Substitute Teacher Story: Jeff Stark

Jeff Stark Story | Retired Spanish teacher turned substitute teacher.

At age 72, Jeff Stark’s “spark” continues to enlighten students.

After 38 years as a Spanish teacher in middle and high school, he retired. But he wasn’t quite ready to leave the classroom. In fact, becoming a substitute teacher was the only next step he wanted to consider.

He’s been at it for 12 years—with no end in sight! He calls it a dream job for a retiree.

Jeff shares his experience and wisdom in this Q&A.

I wasn't done teaching yet. Substitute teaching is great for somebody who's done a lot of teaching in their life. It's all the best parts of teaching, without what I consider to be the bad parts—curriculum writing, lesson planning, test correcting, and giving grades. I now walk in, and the plans are all there for me. At the end of the day, I'm done.

So, you’re enjoying the flexibility?

Yes. For example, I love to play cards. The Senior Center in my town has a game called sheepshead—that's a very popular Wisconsin game that came from Germany. One day a week, I go to the Senior Center and play sheepshead. So, I just go on the substitute teacher scheduling app and make sure I don’t schedule myself to work on those days.

What else do you like about the scheduling aspect?

Notifications come up on my phone and ask if I would like to teach second grade on Thursday? And I say to myself, “That sounds sort of fun.” Or if it asks if I want to teach middle school geometry, I can decline. I always have a choice of what jobs to take and what days to work. If I have a doctor's appointment, I can just indicate that I’m not available to work that day.

I have a strategy; I try to get classes set up way ahead. Typically, when I schedule myself a week or month in advance, I know the teacher has a planned absence and will likely have everything well-organized for me.

What does it take to be an effective substitute teacher—even if you’re not a former teacher?

You've got to be a very caring individual. You've got to be very empathetic. A lot of kids, especially in middle school, are going through a lot of stuff. It’s a tough stage of their life. Being able to understand people and understand kids is more important than how much history you know or how much music you can teach.

It's all about the connections with kids. I think that what you'd be surprised most about substitute teaching is how much you can connect with kids even in a short period of time. I recommend it to everybody. Do what you what you love, and you'll never be dissatisfied.

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