A teacher resignation letter is necessary if you resign early from your teaching contract. Resigning from any job is difficult, but resigning mid-contract from a teaching position is complicated.

Overcoming Challenges of Writing a Resignation Letter

When a teaching contract is signed, both parties intend for the contract to continue for an entire academic year. Schools hate to lose teachers mid-year because it disrupts the students’ educational experience and decreases academic progress. Although this is something that schools don’t like, it does happen.

From dissatisfaction with school policies and a hostile school atmosphere to required classroom changes or an unexpected illness, you may be unwilling or unable to complete the term of your teaching contract. If this occurs in your teaching career, you will be in the unenviable position of writing a teacher resignation letter.

A resignation letter’s composition can be challenging, even for the most adept writer, because it requires tact and consideration. The official document you submit to your school principal will set the tone for your final weeks at the school and your relationship moving forward.

Write Concisely

When composing a teacher’s resignation letter, keep it short and to the point; this is not the time to ramble. Make sure you state your name and contact information, the fact that you are resigning, and the date. No other information is necessary for this type of letter. Here are some examples:

• I submit my resignation as a Special Education Teacher at ABC Schools, effective June 25, 2016.
• Please accept this letter as notice of my resignation as 5th Grade Teacher as of December 15, 2017.
• It is with regret that I submit my letter of resignation as a Physics Teacher at the end of the fall term.

Resist the urge to include information about your time at the school or future career plans. You’ve probably already discussed these with your principal, so there is no reason to reiterate them here. Many teachers resign and then consider alternative career choices for teachers to concentrate fully on their next career. 

However, you may want to mention that you enjoyed being an active member of the school community and teaching the students. You want to leave on good terms, which is paramount because it’s professional, and you may need an employment reference. To help with this, thank your principal for the opportunity, even if you are ecstatic to be leaving.

Give Proper Notice

Even though you are breaking your teaching contract early, it is still vital that you try to provide your school administrator with as much notice as possible. This can go a long way to ensuring you don’t burn any bridges with the school. Finding a suitable replacement in the middle of the school year can be challenging, so consider this. Don’t put off telling your principal the news of your departure.

Giving as much notice as possible (never provide less than two weeks) will help your students and principal transition from your absence more easily. Also, remember to state your last day of employment so there is no confusion.

Should You List a Reason for Leaving?

Listing a reason for your resignation is not necessary. Do not use the resignation letter as a time to vent your frustration. Your employer probably already knows your reasons for wishing to leave – so there is no need to reiterate them here. Be straightforward and to the point, “I am resigning.” You do not have to say, “I am resigning because…”. Although your reason is unrelated to the school, you may include a short explanation.

If you do choose to include a short explanation, here are a few examples of options to choose from:

• I was recently offered a new opportunity at a school closer to my home and have decided to accept.
• I received an offer to serve in an administrative position, and although I’m sad to leave this school community, I’m excited about this opportunity to transition into school administration.
• This letter informs you that I will retire at the end of the school year.
• After much thought and consideration, I have decided not to return after maternity leave.
• I have decided to resign for personal reasons.

Show Professionalism

When an individual decides to leave, it may be because they are unhappy, disgruntled, and dissatisfied with their current employment. Don’t let a damaging attitude shine in your teacher’s resignation letter. Use only positive, professional language when composing the message.

If your supervisor at the school has done something to upset you, remember there is no point in stooping to a low level and sacrificing your professionalism to get the temporary gratification of complaining.

You should also show your willingness to help with the transition. Without promising anything, you may not be able to deliver; indicate that you’re happy to ensure a smooth transition for the students and the replacement teacher. Here are a couple of examples:

• If I can assist during this transition, I’d be happy to help.
• I would be happy to help with the transition so that the school and my students will continue to thrive after my departure.

Know the Consequences of Resigning

Resigning from a teaching job mid-contract could look bad to future employers. They will logically conclude that you could do it again if you have vacated one contract before completion.

Do you need to take action steps to revitalize your education career?

Make sure you think carefully about your resignation before you follow through with your plan.

Are you so unhappy with your current position that you are willing to risk future employment opportunities as a teacher?

While nothing can magically make resigning from a teaching job easy, following these tips will help make the task as painless as possible and ensure your teaching career does not suffer.

Teacher Resignation Letter Examples

If you’d like some inspiration for writing your teacher resignation letters, you can view our teacher’s resignation letter samples here:

1st Teacher Resignation Letter Sample 

2nd Teacher Resignation Letter Example

You can also contact Candace by email or toll-free at 1-877-738-8052 for personalized assistance with your resignation letter.

