answer questions one might have, as well as provide a resource to use even after being in the classroom.

The Process: How to Become a Substitute Teacher

The process of becoming a substitute is fairly simple, but, of course, the difficult task is being one. Each county and state look differently and have different companies that hire, equip, and send out substitute teachers. A quick google search for your county and state should pull up what you need and who to contact. If this is too complex, call a local public school and find out who to get in contact with. In my county, (Polk County, FL) and a couple of other surrounding counties in Florida, Kelly Services is the company who hires and equips substitute teachers. Here are a few steps to get an interview setup and what you will need to bring.

1. Contact Kelly Services – Educational Branch if you live in Polk County or locate the company you need to talk to in your county.

2. Once you get in contact, ask about their requirements for being a substitute teacher and how to apply.

3. Due to the high demand for substitute teachers, if you happen to be eligible and meet the requirements, an appointment for an interview over the phone should be acceptable. If not, ask about the steps needed to either apply or schedule an interview.

If you have succeeded in scheduling an interview, the recruiter should have explained what you need to bring. The list below is what I had to bring. Reminder, each county and state is different when it comes to interviews and requirements.

1. Resume

2. Two letters of professional, work-related recommendations. (If you work or have worked somewhere, ask the manager and assistant manager. If you have never worked anywhere, ask the recruiter about who would be acceptable to write your letters).

3. Unofficial Transcripts (30 college credit hours are required, which also means you must have completed high school). These transcripts can be transferred electronically.

Note 1: You will need to complete two modules on the fundamentals of substitute teaching on the computer before coming to the interview.

Note 2: After being hired, be prepared to obtain 1-2 money orders for fingerprinting and a background check. This could cost between $50-$150.

Once the interview has begun, the recruiter will ask questions along the lines of experience in the classroom and why you are interested in becoming a substitute. Don’t worry about experience, this will not affect your chances of being hired. I had no classroom experience. I have made a list of questions below to prepare you for what the recruiter might ask you during the interview.

• Do you have any classroom experience?

• Do you have your bachelor’s degree? (This lets the recruiter know if you can substitute at certain private schools that require such a degree).

• Why do you want to become a substitute teacher?

• Are you planning on being a teacher in the future?

Note: The recruiter will most likely ask you about classroom scenarios and how you would respond to them.

After you have concluded the interview, the recruiter should let you know about the conclusion through email or phone. If they contact you back with an offer to hire you, an orientation is required to attend. This will be your first day of being a substitute teacher.

What Does Orientation Consist of?

Orientation will be where you do your fingerprinting, discuss proper substitute etiquette, and learn about the website where you accept jobs and insert hours worked.

Intermission

Before I get to classroom management, there are a few notes to make.

• Go to the website given at orientation that allows you to manage your schools, jobs, and hours worked. Go on the website and select all the schools you would like to substitute. (Be aware that the schools you pick are the only school that will show up when teachers post their absences).

• Get the APP!!! An app should have been brought up during orientation that will allow you to receive notifications of substitute openings as soon as they are posted.

Note: This app does cost around $6 a month or $50 a year. Though it is unfortunate that there is a cost, there is good reason why. Without the app, you have to manually check the site to see if assignments are up. This is a sure way not to get a job opening since you never know when one is posted. The app is quick and easy, and allows for guaranteed job security. There are hundreds of other people searching for a substitute opening along with you, so get the app!

• Pay is decent. It is $80 for a full day which consists of around seven and a half hours and $40 for a half day which consists of around three and a half hours.

• If you are subbing at a school you are not familiar with, go to google maps to familiarize where to park and where the school is located

• Go to the schools website to print out a bell schedule and campus map if possible.

• If you are subbing at a high school, call the school and ask where to park. Don’t worry about middle school parking since middle school students don't drive.

• Every school, administration, student, and grade are different, adapt!

• Be prepared for any task or job that might be asked of you when you accept a job assignment. Be flexible!

• Bring your own lunch. There usually is a teacher lounge with a microwave and refrigerator, however, it is to your convenience to pack a lunch that does not need these appliances. Include an ice pack in your lunch box if needed.

• You can’t leave the campus for any reason, whether it is to get lunch on your planning period or to leave early because you have 7th period planning. You can’t leave. Read a book or read a phone.

• The staff might ask you to fill in for another class during your planning period. Be aware!

• Always ask for a bell schedule, campus map, and drill information when you arrive at the school to pick up your attendance and classroom key.

• Get familiar with lockdown, fire, and storm drills!

• When you get to the school, report to the office to receive your badge, key, and attendance sheets.

• Always ask the secretary for directions to your class unless you are certain you know where to go.

