Substitute Teachers Lounge
Substitute Teachers Lounge
Hidden Perks of Substitute Teaching: From Reputation to Engagement
Ever wondered about the hidden gems in the world of substitute teaching? Join me, Greg Collins, from the Substitute Teacher's Lounge as I unpack the treasures that come with being a seasoned sub. As I return to the bustling hallways post-vacation and snow days, I find myself reflecting on the privileges that come with a respected reputation – like the unexpected joy of getting paid for having "nothing to do," and the sweet flexibility of swapped teaching assignments. It's a quirky adventure that goes beyond lesson plans, where even the spelling of "perks" can become a topic of conversation!
This is Greg Collins Substitute Teacher's Lounge, episode 255. It is January 30th 2024. First time back in the studio for several weeks. I'm happy for that, although I greatly enjoy my vacation. But I finally got back to substitute teaching this month and there's so many things that happened to me this week that were unusual that it reminded me of the perks you get as you not just become a substitute teacher but become an experienced substitute teacher. So let's talk about what you have to look forward to if you're just starting, or what you should be experiencing by now if you were in fact a substitute teacher for quite a while.
Speaker 1:You know what's funny? I looked up the word. I didn't know how to really spell perks, because I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to spelling words right. And perks is a short form of perquisite, which P-E-R-Q-U-I-S-I-T-E perquisite. I'm looking at the dictionary. It says they think regarded as a special right or privilege enjoyed by the result of one's old position. So I'm thinking, you know, if you're spelling it with a Q, then the short forms got to have a Q too P-E-R-Q. Right Now, I started to put that in the title and then I'm thinking well, let me look and see what's accepted and it's become acceptable to spell it P-E-R-K. Now I'm sure that's the way you've seen it. I'll have to get past my desire to spell it P-E-R-Q, but that's not even the dictionary.
Speaker 1:We're going to talk about perks today. Let me first share a story or two that I was going to make the episode today about what to do when you ain't got nothing to do, and I think, well, that almost sounds negative. And I thought, well, why was I put in that position this week? And then I decided, you know what? It was sort of a perk, as much as as bad as that sounds. They did it because of my reputation with the school and how friendly the schools are, and we'll talk about all of that. Let me tell you I just got back to subbing this week.
Speaker 1:Between Vacation and in Kentucky in our area, they had to be out for six school days. They did half. They call it NTI here. That's where you take work home and do it while you're home. But let's face it, most of the kids hadn't done it when they came back and you spend the first day back at school finishing your NTI. Some of them were pure snow days.
Speaker 1:Regardless, my first day back to substitute teaching was, in fact, scheduled for the day after they had been off six days, and I think I scheduled it three weeks before that. It was a friend of mine, actually, back in 2020 to 2021, when the school had hired me had legally hired me as a full time substitute teacher, and I was there for the whole year. Full time was in the math department. This is a math teacher. We became friends, as I did with all the other math teachers in the building all the teachers in the building, for that matter and when I saw her name pop up, I said that's perfect. I love going to her class, mainly because, even if she's moved, even if she's got different kids, I know how organized she is and how much fun she makes her classes, so I was looking forward to meeting those students.
Speaker 1:Here's what happened. Now, let me preface this by saying this I want you to think about something as I'm telling this story. When you show up for a day of substitute teaching and then you realize you really I'm going to use colloquial words on purpose you ain't got nothing to do. What's your reaction? Is your reaction to cheer and say, yes, easy money? I'm going to say that's the majority of you. I'm one of those weird people that I get bored to death.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you what happened the first day. Okay, I went to a school, showed up for this job I had signed up for three weeks ago and the secretary said oh, greg, it's so good to have you back. Listen, you're not going to be teaching for Miss. I'll call her Smith. That's not her name, I don't want to identify her. You're not going to be teaching for Miss Smith today. After all, her workshop got canceled. So she's here today.
Speaker 1:So this teacher over here we think she needs some help in the first period because she's got some paperwork, things about field trips she needs to organize. Why don't you go down and help her? Well, I did. She didn't really need my help, friendly as she can be. In fact, some of her not some of her kids have been students of mine. That I've, you know. I really have enjoyed teaching.
Speaker 1:So then I went across the hall to where I was supposed to go before, just to kill some time, because I found out later that they had, in fact, one of the assistant teachers in that class had to be off the first period. So I went in there, but I really didn't have anything to do. Then they sent me down second period and I really the teacher had a handle on it, even though I was feeling him for a teacher that was not there. He really didn't need my help of any kind. So I told them about halfway through that you know I hate my. I could have stayed there all day and done basically nothing and I finally said listen, I hate for the school to have to pay for me when you all really don't need me here. And I worked a half a day. That's what I ended up doing.
Speaker 1:The reason all that happened is because of one of the kind of it's not a specific perk, it's just kind of an indirect perk. They had had me in the school long enough. They didn't want to cancel me Now, not just to be nice I mean, they're very nice, one of my favorite schools but they didn't cancel me because of my reputation. And the teacher told the principal the night before listen, my seminar got canceled, I'll be in, but I hate to cancel Greg. And the principal said well, why don't we bring him on in? You know what's the odds of us not needing any substitute? So I came in under that pretense and it sounded more negative than I needed it to be, and I'm not sure they would have called me in had I not had a good reputation at that school before. They wanted me to feel good about coming back, and that's the first thing we'll talk about.