Transferable skills are critical to a career change to teaching or any other education job. Are you looking for examples of transferable skills to become a teacher? Maybe you are entering teaching as a second career?

These skills are the ones you can take with you from one career and move to another. The best process is to make a list or checklist of the ones you have and refer to them during the various stages of your job search to land a teaching position.

You aren’t alone if you are making this type of employment change.

Over the last 16 years, I have witnessed various business professionals transition to teaching and find it was their best decision.

Making a successful career change to education will require you to uncover and communicate your transferable skills. These attributes and core competencies must be relevant to teaching to convince the hiring authority that you will value the school and its students.

When applying for a job in a completely different field than what you are trained in, it is of the utmost importance that you analyze your transferable skills and detect the ones that would make you a good teacher or instructor.

It is highly recommended that you act safely when testing a second career option by researching your thoughts and ideas. Don’t get me wrong; making a career transformation is often the best decision people make.

How to Identify Transferable Teaching Skills

Desired teaching skills include communication, patience, creativity, enthusiasm, confidence, conflict resolution, adaptability, and collaboration.

Look at your current business job’s day-to-day responsibilities and determine how many of the above skills you utilize. Ensure you convey these transferable skills in your career transition resume and cover letter.

To be an incredible teacher, you must possess other non-tangible traits: creativity, enthusiasm, motivation, cooperation, compassion, patience, and a goal-driven nature.

Additional Key Skills Relevant to Teaching to Include in a Resume

Meet Deadlines

Project Management

Procedure Documentation

Course Development

Presentations

Artistic

Data Analysis

Research and Reporting

Assess how many of these attributes you have and determine which should be strengthened. Highlight some of these qualities in your resume and cover letter as well. Be prepared to back them up with examples from past work experience. Or volunteer and community work involvement.

In addition to the soft skills and personal traits mentioned above, teachers must hold a particular hard skill set (tangible transferable skills).

This tangible teaching skill set includes lesson plan development, student needs assessment, student motivation, performance evaluation, parent-teacher communication, learning style accommodation, individualized tutoring, hands-on instruction, and many others.

If you have never been involved in education or instruction, you may find that these elements are outside your realm of expertise. However, you can find events and skills that are relatable.

Examples of Finding Relatable Previous Work Duties and Skills

For example, though you may not be experienced when motivating children, you have had the opportunity to motivate colleagues daily within your work environment. Think of examples of how you encourage co-workers and what the result is.

Furthermore, writing lesson plans may seem daunting, but do not worry since you are an expert at writing procedures for your office. You know how to lay out a plan step-by-step so anyone can follow along and understand. Employees who have questions know they can ask you for advice and help. Think of them as your students. You can guide and mentor them and ensure they perform at the top of their game.

Besides, if you are currently in a supervisory position of any kind, then chances are you have had to conduct performance reviews. You assess each employee individually, determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and help them reach their full potential. The same goes for students. Ensure an optimal learning environment by treating students individually, conducting regular performance evaluations, analyzing their unique learning styles, and accommodating them to overcome obstacles and strengthen their talents.

Many other transferable skills can link your current career and your desired position as an educator. Ensure you demonstrate this solid correlation for prospective employers in your resume, cover letter, and interview. Though you may have to dig a bit to find specific examples, the talent for educating is in you!

I have written career resumes for clients with many occupations wishing to transition to teaching.

Examples of job titles include lawyers, non-profit directors or executives, nurses, sales managers, social workers, service workers, administrative assistants, event planners, and so on. Many corporate or business professionals used the alternate route program to leap education.

How to Add Transferable Skills to a Career Change Resume

Transferrable skills are skills that you can utilize in more than one career. You can “transfer” them across different fields, making you versatile and desirable to potential schools. Even though you may not think you have the hard skill sets required of a great teacher, if you look hard enough, you will find that you possess at least some of them. When writing a transferable skills resume, the following information will help.

Example Transferable Skills and Abilities Include:

• Communicating ideas to others via different mediums
• Working with individuals on a one-on-one basis, as well as in a large group
• Establishing a comfortable and inclusive environment where every person feels welcome
• Setting goals that you and others should aim to reach
• Evaluating others on their performance and behavior and offering constructive feedback promptly

These qualities are not exclusive to the classroom. They are also necessary for careers outside the field of education.

The key to making a career change to teaching is marketing your transferable skills in your resume, cover letter, and during interviews. When developing your career change resume, you will list past job responsibilities and relevant achievements.

Remember the above skills and others you think are needed as an educator when describing those two items.

