Substitute Teaching: Create Your Own Advertising

When you become a substitute teacher, the last thing you will want to do is to hide under a rock. Although a successful substitute is something of a chameleon, entering and blending into new environments on a daily basis, this does not mean the successful sub shies away from interaction. Rather, successful subs are successful because they actively generate interaction with others. Like newsmakers, they realize the value of publicity.

So, how do you launch a major advertising campaign as a substitute teacher? First of all, you do a good job. The quality of your work helps you to be remembered by both students and teachers alike. For example, if you take extra time to explain difficult concepts, ask colleagues whether they could use some help with paperwork during your free periods, and express care for students by helping them to resolve conflicts fairly, then you are sure not to be easily forgotten.

Secondly, you will want to leave behind an advertisement for yoruself containing your contact information, your credentials, your picture, a motto, or even a favorite quote. This advertisement should be half the size of a sheet of notebook paper, or smaller. It needs to be big enough to capture attention, yet small enough to be posted next to a teacher's telephone or computer.

With this objective in mind, try to make your advertisement a pleasant thing to look at. Take some time to select the colors that you will use in your advertisement, the font that is best-suited to your personality, or even locate an image that is calm and inspirational to center your ad around.

Here's the secret thing that an ad accomplishes: it inspires trust. What it says to others is "I am proud enough of the work I do that I would like you to know about the help that I can offer." In schools, trust is essential. After all, the safety of our children is paramount. Other teachers, faculty, and students would like to know that they can trust you. The primary way they can know you are trustworthy is through your actions; the second most important way they can know is by how willing you are to let those actions be observed. Creating and providing an ad to others makes you more visible to them, and invites an appraisal of your work. The positive way of looking at this is that when others are pleased with your work, they will be able to see you are someone who is dependable.

So, instead of scribbling down your contact information on little scraps of paper when others ask for it, create an ad that will broadcast your interest in education. You can even quote such luminaries as varied as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., or Abraham Lincoln in your ad. Just let teachers know that education needs something that has been getting overlooked.

YOU.