substitute teacher: Philadelphia Metropolis

School Days: A Sub's First Day

Best of VoxPop» Anyone who has ever started a job has had the first day jitters. And why not? But eventually, that period passes: you fall in line, you get used to the way things work, and suddenly you can't remember why you ever felt so nervous. Unless you are me. I am a substitute teacher. For me, every day is my first day. In early January, on my very first day as a sub, I was assigned to a vocational high school in Philadelphia. I pulled up at 6:30 a.m., the sun still down, next to a sprawling one-story building. There were bars on the windows and chains on the door. The majority of entrances had signs with big red letters saying No Trespassing and Students Enter Side Door and Guests Enter Front So I entered the front. A woman at the front office greeted me and said, "You're here early." (Comments)

Substitute Teacher Hell

By Michael Waters » After graduating from college with high hopes, and eight existentially agonizing months driving a forklift in a warehouse, I was at the threshold of a glorious future. I had graduated with a degree in history in hopes of teaching, and the following morning I was about to take my first step toward that goal as a Philadelphia substitute teacher. I started off with what I considered an easy assignment - taking over a first-grade class for one day in a North Philly elementary school. Anthony Robbins styled pep talks flooded my mind that night. I was sure I was going to save the world one disenfranchised child at a time. (Comments)

The More Things Change....

 By Harry Nash Recently, I received a copy of the last edition of the original Philadelphia Bulletin from my mother who found the paper among my father's old things. My father was a newspaper man and I am certain he... (Comments)

Schools Days: Substitute Teacher

By Lori Mehler I broke up with a long-time boyfriend the night before a substitute-teaching assignment at a school in Bensalem. The break-up wasn't a surprise, but it was emotionally draining. I got two hours of sleep, then mustered the... (Comments)