What happens to substitute teachers over the summer?

I wasn't guaranteed of any work hours during the school year, but I'm guaranteed not to have hours over the summer. And substitutes don't have the option to set up a Summer Delayed Payout. And between AP tests and SOLs (state tests of VA) and then final exams, I got a grand total of six days of work in the last two months. I couldn't even stock up on work days to pad my account for summer because permanent teachers are too anxious about their students' test scores to take a day off with a cold. I once had a teacher who had laryngitis and didn't call a sub.

So what is there for a substitute to do over summer?

1. We can tutor, particularly outside our usual subbing subjects/grades.
2. We can find seasonal jobs with the hordes of highschoolers and college students just released for summer.
3. We can fall back on self-employment options we've been keeping open (nanny, photographer).
And there are other subs with more options, subs with no options, and subs who don't need options because they have a spouse with an income that doesn't require supplementing.

I really like taking pictures with my DSLR. I can spend much longer before getting restless when fine-editing pictures of people rather than pictures of objects in someone's collection. I don't retouch shape, I prefer to work in colors and skin texture. I also like going out at night to take star photos, but I haven't found a place that is public property far enough from major light pollution and close enough to go out spontaneously.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *         *         *          *

Who wants a quick five-snap outdoor session? I'll do a matrix with one image of your choice large and any others you liked as thumbnails for a side-strip or insets. $10 and you will get your print resolution image file in 48 hours by email. If you give me permission to include your matrix in my portfolio, no charge (I have a form so that I will have a record of you permission).

On Plans, well laid and ill kept

Jobs I technically have right now:
·nanny
·photographer
·substitute teacher

Jobs I have done in the past six months:
·substitute teacher

I can't do any nannying or babysitting without other people's children. It's sort of like kidnapping but more legal.

I can totally do photography without other people. There are things out there to take pictures of. I have a camera, I should use it. My landscapes are really nice. I'd like to do portraits that capture personalities and stories, but that requires subjects. I cannot afford models, and my most available friend is not attractive enough to put in my portfolio. I should just take landscapes instead. What is the point of my DSLR if I'm not using it?

Substitute teaching is going well. I have an application nearly finished for a Master's in Education program. I want to teach English and Broadcast Journalism.

So basically, I need to do more photography and finish editing that gun photo book for my "client"/patron. Otherwise, I look like a flighty quitter, and the chances of my seeing it through on a teaching career would look rather slim.

My mother is a shifter. She likes becoming the best at her job. Then she gets bored. She doesn't last long once she gets bored, once she dreads going to work. I shall need to work hard not to become a shifter. It will comfort my father.

Good Intentions

I went to Cape May, NJ with a friend last weekend. I was going to traipse about taking brilliant pictures of all the Victorian houses, and we planned, twice, to go to the lighthouse near sunset so I could take pictures. We did not accomplish these things.

We also did not go on a tour in the Victorian museum, eat lunch with pirates in the tea room, go on an evening trolley tour of ghost stories, or meet any romantic prospects. We swam in the ocean, and we sang karaoke. I can be happy with that as long as we go back again so we can do everything we planned to.