For instance, if you led a seminar in your office, do not just state it. Explain it:

“Organized and led a seminar for 30 staff members detailing new sales goals and initiatives. Conducted a question and answer session, and encouraged open brainstorming amongst the employees.”

This accomplishment demonstrates that you can communicate with a large group, answer their questions, and promote open discussion – all critical components of leading a stimulating class. Highlight achievements like this in your career change resume and cover letter. Even if you think your day-to-day tasks are irrelevant, examine them closely and identify components that would transfer to the classroom environment.

Other qualities to showcase for your reader include communication, organization, time management, analytical, and problem-solving skills. If these traits apply to you – at all times, keep your resume and teaching interview responses honest! List these qualities in the introductory paragraph of your resume.

This top section is called the resume profile or summary of qualifications. Like the example above, you can also allude to these skills while detailing accomplishments.

Your cover letter to apply for a new teaching job is critical. It should also contain relevant information to show your passion, personality, the reason for the change, and how you qualify to become a teacher.

Grab the reader’s attention immediately and let your audience know you have what it takes to be a phenomenal educator, even though you are a career changer.

Bluntly stated, “I have developed skills A, B, C, and D, and am looking forward to putting them to good use in the classroom.” Highlight three to five related achievements and demonstrate that you are well-suited for the teaching position.

Keep all of these qualities and skills in mind regarding the interview. When the interviewer asks, “Why do you think you would make a good teacher?” you will be able to answer and list your multitude of related transferable skills readily.

Contact me (Candace) if you need help writing your transferable skills resume to successfully enter teaching or any other education career. Call toll-free at 1 877 738-8052, email candoco@telus.net, or review our resume assistance packages.

As a new school administrator, are you wondering what educational leadership skills or traits you should be fine-tuning, learning, and developing? Look no further!

Do you dream of sitting in a school administrator’s office instead of the one you currently share with your students?

If so, it may be time to consider moving from the classroom into an educational leadership role as an assistant principal or school principal.

Identifying and developing educational leadership skills and effectively incorporating these qualities in your principal resume to target the desired position will be critical to your career transition.

If you are a teacher, you already possess many crucial educational leadership qualities for success in school.

Transitioning from the classroom to the principal’s office can seem daunting, but it could be your best decision.

I understand how scary it can be to move outside your comfort zone of teaching into something new, exciting, and challenging, like leading a school.

Not every teacher has dreams of becoming a 21st-century school leader in education. Don’t get me wrong, the teacher is a leader – but not of the entire school.

Only those who have tended to seek out top leadership positions and leadership roles throughout their lives will have the desire to pursue a leadership role in education. Whether you are happier in the classroom or want to lead a school, either choice will be perfect for your situation.

However, if you dream of becoming a school leader, I want to help you!

Hundreds of educational administration jobs are available in the United States, Canada, and Internationally. They include coordinators, vice-principals, principals, heads of schools, business administrators, educational administrators, assistant superintendents, and superintendents. So, there are lots of leadership positions available for you to choose from.

Research career trends in education to see what’s hot and align with your values, motivators, interests, and skills.

In most cases, a school administrator must have teaching experience before accepting a job in administration and an administrative license or credential. If you already have these, you are well on your way to applying for administrative positions, such as school principal or vice-principal.

Suppose you have already gained leadership experience in your teaching career by leading a department, mentoring student teachers, serving as the lead teacher, or coordinating professional development or extra-curricular activities. In that case, you can use this skill base as a foundation for an educational leadership position.

“When you know what you want, and you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way to get it”

– Jim Rohn

15 Educational Leadership Qualities to Transition to Administration

In this post, you will discover ten tips to assist educators seeking to be firm administrators and better leaders. Not only will you find these career tips helpful if you are a budding leader, but you can also pass them on to seasoned administrators – everyone can brush up on their skills.

These skills will help you to write a resume to transition from teaching to educational leadership. The art of resume writing is to target the resume to the desired job using relevant skills and accomplishments. Plus, using keywords relevant to the position you seek is critical.

1. Demonstrate building and Collaboration Skills

As one of the school’s “head honchos,” you are responsible for leading your staff and students to succeed. Therefore, you must develop and demonstrate how to unite the school and teach in times of crisis or change. Be the first person to take action when something goes wrong.

Ensure the school population knows they can turn to you immediately. Propose new ideas to bring together teachers of different schools of thought to learn and flourish through extraordinary collaboration. Most teachers participate in extra-curricular activities to become excellent team players. 

2. Ability to Coordinate with Diverse People

Your school is likely a multicultural melting pot for students and staff alike. Treat all individuals equally, regardless of gender, race, age, creed, socio-economic level, etc.

