I just saw this great video over on YouTube, and it reminded me of some of the challenges I've faced working as a substitute teacher. It's one of those jobs where nothing is expected of you, and people start to look at you funny if you actually try to do anything special for the students. Half the time the administrators are shocked when I, say, try to help a student whose grasp of English is lacking, or actually work with a multiply-disabled student instead of rolling his wheelchair into the corner and catching up on paperwork.
Maybe the stresses of substitute teaching as a career are just too much for the people who do it on a daily basis. I'm not in it for the money -- at $50 a day, I could make more money by playing a couple hours of poker, with free cocktail service and no children to supervise. And I'm not even all that good at poker. But substitute teaching can be a pretty fun and rewarding experience -- I got to conduct a few orchestras for a few days, and watch some kids go from saying, "Oh, no, a substitute!" to "Oh, no, this is your last day?"
Most people assume that being a substitute teacher requires some sort of qualifications. It doesn't. They literally let anyone who graduated from high school walk in off the street and start teaching. If you've just started college and don't know what to do with all the new free time in the middle of the day, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try. You'll get a few days of handing out worksheets and dodging flying backpacks, but the good days are definitely worth it.
The video, by the way, is an excerpt from "Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm" which is available on the following DVD:
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