E is for Employment in Education

***I’m going to try to post something every day in the month of November. I definitely may not- it’s just a goal and I’m not going to be upset about missing it! Hopefully in my spare time, I can come up with a post per day. My prompts are going to be the letters of the alphabet. I will write about something that starts with the day’s letter- think Sesame Street meets the blogsphere. Of course there are more days in the month of November than there are letters in the alphabet. I’ll cross that bridge if I come to it!***

Sometimes it’s weird to me to think that my job, a substitute teacher, is in education. Note that it’s not my career. I never had a desire to be a teacher or any of the careers that one can have in education- guidance counselor, various therapies schools have for students with special needs like OT or PT, principal, etc. I wish in many ways that I had that desire when I was in college. Careers in schools are great for moms due to having similar times off that your kids would have for the litany of breaks that comprise an academic calendar. However, even acknowledging at the time that it would be a good career for me, knowing that I wanted to have a family some day, could not persuade me to pursue teaching. Teaching or any of the careers associated with schools just did not sound like something I felt called to, thought I would be effective at, or would enjoy.

Not that majoring in political science and history prepared me for a fulfilling career or any career 😆 . But those subjects interested me and energized me so that’s what I studied in college. And, of course, I knew that many people ended up going to law school with a poly sci major which is what I did. 

After law school and passing the bars of two states, I never got around to being a practicing lawyer! It happened that one of the largest information service and legal providers for lawyers (at the time), LexisNexis, was headquarted in Dayton. I got a part time job in law school there and the team that I worked for on the lexis.com site wanted me to continue working full time after law school. It wasn’t what I planned to do but the benefits/ pay were good and the hours were even better- forty per week as opposed to a minimum of 50, likely more, if I were to become an associate in a law firm. Donnie and I knew we wanted a family and couldn’t imagine both of us working 50+ hours a week with kids. 

Nearly four years and two darling cherubs bearing Donnie’s and my DNA later, I quit that job to stay at home with said cherubs. Ah, the good (lean! financially) years. The cherubs were so good that we decided to add a third to the mix. And then those kids all started school so it was time for me to start looking for work once again.

I’m not sure that I would have considered subbing as something to do except that my mom did it for a short while when I was growing up. My mom had been a second grade teacher in Michigan for years before she met my dad. My dad’s mom offered the family farm (almost a hundred acres of marginally profitable land, a drafty, small, and run down farm house, numerous outbuildings, and a beautiful though nearly decrepit old barn) in Indiana to my dad and mom for a good price when they got married.  It made sense for my mom to leave Grand Rapids, Michigan to move into said drafty old house and begin marital life sans teaching degree. Five kids arrived in six years- mom never bothered to get her teaching license in Indiana. However, when my youngest brother started first grade, my mom became a substitute teacher in our school district to make some extra money. 

Since I had awareness of substitute teaching from my mom doing it, I decided to pursue it even though I had never been a teacher like my mom had been. To get a substitute teaching license when I got mine almost ten years ago, all you needed was a bachelors degree in any subject and then to take a small amount of coursework. So that’s what I did. And one terrifying morning later, when a classroom of third graders were about to arrive to start the school day with me as their sub, I had one of those, “What on earth has transpired in my life such that twenty five sets of eyes are going to soon be fixed on me? That I am going to have to instruct them? That they aren’t going to learn anything without my being effective to impart knowledge?” Deciding to become a sub didn’t sound like such a good idea with those kids’ imminent arrival in the classroom! Ah, but the day ended. The kids learned something, I’m sure!! We all survived ;).

Goodness, I didn’t sub much the first few years that I had my license. I did not like it! Then I discovered middle school and realized that I liked it so much better than the younger grades. Middle school students are so much more independent- for me, that makes a huge difference when filling in for someone’s role. 

What else to say about it? Some days are good. Some days are terrible. Some days are easy. Some days are hard. Some students are very fun, likable and make you feel good about the role you’ve been able to play in their school day. Some students are the EXACT opposite!! I always say that a day of subbing is like a box of chocolates- you never know what you’re going to get. Except, well, in some ways, you sort of, kind of can know or can at least get an inkling. I’ve learned which types of sub jobs that I like so I try to get those. 

One teaching position in our district is called an intervention specialist. IS work with smaller groups of students who have been identified through tests as having fallen below certain benchmarks. IS teachers spend part of their day in a classroom with small groups of students but also spend part of their day in other teachers’ classrooms and serve as a resource to the students who need help. When I first started subbing in an IS role, I was able to observe the “real” teacher in whose room I was being a resource to. I observed how the teachers I deemed good or effective dealt/ interacted with the students and then tried to emulate that when I subbed. I learned how I think the best of teachers’ styles employ a mixture of being firm with the students as far as their behavior yet fun (in small doses), telling puny jokes or sharing short anecdotes about themselves or observations. Again, I try to emulate the good habits or traits I see in teachers. I’m thankful that through the role of an IS teacher, I had and have the chance to observe teachers. Hopefully the observations and then putting into practice what I think are good methods of teaching, have helped me be a better, more effective sub teacher.

I enjoy the interactions with other sub teachers in our district. Our observations/ thoughts on various teachers’ sub plans/ students are usually similar and it’s nice to commiserate with others who “get” the struggles in our position ;). I have also enjoyed getting to know the teachers and staff in our district. Since I primarily sub at two middle schools, I have had consistent interaction with the same staff for years. Some have become friends, though not great friends. The transient/ temporal nature of the job precludes that day to day camaraderie that leads to closeness.

Speaking of the transient/ temporal nature of the job, that is, for me, the very best thing about it. Bad day in school? No problem- I won’t be in that classroom tomorrow. (And if it was really bad, I know to never sub in that classroom again!) At the end of the day, if someone at home or on the phone asks how my day at school was and I say it wasn’t good, I always add, that it was no big deal, the school day ended as it always does. And, most importantly, it isn’t going to impact me the following day! Of course it’s also nice to pick and choose the days you work based on life’s demands/ pleasures. When Abby is home from a break from college, spending time with her is going to be a priority over making a paltry sum of money at school so not picking up a sub job when she’s home is an easy decision to make. However, paltry sums of money are not nothing and so add up slowly but surely and usually, if I have nothing planned for a given week day, I will try to pick up a sub job for the day.

I feel like there’s so much more I could write on this subject but it’s time to publish this post so I will stop. I’ll end with this thought- I don’t know how much longer I will sub. As long as we have a child still in college, I would like to work in a school setting where I would be home for the majority of college breaks, ie summer and holiday breaks. However, I may pursue a more full time position within a school (as an aide or in the library or something like that) when Alyssa starts college next school year. Working minimally has been great with kids at home but when that changes, I will likely pursue working more. I don’t know what the future holds for ol’ Mrs. R (seriously, some students ask if they can call me Mrs. R instead of Mrs. Rineer. I’m like, seriously, it’s a two syllable name, you can handle it...) but subbing has been a fine way to earn an honest dollar :).

Why, I have even received fan mail!!!! I have posted these before (because, let us face it, they are waaaaaay too epic to not make multiple appearances on the blog!!)