Put your prejudices behind you and strive to make this a highly inclusive and welcoming learning environment. Besides, you will have to learn to work with several personalities – some will be very easy to get along with, while others may be difficult and frustrating.

Take the time to get to know your staff as individuals, learn what personality type each falls into, and figure out how to coordinate with them accordingly.

3. Foster Strong Written and Verbal Communication Skills

Whether speaking at an assembly, addressing the school board, writing grant proposals, or your philosophy of administration and leadership, you must be able to communicate your thoughts clearly and concisely. If you struggle with writing or public speaking, taking night classes or distance learning courses may be a good idea to improve these relevant skills.

How you represent yourself verbally or in written correspondence will indicate how you will be a leader. You want to come off as a strong, knowledgeable, and confident administrator in person and on paper.

4. Organize and Encourage Professional Development Seminars and In-services

All staff in your building must keep their skills sharpened and their minds alert. An excellent way to achieve this is to bring in guest speakers or coordinate seminars that cater to a broad audience.

Promote or address topics outside the box less frequently than basic classroom instruction skills. These may include maintaining a stress-free life, innovatively reaching students, renewing the joy of teaching, and bringing the classroom to life.

Do not make these in-services mandatory; let your employees know you will attend and express why they must participate.

5. Remain Up-to-date on Current Educational Administration Trends or Concerns

In education, new thoughts, techniques, and devices are rising rapidly. You must stay on top of these issues, understand them, communicate these new ideas to colleagues, and be willing to incorporate as many inspiring inventions as possible.

Not only will this assist you as an individual, but it will also help improve your school and staff and help your institution rank highly within the district or region. Furthermore, if you think you have a groundbreaking idea, do not hesitate to share it with fellow educators or strive to publish an article in a reputable journal.

6. Promote School Spirit Events

If student and staff morale remains high, so will test scores. Regularly arranging assemblies, fundraisers, and other school-wide events will attract positive attention and boost school spirit, resulting in greater enrollment and a lower teacher turnover rate.

Fundraisers are an excellent method for gaining additional income toward new computers and technology, sports teams, after-school clubs, and other extra-curricular areas that may need financial help. By asking students and staff to participate, you create a school community where everyone feels included and valued.

7. Encourage Community Involvement and Promotional Events

If you are a new school administrator, it is of the utmost importance that you make an excellent first impression on the local community. Hosting open houses for the school and promoting community involvement amongst your students and staff will foster strong relationships with close neighbors and local businesses.

There may come a time when you need to reach out to these individuals or organizations. If you are already on good terms with them and have established respect for yourself and your school, this should be a relatively easy task.

8. Maintain an Optimistic, Can-do Attitude

Whether you face a crisis at school or the trials of a gloomy economy, make sure that you remain upbeat. If the educational leader is optimistic and promotes an attitude that things will get better, this feeling will be contagious with the other staff.

Enthusiasm is another excellent asset you must possess and display to be an effective administrator. Enthusiasm, like positivity, is contagious. If you demonstrate how eager you are about an upcoming school event or learning a new technology application that the school has acquired, it will be much easier to get the rest of the school on board.

9. Offer Positive Reinforcement to Students and Staff

As mentioned above, positivity can be a great driving force. You can cultivate a happy, productive, and success-driven learning environment by encouraging students and staff positively, such as letting them know you are proud of them or rewarding them for a job well done.

People want to feel good about their jobs, and, as the new school administrator, you need to help your staff with this. Like teachers reward their students, you can hold special ceremonies or appreciation days to boost staff morale and let individuals know how much you value them.

10. Play an Active Role in IEP Development

Individualized Education Plans/Programs are crucial in assisting students with disabilities or delayed skills. As such, you should want to be part of IEP planning and development, regardless of your current position. Speaking with colleagues, parents, and students will show that you are genuinely dedicated to helping all students learn and progress.

Furthermore, you will have some great ideas for making IEPs more effective. Get input from other administrators throughout the district as well—the more minds working together, the more creative the ideas and the better the program.

11. Drive Learning and Success for All

As noted above, school leaders must be advocates to help every child learn, regardless of age, grade level, disabilities, and personal circumstances.

As much as possible, build an inclusive and supportive school community dedicated to helping all students reach their full potential. This can include scheduling guest speakers, hiring specialists, making referrals to the appropriate agencies, locating valuable materials, and talking to parents.

If you do not fully understand specific disabilities or social issues, do some additional research or attend conferences to gain the necessary information.

12. Parent Relationship Building

Parents play a vital role in their children’s success, and the same can be said for your school’s success. Family members are an excellent resource for extra help organizing a fundraiser or school-wide event.

