A Typical Day

If a substitute teacher gets a call they monitor their assigned classes and occasionally teach material.

Top 3 Perks

1) Great part time work 

2) Meet interesting teachers at new schools everyday

3) Flexibility to choose your schedule

Job Culture

Being indoors for long hours, summers off, disciplining students, collecting assignments

My Experience

As school is currently out for the summer there aren’t any teachers to shadow in class, so I decided to follow and interview a substitute teacher as he prepared for the year. Mark, a substitute teacher in the Toronto District School Board, fills in for teachers that teach art, careers, photography, yearbook, history, geography, and a few other courses. This past year he filled in for a teacher who had to take a leave of absence due to health reasons so he was a permanent teacher. This year he expects to be a traditional substitute teacher and will have to wait for calls to fill in. Every morning Mark wakes up very early (around 5:00 AM) because the school board calls him with the need for a substitute. He gets a choice of two or three jobs every morning and he usually chooses the classes he has experience with. Mark knows that students like to take advantage of substitute teachers so he told me that he isn’t scared to take disciplinary action. Mark enjoys substituting because this way teaching is always exciting and he can choose how much or how little he works.

Requirements

1) A bachelor’s degree in a field your interested and in educatione

Skills Needed

Patience, assertiveness, communication skills, problem solving

The Field

– Always be needed 

- As population grows schools need more staff and therefore more substitute teachers