Substitute Teaching

Well, I finally got an email the other day from Oconee County and I am going in mid-October for the substitute teaching course.

It's been a long ride for me trying to figure out what God wants me to do with my life after my son is through with his homeschooling. This will be in three years.

I have been praying and asking the Lord to give me direction because I'm going to need to have a job to help financially with the college bills.

I felt the Lord spoke to me back in the spring to put my resume out there and just see what happens. Well, I didn't get any bites.

I haven't officially worked anywhere for a long time. I was an office manger for Honeywell way back before hubby and I got married and had good experience and references for that. I also worked in D.C. as a secretary and have had several great experiences with secretarial and office managerial positions. But, after we got married, I have basically been a stay at home/homeschooling mom. I don't regret one minute of it. I know it has been the path that the Lord has had for me. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but that time is coming to a close and the next step is????

Anyway, over the last 10 years, I have taught part time at the local Technical college. I've taught Spanish to adults in the Continuing Education Program at the Tech. College. I have absolutely loved doing that. About 5 years ago, another location asked me to come teach Spanish. So, I have been teaching Spanish to adults there as well. I have also been teaching English as a Second Language to Hispanic people for about 5 years and this has been a delightful experience for me. It has also given me the opportunity to improve my Spanish conversational skills. (For those of you that may not know, after graduate school, I lived in Paraguay for a time as a short-term missionary and this is where I became fluent in Spanish.)

The reason I'm sharing all of this is that I feel as if I have some really good experience and I have some great references. But, because I don't have a teaching certificate, it's going to be virtually impossible for me to be hired as a teacher.

I could kick myself for not taking the two or three extra classes that were required of me in college to get certification. At the time, I never saw myself teaching or enjoying teaching. Lesson learned. And something to think about for those of you who think "I'll never do that"!

So a good friend at church has been giving me some ideas on ways that I can get into the school system.

1. I could go back to school and spend $10,000 to get my certification. I mean, I already have a Masters Degree and, plus, I really don't have that kind of money, nor the time to do that.

2. I could also take the GACE test. This is a test offered to residents of Georgia that is basically a proficiency test. My friend at church that took it (and she is really more proficient in Spanish than I am) told me that the written part was easy but the verbal part was difficult. My verbal skills are "okay" but I'm not too hopeful.

3. The other avenue, that she mentioned to me, was getting in as a substitute and being in a school system and basically "selling" your skills to them. Show them how good of a teacher you really are (which I am a good teacher - and I don't mean that in a proud way) and then when the time comes that they have an opening, they will pick you first. From there, the school system can help me to obtain my certification.

It's all a very complex process and I am still not sure I understand it all. But I am excited for this opportunity to become a sub.

I am just praying and asking the Lord to open the right doors. I feel as if I have done my part and now, I will stand back and see what happens!