You may want to hold parent workshops and attend PTA meetings to increase communication and familiarity with these individuals. Workshops are also an effective way to introduce families to new school policies or innovations you wish to implement. By developing a solid relationship with parents, you and your staff will discover more about the students and learn how best to accommodate their unique needs.

13. Share Best Practices with Experienced and New School Administrators

As the adage goes, two heads are better than one. Working with other professionals in the same field will give you different perspectives on various topics of interest. If it is not already in place, try to organize a monthly meeting with educators and administrators from across the district.

Hold brainstorming sessions to discuss regional problems and creative solutions. Furthermore, by networking and developing strong working relationships with like-minded professionals, you will have someone to call on in times of crisis or uncertainty.

14. Understand School Policies and the Superintendent’s Expectations

Regardless of how high you climb the administrative totem pole, someone is always taller than you, whether a principal, superintendent, or school board. Therefore, you must know what is anticipated of you right from the start, thus leading to a few misunderstandings and complications down the road.

Take the time to read and identify with set school policies and procedures. If your boss is open to suggestions, make them tactfully. This is also an excellent way to forge a healthy relationship with them.

15. Retain a Professional Leadership Appearance

Style of dress, personal grooming habits, and overall appearance extensively describe a person. To be considered a serious professional, you must dress like one. This does not mean you must go out and buy suits or blazers worth thousands of dollars; it simply means you must look like you fit the part.

Do not break the bank trying to impress. Dress pants (or skirt) and a matching sports coat or blazer fit an administrative position. Keep colors and prints tasteful. In addition to your clothing, ensure that you maintain personal grooming—showered, combed, and styled hair, fresh breath, neat nails, etc.

Wrapping up Educational Leadership Skills for New School Administrators

If you wish to enter education administration, you must learn and develop many other qualities. I will write another blog post on them in the future.

After you are confident in your skills and abilities as an educational leader, write a school administrator cover letter or resume to communicate you have the relevant expertise and experience to do the job. 

Backing up your leadership skills by sharing success stories and examples is critical to writing a curriculum vitae (CV) or resume to land school leadership job interviews.

Are you a new school administrator working on fine-tuning your educational leadership skills? Share any advice in the comment section.

Please review a principal sample resume to see how accomplishments are incorporated into the outline. While you are there, remember to check out the matching cover letter.

If you need help writing your resume, please call me toll-free at 1 877 738-8052 or email candoco@telus.net. If you have time, you may wish to review our resume writing services.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.”

Henry David Thoreau

Cover letter writing tips for teachers and school administrators are in abundance. I’ve decided to organize many strategies and helpful tricks in a fun and unique way. This alphabetized list of teacher writing tips will help you create a letter to compliment your teacher’s resume and generate interviews.

Whether you are a primary, elementary, middle, secondary, or high school teacher, these cover letter writing tips will help you get your resume in top-notch shape.

A few months ago, I wrote a similar style or formatted post containing A-Z resume writing tips specific to writing a teacher’s resume.

Let’s get started!

Cover Letter Writing Tips for Teachers Displayed Using the Alphabet

A: Accomplishments

There are many cover letter writing tips for teachers, and this one is at the top of the list of importance. Include your most significant, relevant accomplishments in your cover letter. If they are on your resume, don’t word them the same. You may need to be slightly restructured to flow with the cover letter. If you have more than two, incorporate them into bullet points. Briefly explain how you executed these achievements.

B: Buzzwords – Keywords

When writing your cover letter, you want to seem knowledgeable about the job you are applying for. The best way to achieve this is to learn and incorporate job-specific buzzwords, known as keywords. Incorporate buzzwords into your cover letter by showing examples of using them in your teaching. Each sentence does not need to contain a buzzword; use them where appropriate and ensure they are used properly and in context.

C: Consistency is Key

It’s essential to remain consistent with your resume and cover letter. If you use a border on your resume, use the same border in your cover letter. The same goes for any matters about formatting – layout, design, color, font style, font size, etc. Make sure that all job application documents have the same overall structure.

There needs to be uniformity. This will also help ensure your documents stay together and attract the employer’s eye. Furthermore, it demonstrates your keen eye for detail and ability to remain consistent. Some cover letter writing tips for teachers or other educators may come and go; this will always remain vital.

D: Discuss Past Positions

Think of your past positions not simply as jobs but as learning experiences that helped you blossom into who you are today. Provide a brief list of relevant jobs you have done and briefly discuss which skills you have developed as a result. Even though you may not be able to think of many technical skills, you have probably learned how to communicate, work with others, solve problems, etc. These are all relevant to your new position, regardless of what it is you are applying for.

