book details

Book: High School Substitute Teacher's Guide - YOU CAN DO THIS! by Cherise Kelley

categories: Book, High School, College Graduate, Career, Alternative Employment, Underemployed, College Degree, Over-Qualified, Teacher Resource, Cell Phones, Classroom, Substitute Teacher, Substitute Teaching

Cherise Kelley

about this book: Many American college graduates today are unemployed or underemployed. In the sadest cases, their degrees are in obsolete subjects such as paper accounting, or saturated subjects such as computer assisted drafting. It's equally frustrating for those who majored in business but just cannot find related work because of the recession. We see these people with college degrees turned away when they apply for work at McDonald's and Macy's because they are over-qualified.

More specifically, there is a glut in the US of college students who major in education or secondary education in order to become teachers. Two hundred thousand potential teachers graduate from American universities each year, but fewer than half that many teaching jobs open up in US schools each year. This means that out of every two bright and eager new teachers, one will not be hired to have his or her own classroom. This disappointment is not a good place to be in when seeking alternative employment.

Substitute teaching can be a rewarding job for both types of underemployed college graduates: those who trained to be teachers and those who trained for something else. However, no one is preparing college graduates to become effective substitute teachers. That is where this book comes in. Gift it to any underemployed college graduate you know.

In his review of "High School Substitute Teacher's guide: YOU CAN DO THIS!" Charles T. Franklin says:

"It is the most insightful and comprehensive book that I have ever read on any career in my life... [h]ow to deal with student discipline, cleanliness, cell phones (a lot of teachers I know could have used that), fire drills, equipment malfunctions... teachers in the "Teacher's Lounge" and more."

The author started substitute teaching in California in 1989. She is still substitute teaching. She finds it a rewarding career in and of itself. Substitute teaching is not for everyone as a long-term career, but it can stand in the gap for any college graduate who has not yet found his or her calling. Those who are not yet parents may find high school students easier to substitute teach than elementary students.

This book is an important teacher resource because it is one of only a few books prepared especially for high school substitute teachers.