Speaker 1:One of the indirect perks is building up your reputation as a substitute teacher. If you just go in and get excited because you have nothing to do, don't show any initiative, occupy a chair, you know they see that. They really see that. If you instead interact with the kids, interact with the teachers positive, of course, positive interaction with both of those groups well, not only do the teachers see that, they see the way the kids react when you're back in the room another day, when they're happy to see you. They know that you've got a good reputation with both the teachers and the students. Strive to be that person. I'm one of those that gets bored if I can't interact with the students. I've jokingly said to one of the best-behaved, most intelligent classes I've ever taught this year I try to get them to talk and they won't talk much, they just like doing their work. So it's really funny that I feel that way. That's my personality. But the perks that go along with substitute teaching.
Speaker 1:Let's back up and talk about the direct ones first. Our area just redid their pay structure so that they basically gave all of us a $25 a day raise and that's regardless of what position you were in. I'm not a credentialed teacher, but I do have a master's degree. I have an MBA. I get paid a little bit more that somebody that comes in with a bachelor's degree or with a high school diploma. My wife gets paid more than me when she goes back and substitutes teachers now because she's a credentialed teacher, she's a retired teacher and maybe the biggest thing they did is, if you go longterm now, it goes up trying to. I don't wanna give you the exact dollar amount, but it goes up $60 over the amounts I was just quoting. So that is a significant increase because you've committed to do that and if they see how well you have performed in the classroom, that's another perk.
Speaker 1:You know normally if they're gonna look for a longterm teacher, they don't advertise much. They instead go to the teachers. They make a list of teachers that they at first time I did. I'll give you an example. The first time I ever went longterm was just a couple of months after I had started substitute teaching and I heard the story. When they found out that a teacher was gonna have to leave at a certain time, the principal went to the secretary and said call Mr Collins, see if he's available. And that made me feel so good. I was their first call. I think maybe I'm overshooting my importance a little bit, but I was their first call. I had built up the reputation. So one of the perks that comes along with that is the administration likes having you in the building enough that you're gonna be close to the top of that list. That's probably the perk of perks right now. You won't have to play the substitute teacher roulette every morning where you gotta pick a job, pick a job, pick a job when the alerts pop up. Instead you're gonna get a majority of your jobs just from teachers that contact you directly. That's by far the biggest perk.
Speaker 1:Money's important A lot of you. I'm not gonna say money's not important to me, but I'm not doing this as a cost of living source of income. I'm retired and retirement benefits for my previous accounting job are enough to quote. Live on. This is my vacation money. We like to take vacations, my fun money. I like to go to basketball tournaments. I like to go to sporting events, all that good stuff. You build up a good reputation and you're gonna start getting the perks. In addition to the money, you also receive the peace of mind that you know that you've established your reputation and they're gonna call you quickly and they're gonna feel bad if they have to cancel a job. And that meant so much to me this week to do that.
Speaker 1:I also had a day where I went in student teacher who was extremely knowledgeable. I was glad it was at least a topic that I could discuss. It was eighth grade math. We were doing things like you know, plot and points and things like that and linear Relationships and all that good stuff. And before you all turn this off, I'll stop talking about math. But my point was I went in and I saw the Teacher's notes and I'm thinking, boy, he's assuming now I could teach it, but is he assuming that the substitute teachers that come in there no enough about this topic to teach it in the way he's left notes. And then I realized the student teacher showed up and he was going to teach the class. So I really didn't have that much to do that day either. I wasn't bored because it was math, I got to walk around and help students. I knew enough about it to be able to help them see if they were plotting points in the right place all that good stuff.
Speaker 1:So you've got a choice to make and unfortunately Now let me say it this way if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably one of those. I would be 95% sure in saying that you're one. If you're taking the time to listen to a podcast For substitute teachers, you're probably one of those that likes to stay busy. You're one of those that likes to do a good job. You're one of those that likes to build appropriate relationships with the teachers and the students in a classroom situation so that they're comfortable. When you're there, they like it. When you're there, those perks come along and you move to the top of the list, maybe bypassing those who are probably in the majority, maybe the ones that don't listen to the podcast and really just show up to occupy a chair.
Speaker 1:I'll tell this story one more time and I apologize, but I know some of you haven't heard it. I probably told it four or five times throughout the life of these, what I say 245 episodes. I was at one school. I heard this story third hand. I'll just share it with you the way I heard it.
Speaker 1:One substitute teacher walked in, sit down in the chair, turned his back this is at a high school turned his back to the students, put his headphones on, started listening to music and never To use an old phrase never gave them the time of day. Well, the principal got wind of it, went up there, looked in the window of the door, saw what was happening. He knocked. He didn't pound, he not yet a key get in when he wanted to, but he knocked. One of the students got up to let him in and he just held his hand up To tell them don't let him in. He kept knocking to see if the substitute teacher heard him. Never did hear him. He opened the door, walks over to the desk, calls out the teacher's name. Teacher didn't hear him, had his headphones on, had the music turned up loud. Well, the principal took a book, slammed it down on his desk so hard that you could probably hear it halfway down the hallway and the guy jumped and turned around and the principal just looked at him and said You're done, you're not gonna be subbing this school again. I hope that's not you now. Obviously that is an extreme case, but maybe not so much extreme.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of substitute teachers that are hoping, praying, that they'll go in and have nothing to do. I can't do that. I get bored, and and the more you show the teachers and the students that even when you have nothing to do, you make it a good day in the classroom. My first day there wasn't hardly anything I could teach. I was there with another teacher, so I made the most when I ran into students that hadn't seen me a while in the hallway. When I went in to ran into teachers, some of the teachers hugged me because I hadn't been there in a few months and it was really nice to see that. So keep yourself as a good Reputation for that school and the main perk you'll get, in addition to the movie, is Moving up to the top of that substitute teacher list so that you're one of the first ones they call when they have a substitute teacher need.