E: Establish Career Goals

If space permits, you clearly know your goals and devote a few sentences or paragraphs to them. An example may include “Providing a solid education for all students” if you are a teacher.

If you apply for an administrator position, you may state, “My goal is to embrace and promote the school district’s philosophy and vision.” You may also include your goals as an opener to your concluding paragraph. Consider what to offer as a new teacher when writing a cover letter.

F: Finish Strong

In your concluding paragraph, recapture what kind of employee you are and convey what you can offer to the school district. Express your enthusiasm for a meeting or speaking with the hiring manager/ potential principal, and thank them for taking the time to consider you.

G: Generate a Tailored Letter

Specific and general cover letters both have their positives and negatives. A tailored application letter will allow you to personally interact with the hiring manager, letting them know you have researched the school district, understand their needs, and help them meet their goals.

Discuss specific future endeavors and suggest ways in which you may be of assistance. The reader will feel that you have developed the letter exclusively for their district instead of receiving one out of a hundred letters.

H: Humble, Honest Words

When writing your cover letter, avoid using elaborate or unnecessary language. Keep this in mind, mainly when writing your introductory paragraph for your resume. For some people, it’s easy to get carried away with writing about yourself. Don’t make yourself seem pompous.

Keep your wording honest, easy to read, and humble. This doesn’t mean dumbing down your accomplishments or the importance of your past positions but keeping your writing respectable and appealing to a potential employer.

I: Introduction

The first line or two of your cover letter must convey which position you are applying for. This is also where to start discussing your education and related years of experience. If you apply for a preschool teacher position, reviewing resume writing tips for preschool teachers would be beneficial.

Let the reader know that you are excited about applying for this opportunity and confident in your ability to be an asset to them. Your introductory paragraph should be concise and to the point to make an excellent first impression.

J: Just Flow

Do not string together random sentences that do not fit well together. Ensure there is an order to your thoughts. Think of your cover letter not as a series of independent paragraphs but as a story you want to tell.

The story must have a beginning, middle, and end, with cohesion and relevance throughout. If you have trouble connecting your thoughts, sentences, or paragraphs, ask a friend for advice regarding your cover letter.

K: Keep It One Page

Your cover letter is just an introductory document. It does not need to cover all past positions, credentials, etc.; that is what the resume is for. However, you do not want your letter to be bare-bones either; finding balance is the key.

Keep it concise and easy to read. If you cannot keep it to one page, re-read your cover letter and assess what elements are necessary and which are not. Structuring the letter correctly will help you to keep it on one page.

L: List Strengths

Analyze the job advertisement, if available, and see how the mentioned requirements correlate with the strengths you have demonstrated in other careers or positions. Perhaps you excel at collaborating with colleagues to assess a situation and devise an appropriate reaction or solution.

Maybe you are great at interacting with parents and working with them to meet student’s unique needs. On the other hand, you may be proficient in differentiated instruction to ensure all learners are reached and successful. Ensure you include these strengths in your letter to show a school district what you can bring to the position. This is one of the most essential cover letter writing tips for teachers.

Cover Letter Writing Tips for Teachers Continue with M – Z

M: Mean What You Say

If you genuinely want the job you are applying for, act like it! Make sure that your writing comes across with conviction. If you do not believe in yourself and what you express, how can you think anyone else will? Be confident in yourself and let that shine through in your cover letter. Let your words exude passion, enthusiasm, and excitement for this new opportunity you are seeking and committed to obtaining.

N: Noteworthy Accomplishments

Take the most relevant accomplishments from your resume and include them in your cover letter. They shouldn’t be worded differently; restructure them to flow with the application letter. If you have more than two, incorporate them into bullet points.

Briefly explain how you executed these achievements. Once again, it is hard to determine the number one cover letter writing tip – but this one ranks high on my list of cover letter writing tips for teachers, school administrators, or other educators. Accomplishments build credibility and sell the candidate’s value.

O: Outline

A cover letter has critical parts to it that you need to include. After your contact information and the line separating it from the rest of the document, start with the date, the school district’s name and contact information, and a salutation.

There will be anywhere from three to five paragraphs in the body of your cover letter, covering relevant education, job experience, skill set, statements to show personality and passion, and other pertinent information. Close your document with a concluding paragraph, and the type and sign your name between the salutation and before your typed name.

P: Proofread

This may seem obvious, but many people forget to do this simple step. It will definitely hurt your chances if you have missed simple errors in your cover letter. Watch for a misspelled word, an incoherent sentence, or an out-of-place punctuation mark. By submitting mistake-free documents, you will let the school know that you are detail-oriented and take the time to get the job done right – something they will be looking for in their prospective candidates.

Q: Quantify Your Accomplishments

Whenever talking about your cover letter accomplishments, it is best to have an exact or approximate number to emphasize how big of an achievement it was. For instance, if you have secured a grant… how much was it? If you decreased absenteeism, by what percentage?

R: Recognize Your Audience

Assessing job advertisements is an excellent first step to understanding your audience, discovering what they are looking for, and how to write an important document that will capture their attention. Don’t focus exclusively on a job ad. Search the internet for the school district’s website, discover their unique attributes and demographics, etc.

S: Stand Out

All the cover letter writing tips for teachers on this page have one thing in common – they will help you stand out. Remember, when you write your teaching cover letter, you are selling yourself first and foremost. Coming across as a desirable candidate using the right words is essential to engage, generate interest, and move to your resume.

Assess the school district’s job advertisement, if available, and ensure you have touched on all required qualifications in your cover letter.

T: Tell Them What You Can Do

Make them want you! This is the critical message you must remember when crafting your cover letter; use this letter to appeal to their needs and desires. If you have an outstanding education, qualifications, and/or experience, ensure they know it. However, always ensure you are not bragging, exaggerating, or coming across as arrogant. As well as let the reader know that you want to help the school district thrive. Researching the school district is essential to communicate how you can be of value to their school.

U: Uniformity

Your cover letter should complement your resume. This means there needs to be uniformity between the two documents concerning formatting, style, font, borders, etc. They should both have the same overall layout. Furthermore, it demonstrates your keen eye for detail and the ability to remain consistent.

V: Value Enthusiasm

School districts seek passionate, energetic go-getters, not unenthusiastic drones who hate coming to work. Write with enthusiasm, passion, and conviction when developing your cover letter.

Make the reader feel your genuine desire and excitement to work for the school district in the teaching or educational leadership role. You may want to use lines such as “As a dedicated and energetic elementary teacher, I am eager to become a valuable member of your school community” or “As a person who is truly dedicated to educating young children and serving your school district, I am excited to speak with you soon.”

W: Write Professionally

Everything you write in your cover letter must also sound professional. Use appropriate words and phrases and avoid words such as “thing(s).”

If you are uncertain how to express yourself, ask someone else for their opinion or try completely rewriting the sentence or paragraph until you get it right. Reading these in-depth cover letter writing tips for teachers will enhance your professionalism during a job search.

X: Xerox

WOW! What an old word. Of course, don’t use photocopies of your teacher’s resumes and cover letters. Each one should be printed out on top-quality resume bond paper.

Y: Yourself

Be true to yourself! Make the cover letter show your uniqueness and awesomeness – communicate with your voice to show your value, passion, and personality.

Z: Zero Problems

Not every school district is perfect; they all have their times of ups and downs and areas that need improvement. So if you can help them solve their hidden problems, they will want to hire you.

The trick is finding out what areas are lacking and how you can be of service as a newly hired teacher or school principal. If you research the district enough, you will know where its needs and problems lie.

When demonstrating how you can help solve their problems, do not declare what kind of problems they have. Instead, hint at your abilities via sections on your cover letter’s greatest strengths and past accomplishments. Oh, and add some ZEST and ZEAL.

Well, there you have it! Twenty-six cover letter writing tips for teachers are listed alphabetically. You can check out these helpful cover letter strategies if you want to read information from another website. Follow these writing and formatting tips, and you will be off to an excellent start in writing a cover letter.

You can review the cover letter and resume samples for teachers on our website.

If you don’t have the time or would like help writing your cover letter and resume, I’d be happy to partner with you to ensure your move your career forward.

I hope you enjoyed reading these cover letter writing tips for teachers. If you need some help, please review our resume and cover letter writing services.

Don’t hesitate to contact Candace Alstad-Davies at candoco@telus.net or call toll-free:

1-877-738-8052

As the new school year fast approaches, it’s a great time to reflect on the current state of your career in education. It’s vital to continually visit your career goals to ensure you remain on track professionally. If you have been stuck in a rut recently or just going through the motions professionally, it’s time to revisit your goals and take proactive steps to boost your education career goals for the coming school year.

Career Revitalization: Does Your Education Career Need A Boost?

Five Steps to Revitalize and Love Your Career in Education

1. What did you accomplish last year?

Reflect on what your last school year looked like. What were the challenges you faced? What were your most significant accomplishments? What did you learn as an educator? What special projects did you participate in? What positive strides did you make with your students?

