Tips to Become a Substitute Teacher's Assistant

Do you have a strong desire to work with children but lack the formal education to become a teacher? Do you enjoy offering assistance to teachers and students while working in an enriching classroom or school setting? Are you looking for a challenging and stimulating work environment? If you answered "yes" to these questions, then you should consider a position as a substitute teacher assistant. Sound interesting? Learn tips and strategies to be a substitute teacher assistant.

Locate a copy of your high school diploma or G.E.D. If you have a diploma, you will also need a copy of your transcript. If you don't have a diploma or a G.E.D, you will need to take the necessary steps to acquire your G.E.D. You can view helpful articles about things such as study tips at the How to Get Your G.E.D website. See Resources for link. First you will need to locate the G.E.D testing center that is closest to you. For a list of testing facilities categorized by state, you can visit the official G.E.D test website. See Resources for link. You should then prepare for the test by studying online, buying training CDs or books, and by taking practice tests. You will then need to sign up to take the test at your local testing center and wait for the results.

Obtain letters of recommendation. Most of the time you will need three letters of recommendation--one personal and two professional. These letters should have been written within the last three years. You can view a sample letter of recommendation at Eduers.com. See Resources for link. The letter should include information about your character, work experience, and a recommendation. Recommendation letters are tangible evidence of your achievements and abilities. Be sure to think carefully about who you will ask to write these letters. It is important to request letters from appropriate professionals that are related to the teaching field or something similar such as working with children.

Research the requirements by visiting the school board. Before you actually apply for the job, you need to make you sure you have all the required information. A lot of the requirements vary from state to state, so you should visit the school board of the school in which you wish to work and ask them what is required for a substitute teacher's assistant. For example, some school boards require you to submit a civil service test while others prefer a Child Development Association credential. Some school boards require at least six months experience working with children. If you don't have the preferred experience, you can take up a part-time job at a daycare or something similar, until you get hired as a substitute teacher's assistant.

Prepare to be printed. Most state laws require anyone entering the education field to be fingerprinted. This allows them to search your criminal background in all fifty states, whereas before with only searching by name they were limited to only finding offenses that occurred in that particular state. So if someone committed a serious crime in one state, then moved to another to teach, it wouldn't show up on their criminal record in the state which they moved to. That is why most states now require fingerprinting for educators. Most of the time you must pay for the fingerprinting yourself, so be prepared to drop some cash for it-usually less than a hundred bucks.

Apply for jobs. Your best bet would be to apply to surrounding school boards and also local temp job agencies. A lot of temp job agencies manage the substitute teachers and substitute teacher's assistants for local schools. You just submit your application to the temp agency just as you would the school board and they will call you and let you know when there are jobs available for you. They can also find jobs for you to do when you aren't working at the school. Another option is to check websites like K12JobSpot, Simply Hired, etc. See Resources for link.

Resources:

How to Get Your G.E.D http://www.howtogetyourged.org/

G.E.D Testing Service http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=GED_TS

Eduers http://www.eduers.com/reference/teacher.htm