The Classroom: How to Operate Successfully as a Substitute

OK. You’ve got your key to the room, attendance sheets, and you’re ready to report to “The Classroom”. What do you do when you arrive? If it is your first time, it might be a little terrifying. I have provided nine tasks to accomplish when you first arrive to the classroom.

• Arrive well before the bell starts to get situated. It is best to arrive 30 minutes or more prior to when the bell rings. The earlier you arrive, the more time you have to prepare.

• When you arrive to the classroom, locate the lesson plans and become well-versed with what is required for the day. Sometimes, very rarely, they are not on the teacher’s desk. This could be due to a variety of reasons including, the teacher having been out for multiple days prior or the office actually having the lesson plans for the day.

• Write your name on the board, so the students know how to refer to you. (Mr./Ms. Last Name)

• Write on the board your expectations such as: “No food”, “No phones”, or “No talking”, or all 3 which is recommended. (Be prepared for students to erase what you write. This is just how it goes. Try to catch a student if they attempt and buzz the office to get an administrator for them. This is one way to remove the trouble makers from the class right off the bat. If you do decide to write “No phones” or something as bold as no talking, be sure to enforce it and discipline those who don’t follow the rules you have made. If you don’t follow up with what you have wrote or said, they will see you as a substitute they can take advantage of.

Note on trouble makers. About 95% of the time, you can detect who the trouble makers in each class are just by the way they act coming into the classroom when they realize they have a substitute for the day. Make sure to make a small mark on the attendance sheet as you call names to remember them. This will come in handy if they do act up. This will make sub notes much easier to write.

• If there is a stack of unstapled worksheets or packets, try and staple them before the students arrive. It is a mess getting them to. I’ve found it helpful to pass out the worksheet or packets at the door as the students come in. This helps set expectations and the climate when students arrive into the classroom.

• Look over the attendance sheet to find out your planning period and how many students you will be working with each period. Find when your students go to lunch. If you are subbing at a middle school, prepare to take your students to and from lunch.

• Plan your bathroom breaks according to your planning period and lunch, since you can’t leave students by themselves.

• Some schools have codes for buzzing the office, become familiar with them. Examples include: Code 1 for phone issues or Code 2 for a fight.

• Sometimes, when students walk in, they will ask you if the teacher is coming back. The moment you say “No”, the student automatically thinks it is a free day. It is best to respond with “possibly” or “there is a chance”.

Note 1: Now that you are in the classroom, don’t panic. If you give the students any reason to believe you are nervous, scared, or even insecure, they will attempt to take advantage of you.

Note 2: Don’t be afraid to lighten up throughout the period and day depending on how the students act.

Classroom Management

Here are a few ways to manage the classroom when students act up. It’s surprisingly very simple.

• If you have a student/students who are being disruptive and distracting, give them a warning to behave.

• If they persist in disobedience, move them to the opposite end of the room, as isolated as possible. When moving students, keep in mind that the best areas to move them are far away from friends and students in general. Up front by you is always best. This is why it is best to be on the lookout for open seats as students sit down for future references.

• If the students you moved keep on talking or disrupting, buzz the office to have an administrator come. The administration usually takes the student out of the classroom which is good for you and the class as a whole. Sometimes they just give them a talk.

Note 1: If it is a phone issue you are having and you have told the student multiple times to put it away, buzz the office for an administrator.

Note 2: More times than not, buzzing the office and sending a student out, sets the whole class straight and lets them know you are the teacher with the authority.

Note 3: Address any issues early on. It is best to handle problems sooner than later.

Note 4: In my experience with four months of substitute teaching, I have had three occurrences at two schools where I have buzzed the office for an administrator and no one came. This is obviously unacceptable. Do not be surprised, however, if it ever happens to you. If it does, address this issue to the office and the teacher you are subbing for through your sub notes. It might also be helpful to address it to the principal, if possible.

Note 5: If you had to send a student out of class due to disruption, write that down immediately for the teacher to know.

Middle/High Grade Breakdown

6th Graders- In the beginning of the year are timid and quiet. Mid-End of year, rambunctious and wild. Frequent events of getting out of seats and getting into other people’s business. High levels of immaturity.

7th Graders- Have grabbed hold of how things go in middle school and have matured slightly, however, attitudes start to develop. Still issues with getting out of seats and instigating playful bickering.

8th Graders- Most mature of the middle school students in terms of awareness, but do not want to be told what to do. Does not like to do work either. Attitudes and disrespect are at a peak. Phones are a huge issue.

9th Graders- Fresh out of middle school with immaturity still prevalent, however, they know what they need to do and usually do it. Talking is usually always going on.