This exercise will help you get outside your head and see what you’ve accomplished as an educator. It will also help you know what you want to achieve or do better.

So first, list accomplishments from last year. Then, create a list of any projects you took part in. Lastly, make a list of the challenges you faced.

To help you come up with accomplishments, think back to any challenges or problems you faced, remember what actions you took to fix the problem, and then write down the results of your efforts. This exercise is called C.A.R. (challenge, action, result).

Accomplishments may involve strides you made with a problem student or a learning-disabled student, standardized testing improvements, standards you met through new strategies, new classroom management plans, lesson plans that were more productive with students retaining information, etc.

Review the list thoroughly once you have your accomplishments, challenges, and projects. What do you notice? What are the trends on your list? What does your list tell you about your education career and where you place your priorities or most of your time and efforts?

This list will help you understand where you have been focusing and prioritizing in the past and where you may need to place extra focus and attention in the future to meet your job goals better. It will also help you see what has been working for you more clearly and what areas to improve.

2. Develop a plan of action

Ask yourself: “How can I ensure that I am a better educator at the end of the school year than I was at the beginning?”

The above is an essential question; it is the question that all educators should ask themselves to ensure they always give their best to their students.

To assist you in developing a plan, first, identify your weaknesses. Maybe you struggle the most with classroom management and problem students. To help you improve in this area, perhaps it’s worth taking a professional development course, seeking advice from colleagues, or looking online for new classroom management ideas.

Remember to get better at something; step out of your comfort zone. Embark on learning new skills and trying different methods or things. Getting started with a total career revitalization may be challenging but a lot easier and rewarding when you see the knowledge, experience, and success you gain.

Don’t procrastinate – embark on a career revitalization. If you don’t make changes, things won’t get better.

How to Develop Your Plan of Action?

• Identify your problem areas, gaps in your knowledge, or areas for improvement
• Figure out how to improve these areas and take immediate steps (professional development, courses, seminars, books, online resources, mentors, collaboration, etc.).

Maybe you have considered transitioning from education to entrepreneurship and need to research to see if it’s viable.

3. Reach out to your network

A network of colleagues, friends, and fellow educators can help you achieve your education career goals. Don’t forget to reach out to them and not be afraid to ask them for help. Their collective knowledge and skills can be constructive.

For instance, if you are about to teach a class with several E.S.L. students, you may want to contact their past teachers and specialists to gain insights, tips, and other resources to help you better meet their needs during the school year.

Your network can aid you in finding new exciting teaching opportunities, support your job search, or serve as a recommendation when applying to a new school.

Remember: your network is a two-way street.

To reap the most benefits from your professional network, you must be available to lend a helping hand to anyone in your network.

To nurture and grow your network:

• Attend conferences and professional teaching events

• Join LinkedIn, complete your profile, and make connections. If you need help writing your LinkedIn profile, reach out for assistance.

• Find out how you can be of help to those in your network

• Reach out to those in your network and create fruitful relationships

4. Foster your professional brand

If you are unfamiliar with the term ‘professional brand,’ this refers to who you are and what you stand for as a professional educator. Once you know what you’d like to be known for as a teacher, you can take steps to upgrade and cultivate your unique brand.

First, reflect on your previous school year and determine if you’ve taken steps toward improving your professional brand that must be incorporated into your job search documents. Items such as courses, seminars, new teaching methods, etc., are all items that make up your brand and need to be added to your resume and other documents.

Next, decide what steps you’d like to take to cultivate and improve your brand in the upcoming school year.

• What do you want to be known for as an educator and in your school community?

• What professional development could you complete?

• What special projects could you take part in?

• What new skills could you gain?

• What work accomplishments could you showcase?

Once you have items to enhance your professional brand that must be added to your online profiles, remember to incorporate them into your LinkedIn profile, resume and cover letters, website, online portfolio, and elevator pitch.

5. Foster a healthy work-life balance

Many educators who enter the field struggle with finding a good work-life balance. As a result, several educators burn out and leave the profession after only 3-5 years.

If you are working yourself crazy and have no spare time for anything outside your classroom life, you must re-evaluate your work-life balance. Career revitalization is the answer.

Organized professionals who ensure they have enough quality downtime for things they enjoy tend to be happier, healthier, more productive, and more satisfied with their work lives.

Separate your career from your home life. Take less work home with you. Make concerted efforts to be out of the building by a set time each evening so you aren’t working around the clock. Giving yourself strict time limits will force you to be more organized and efficient when working.

Don’t forget about your hobbies and family. Make time for your hobbies, activities, and family time each week so that you can enjoy your downtime more. These activities will do wonders for your outlook and mood toward your work.

• