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snowy · 06-21-2006, 09:32 PM

All of these things vary widely on the school district.

Most larger school districts have automated systems in place to alert substitutes to job opportunities. When I was a substitute educational aide the district I worked for used an automated phone system. They assigned you a pin number and then the autodialer would call every morning there was a job opportunity. To sign up, you entered your pin. Some districts now use websites to accomplish the same thing this automatic phone system did: you get online, look up the site, look at the jobs needing coverage, and select which one you will cover.

You can work other jobs and be a substitute teacher. There is a huge amount of flexibility. You can choose to work or not to work.

Depending on the size of the district there may be more than 1 grade available to teach, but essentially you are a glorified babysitter. The lesson plans are usually already in place, and you are expected to be little more than a placeholder (unless you are a long-term substitute, which does not happen often). Your role is NOT exactly the same as the absent teacher. Like I said--you are basically a placeholder, keeping the class going, until the regular teacher comes back. Rarely is any lesson planning on your part involved.

In most districts you can teach for as many days as you are available.

Because of the on-call factor involved in the job, pay is usually quite good for the hours/effort involved. In Oregon the standard is $142.28 per day.

The downside is--there is no work in summer and you can't always count on it. A lot of teachers have favorite subs already in place. I would say to substitute teach while looking for permanent employment, or substitute teach on your days off. Or else you can sign up for several school districts (if you live in that kind of area) and hope you can cobble together enough work between all of them to make it worthwhile.

But generally, yes, it is a good job and pays well. I'm going back to being a substitute aide this fall.

06-21-2006, 09:32 PM	#2 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	All of these things vary widely on the school district. Most larger school districts have automated systems in place to alert substitutes to job opportunities. When I was a substitute educational aide the district I worked for used an automated phone system. They assigned you a pin number and then the autodialer would call every morning there was a job opportunity. To sign up, you entered your pin. Some districts now use websites to accomplish the same thing this automatic phone system did: you get online, look up the site, look at the jobs needing coverage, and select which one you will cover. You can work other jobs and be a substitute teacher. There is a huge amount of flexibility. You can choose to work or not to work. Depending on the size of the district there may be more than 1 grade available to teach, but essentially you are a glorified babysitter. The lesson plans are usually already in place, and you are expected to be little more than a placeholder (unless you are a long-term substitute, which does not happen often). Your role is NOT exactly the same as the absent teacher. Like I said--you are basically a placeholder, keeping the class going, until the regular teacher comes back. Rarely is any lesson planning on your part involved. In most districts you can teach for as many days as you are available. Because of the on-call factor involved in the job, pay is usually quite good for the hours/effort involved. In Oregon the standard is $142.28 per day. The downside is--there is no work in summer and you can't always count on it. A lot of teachers have favorite subs already in place. I would say to substitute teach while looking for permanent employment, or substitute teach on your days off. Or else you can sign up for several school districts (if you live in that kind of area) and hope you can cobble together enough work between all of them to make it worthwhile. But generally, yes, it is a good job and pays well. I'm going back to being a substitute aide this fall. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau