Today I write about the good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a nomadic (substitute) teacher
1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher
*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region
