Substitute teaching is also great because it carries little responsibility with it outside of the time you spend in the classroom. Full time teachers have papers to grade and lesson plans to prepare, but substitutes have no work to take home. In addition, substitutes can turn down an assignment, if they have other plans for the day on which they’ve been asked to teach.

Requirements for substitute teaching vary by state. Some states require a teaching certificate and others require simply that you have a college degree in some field. Check with your local school system for requirements if you think you’d like to try your hand at substituting.

So, now that we have convinced you that substituting is a great way to make a little extra cash and figure out if teaching is your passion; here are 17 tips designed to make your substitute teaching experience pleasant and rewarding.

1. Know school policies – You should familiarize yourself with basic school policies and schedules before class begins. Know when students will hear announcements, change classes, and go to lunch, as well as policies on behavior, etc.
2. Get there early. You need time to find your classroom, get information provided by the office and review any notes or lesson plans the teacher has left for you. Life is a lot easier if you can do all these things before the students enter the classroom.
3. Be professional and prepared – Substitute teachers have been the brunt of every prank known to man. While some ribbing may be unavoidable, the more professional and prepared you are, the fewer traumas you’ll have to endure. Look and act the part of a real teacher.
4. Have a few activities up your sleeve – When a teacher must take an unexpected day off, he or she may have no prepared lesson plans available for the substitute. Your day will go a lot more smoothly if you have some activities for your class. This means you’ll need a few different activities, designed for the age groups you’ll be teaching.
5. Check the teacher’s mailbox for information when you arrive in the morning. It may have some important things you need for the day.
6. Review any notes and assignments the teacher has left for you, and follow them as closely as possible.
7. Start students off on the right foot. Introduce yourself and let students know your expectations for behavior and work first thing in the morning. Then stick to the plan you’ve laid out for them.
8. Be in control. Establish rules, such as an acceptable noise level. If you ever let the students take control, it will be difficult to get it back. This is not to say you need to be a tyrant; but you do need to be in charge.
9. Treat the students with respect. If you want respect from them, treat them with respect, too. Treat them as though they’re your students; because, at least for today, they are!
10. Walk around the classroom. Walking around not only reminds students that you are in control, but it also makes you more approachable at the same time.
11. Don’t avoid conflict. If you have a troublemaker in class, he’s not going to stop making trouble because you ignored it. Get it out in the open and deal with it right away.
12. Remember that you are not there to babysit. Every school day has the potential to teach and impact a student. So, teach and make an impact while you’re there.
13. Leave the regular teacher a note at the end of the day explaining any events or issues, as well as letting her know what the class completed for the day.
14. Leave her room looking better than you found it.
15. Grade homework or assignments if you can. Grading papers is usually not required of substitute teachers. But, if the teacher has left the answer key, and you can get the job done; do it. It will be much appreciated by the teacher.
16. Leave your business card for the teacher if you’d like to substitute for her again. Many teachers arrange their own substitutes when they are planning a day off in advance.
17. Have fun. While we’ve spent a lot of time talking about all that can go wrong; the fact is that you can have a lot of really fun days meeting new kids and teaching them. So, enjoy it!

Professional Role in Teaching Special Education: This courseware  offered by Susan Bruce of Michigan State University is based upon professional role in teaching special education. It imparts learning on topics like collaboration with teachers, parents and community settings.

Best Special Education Practices: This courseware offered by Ann Nevin from Arizona State University is for elementary and secondary teachers in special education.

Heilpädagogik Online: It is quarterly peer reviewed online medical journal with special focus on Special education and disability studies.  It is set up with goal to provide scientific knowledge of Special Education and Disability studies for professional as well as public. Its articles are provided in German as well as English.

The Inonu University Journal of the Faculty of Education (INUJFE):  It is an open courseware with access to electronic and open access electric and print journal devoted to the dissemination, criticism, interpretation and encouragement of all forms of systematic enquiry into education and fields related or associated with education.

International Journal of Special Education: Published since 2002, this Journal is intended to make its content available free to everyone who is interested in special education or is a student of special education.

International Journal of Whole Schooling: This is an internationally referred publication to device new methods of learning and schooling for all children. The journal is for a large range of people in education field including researchers, parents, teachers, students, community members and policy makers for expressing views and ideas on topics ranging scholarly research, experience of teachers, policy analysis and many more.

The Open Education Journal:  it s is an Open Access online journal which the best content comprising research articles, reviews and short articles from the areas of education research on varied issues of learning and specially special education.

Teaching Exceptional Children Plus:  This journal publishes content useful for people who are working with and working with need of children with special education and needs.

The Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD): It is an international organization of and for the professionals who from diverse fields of work, showcase and represent diverse disciplines with a promise to enhance the educational level and lifespan of individuals with learning disabilities and be in need of special education.

Federation for Children with Special Needs: The Federation work with objective to provide support and assistance to children with disabilities, professional partners and their communities. It is also working with objective to learn from families and to encourage them to participate in communities with people with disabilities.

Sara Neufeld: Living at Baltimore she is a Writer, education wonk and yoga practitioner.

Mark Leach: Living at Camden, London he is a full time HE policy geek for NUS, cinema nerd and a sushi lover.

Diane Weir: Living at Wstford Massachusetts she is an IBMer and an education wonk and express her ideas and views on education through her blog http://www.dianeweir.com.

Ana Petero: Living at SF Bay Area she is an educator and politics wonk.

BobMorrison: Living at Warren, New Jersy Morrison is a Music and Arts Education Researcher, Advocate and public policy wonk.

Adam Hall: Living at Newberry, SC, USA is a BA and an MA in English. He also been trained as an Office of Vocation and Adult Education (OVAE) facilitator. A Breaking Ranks II instructor and a Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) workshop provider.

Kristen Kulinowski: Presently living at Houston, Texas is a chemist, education policy wonk and presently working as a mediator to describe interfaces between science and society in respect to nanotechnology.

SecurEducation: Living at Minnesota US, he is education wonk for IT security hazards.

Neil Allison: Living at Washington DC, Neil Allison is an education expert with nearly over 10 years of experience creating and putting effective business policies into effect.  He has implied his innovative solution making strategies in digital media, online tutoring, institutional assessment, education analytics and course management.

Kathy Christie: Living at Denver, she is an education policy wonk and you can have better idea about her area of interest from http://www.ecs.org.

An online Masters in Education program has its advantages. For those who are already in employment, it gives them a chance to go back to study without having to leave their jobs. It is a convenient way to achieve higher education because you can study when you are free to do so, you do not have to reschedule your activities for the day or postpone any important engagement. This flexibility, not found in regular classes, has made it possible for many people to obtain Masters Degrees without a problem.

There are numerous options of online colleges and universities to choose from if you are planning on advancing your education. However, there are a few things that you will have to first consider before you apply in any one of them. The first thing you need to do is to verify the college’s authenticity. The internet is home to countless conmen who pretend to offer online education when in the real sense all they want to do is swindle people. A college offering an online Masters of education program should have been accredited by the relevant authority in its area of operation.

The best online Masters in Education course has to be taught by the best qualified instructor. Make sure that you do thorough research to ascertain your online instructor’s credentials. You can get this from testimonies from students whom the instructor has taught before. This will make your learning experience much easier.

An online Masters in Education degree is really easy to get. All you will be required to have is high speed internet connection so that your learning is not inhibited in any way. This will enable you to attend virtual classes from anywhere you are in the world. It will also enable you to access the online library offered by the institutions to people who are pursuing a Masters in Education Degree. You will need to send the online institution copies of academic documents that will provide proof that you are qualified to apply for the course.

Getting a Masters in Education is one of the things that will greatly improve your career and your life. You will find that it will help you find a whole range of opportunities in your career that you might have never thought possible. Join a virtual college that offers online Masters in Education program and you can be sure your life will change for the better.