Make it easier to become a substitute teacher

[Anonymous]

Recommendations are quite common, even if the state doesn’t mandate them.

I needed three recommendations from my white-collar jobs in order to get a once-a-week gig teaching a fitness class at my local community center. Employers require all sorts of things that seem ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteering is light years away from subbing. Being a SAHM w a degree doesn’t qualify you to work around anyone but your own kids.

What do you know about classroom management? What do you know about the subject or current pedagogy for the relevant subjects. Don’t say oh I will teach ES because they have more than one subject

I see so many parents get lost w first and second grade homework that they shouldn’t be helping at all. I’m a parent btw not a teacher.

Who do you think is working as subs these days? Hint: they don’t all have education degrees.

People who have the tenacity, patience and intelligence to work this system are people who are subs.

Clearly the sahm who wants to help can’t do those things.

You want a sub so you can have a babysitter not an educator. Remember that when your darling child comes home and tells you all they did was watch movies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always ask for a letter of reference when I leave a job. Am I the only one?

Letter has to be dated from the past year. I had this problem too when I wanted to apply to be a sub when DD was in K. My previous employer had been my family company and family isn’t allowed to give references. So I had to wait until I picked up some part time work from a family friend, 4 years later and have him write the reference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteering is light years away from subbing. Being a SAHM w a degree doesn’t qualify you to work around anyone but your own kids.

What do you know about classroom management? What do you know about the subject or current pedagogy for the relevant subjects. Don’t say oh I will teach ES because they have more than one subject

I see so many parents get lost w first and second grade homework that they shouldn’t be helping at all. I’m a parent btw not a teacher.

Who do you think is working as subs these days? Hint: they don’t all have education degrees.

People who have the tenacity, patience and intelligence to work this system are people who are subs.

Clearly the sahm who wants to help can’t do those things.

You want a sub so you can have a babysitter not an educator. Remember that when your darling child comes home and tells you all they did was watch movies

You know there’s a huge sub shortage, right? Hand-signed reference letters from a current employer is not a standard employment requirement and is one of the things keeping otherwise suitable candidates from applying. Perhaps things like that requirement could be reviewed and modified.

[Anonymous]

I was a sub in college when I came home for breaks. $100 a day and you could pick up a shift that same morning or the night before? Great job for someone on breaks.

Yes, ES is far more difficult because the kids actually need full time teaching all day. Subbing in middle and HS is actually easy because the back up plan is independent work or *gasp* a movie.

Long term subs should ideally have some idea what they are teaching/subbing in. A sick day or two for a teacher? It's a warm body so the other teachers aren't overloaded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteering is light years away from subbing. Being a SAHM w a degree doesn’t qualify you to work around anyone but your own kids.

What do you know about classroom management? What do you know about the subject or current pedagogy for the relevant subjects. Don’t say oh I will teach ES because they have more than one subject

I see so many parents get lost w first and second grade homework that they shouldn’t be helping at all. I’m a parent btw not a teacher.

Who do you think is working as subs these days? Hint: they don’t all have education degrees.

People who have the tenacity, patience and intelligence to work this system are people who are subs.

Clearly the sahm who wants to help can’t do those things.

You want a sub so you can have a babysitter not an educator. Remember that when your darling child comes home and tells you all they did was watch movies

Subs have never been educators. But they allow teachers to go to meetings and appointments and keep the school running.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Recommendations are quite common, even if the state doesn’t mandate them.

I needed three recommendations from my white-collar jobs in order to get a once-a-week gig teaching a fitness class at my local community center. Employers require all sorts of things that seem ridiculous.

There is no urgency in fitness classes. In this once in a lifetime pandemic, there is a definite need to urgently keep schools open.

[Anonymous]

There is no urgency in fitness classes. In this once in a lifetime pandemic, there is a definite need to urgently keep schools open.

I 100% agree, but I am not shocked that a bureaucracy such as FCPS (and the surrounding school systems) is not changing its policy. You should share your concerns with your county supervisor and the school board, rather than an anonymous message board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteering is light years away from subbing. Being a SAHM w a degree doesn’t qualify you to work around anyone but your own kids.

What do you know about classroom management? What do you know about the subject or current pedagogy for the relevant subjects. Don’t say oh I will teach ES because they have more than one subject

I see so many parents get lost w first and second grade homework that they shouldn’t be helping at all. I’m a parent btw not a teacher.