10th Graders- Have gotten the hang of high school and have matured a little further. Will still work, but will still talk

11th Graders- Even more mature with decent work ethic. Smooth in following directions

12th Graders- Most mature of the high school students and most independent. Can tend to be lazy and unwilling to do work due to coming graduation.

Note 1: In every grade level in high school, phones are the biggest issue.

Note 2: There is a big difference between high school and middle school students. High school students are more mature, self-disciplined, and independent. They actually do the work you give them. They also know how to stay in their seats and not yell across the room. For the most part.

Note 3: Towards the end of the year, middle and high school students tend to become lazy and unwilling to do their work. They also become more antsy and jittery.

Note 4: Keep in mind, there are always exceptions to every grade. There are exceptional students in 6th grade and the most disrespectful in the 12th. There always will be misfits in every grade.

End of the day to-do list

• If you are subbing at a middle school, be prepared to stay with all of the students until their buses arrive or are released by the intercom.

• Erase anything you wrote on the board.

• Pick up trash off the ground and move desks back to how they were if any were moved. Also, put textbooks back if needed. Always, always, always leave the classroom better than when you arrived.

• Write and review your substitute notes left for the teacher.

• One of the finishing tasks to do at the end of the day is insert your hours on the substituting website. You must log in your hours manually in order to get paid. You don’t have to plug them in that same day, but it is recommended to get into the habit. The website to plug in your hours is the same website you accepted the substitute opening.

I am going to provide a whole section on substitute notes because of the importance of them. Notes of the day should be actively added to period by period for easy organization. It is much easier to forget about what happened each period if you write all of your notes at the end of the day. Your substitute notes will be the key to helping you stand out as a substitute. The more detailed, the more trustworthy you are able to become.

What to Write Down?

• Each period, leave notes on any disruptive student/students as well as any students you had to send out.

• Seek to locate the students who stayed on task, did their work, and stood out with exceptional behavior. Leave a positive note on that student/students for that teacher.

• If there was any confusion on the lesson plans, leave that in the notes and explain what you ended up doing.

• If the office told you something different than the lesson plans, first let the office know what the lesson plans said, and second, take note of it.

• If the students said the teacher said they can do this or that, write that down. Usually the answer is “No, not today while I am here as your teacher”, but have discernment.

• Lastly, leave your name, number and email in case they want to contact you about the day and/or have you sub their class again. If you take interest in subbing that class again, let the teacher know in the notes you leave for them.

Substitute Note Example

Sub Notes- First/Last Name, Date, Email/Phone Number

1st Period

2nd Period

3rd Period

4th Period

5th Period

6th Period

7th Period

Overall Comments

Note to Young Substitutes

Nineteen years-old is the age I started substituting. That is extremely young, especially for subbing high school. Administration will give you weird looks and students will not hesitate to call you out on it. What is most important is how you carry yourself. If you remain steadfast in high standards, stern in assertiveness, confident in competency, and committed to being above reproach, then students and administration will find no fault in you, despite your age.

The Future Educator: How Substitute Teaching is Ideal for Being a Future Teacher

I wish every student in the works of becoming a teacher became a substitute teacher first. It quickly reveals to you what a teacher goes through (good and bad). It lets you know if you want to pursue this whole teaching thing further. If you have decided, for a fact, that a teacher you will become, then substitute teaching is the fast track to developing your classroom management skills. You will learn more about classroom management as a sub, than taking a class on classroom management. Though I believe both are needed.

Things to Keep in Mind as a Future Educator

• Substitute teaching allows you to familiarize yourself with a variety of schools to potentially work at. You get a feel for the location, students, and most importantly administration. You need to know you have a staff that has your back. If you don’t see this as a substitute, you won’t see this as a teacher.

• Every school is different. Challenge yourself to substitute at as many schools as possible and at as many grade levels as possible.

• Talk to as many teachers and staff as you can when you sub. Slip into the teacher lounge during lunch and start a conversation. Is it uncomfortable? Is it awkward? Sure, but the knowledge and wisdom gained from those in the field right now surpasses these feelings.

• Just because a school has bad students, doesn’t always mean it has bad administration. Again, administration is most important.

• Just because a school has exceptional students doesn’t mean the administration is successful or the best. A balance of both is best.

• Substitute teaching at a variety of schools builds your platform. It provides connections for when the time comes to apply at certain schools for a full time teaching position.

Conclusion

Overall, being a substitute is not for the faint-hearted. It is work. It is hard, but it is worth it and can be very enjoyable once you get the hang of things. Students are full of personalities and curiosity that will fuel your flame of substituting. Overtime you will see there is joy to be had.

![endif]--![endif]--![endif]--![endif]--