Who do you think is working as subs these days? Hint: they don’t all have education degrees.

People who have the tenacity, patience and intelligence to work this system are people who are subs.

Clearly the sahm who wants to help can’t do those things.

You want a sub so you can have a babysitter not an educator. Remember that when your darling child comes home and tells you all they did was watch movies

Subs have never been educators. But they allow teachers to go to meetings and appointments and keep the school running.

Growing up subs just took attendance and told you to read and do the worksheet left by the teacher.

At one point a teacher was out for months and we got a long term sub. She completely ignored what the teacher had left and used a completely different curriculum, we noticed immediately.

We loved her, suddenly class was interesting and we had a teacher who wasn’t just barely tolerating us.

We were depressed when our “real” teacher came back.

Story time over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a sub in college when I came home for breaks. $100 a day and you could pick up a shift that same morning or the night before? Great job for someone on breaks.

Yes, ES is far more difficult because the kids actually need full time teaching all day. Subbing in middle and HS is actually easy because the back up plan is independent work or *gasp* a movie.

Long term subs should ideally have some idea what they are teaching/subbing in. A sick day or two for a teacher? It's a warm body so the other teachers aren't overloaded.

They should have a tiered system, with requirements for shortages (like flu season or now), regular subs, and long term subs. All should use background checking and the like, but references and credit requirements could be different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is no urgency in fitness classes. In this once in a lifetime pandemic, there is a definite need to urgently keep schools open.

I 100% agree, but I am not shocked that a bureaucracy such as FCPS (and the surrounding school systems) is not changing its policy. You should share your concerns with your county supervisor and the school board, rather than an anonymous message board.

I have. Multiple times in emails to board members. Not just because of me - it didn't occur to me it was a systemic problem until I read it on a Facebook forum that someone else was having trouble. They've even agreed and offered to look into it and then nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There is no urgency in fitness classes. In this once in a lifetime pandemic, there is a definite need to urgently keep schools open.

I 100% agree, but I am not shocked that a bureaucracy such as FCPS (and the surrounding school systems) is not changing its policy. You should share your concerns with your county supervisor and the school board, rather than an anonymous message board.

I have. Multiple times in emails to board members. Not just because of me - it didn't occur to me it was a systemic problem until I read it on a Facebook forum that someone else was having trouble. They've even agreed and offered to look into it and then nothing.

DP. The SB has definitely heard from people about this. It would be nice to see acknowledgement or movement on this. The board member who brought it up at a meeting could be a hero!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people are insane. You would give this person a job with students because her post makes her seem “high quality”? It’s clear none of you have ever actually worked in a school.

If you lower the criteria, you WILL let in a lot of undesireables. FCPS is responsible for the safety of students. Teaching (and subbing) require transcripts. Teachers supply them all the time. It’s not an abnormal request. The process weeds out those that don’t really want it. I know plenty of college kids and SAHMs that are subs, somehow it worked for them.

I mean, background check and fingerprinting should be enough to weed out “undesirables.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteering is light years away from subbing. Being a SAHM w a degree doesn’t qualify you to work around anyone but your own kids.

What do you know about classroom management? What do you know about the subject or current pedagogy for the relevant subjects. Don’t say oh I will teach ES because they have more than one subject

I see so many parents get lost w first and second grade homework that they shouldn’t be helping at all. I’m a parent btw not a teacher.

Who do you think is working as subs these days? Hint: they don’t all have education degrees.

People who have the tenacity, patience and intelligence to work this system are people who are subs.

Clearly the sahm who wants to help can’t do those things.

You want a sub so you can have a babysitter not an educator. Remember that when your darling child comes home and tells you all they did was watch movies

Subs have never been educators. But they allow teachers to go to meetings and appointments and keep the school running.

Growing up subs just took attendance and told you to read and do the worksheet left by the teacher.

At one point a teacher was out for months and we got a long term sub. She completely ignored what the teacher had left and used a completely different curriculum, we noticed immediately.

We loved her, suddenly class was interesting and we had a teacher who wasn’t just barely tolerating us.

We were depressed when our “real” teacher came back.

Story time over.

Cool story- you liked a sub that didn’t teach you the standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don’t only suffer from a quantity of subs, but also a severe quality number of them. The process is slow, but criteria is fine. We need more than a warm body.

A sub is really a proctor. You need a warm body with no criminal record.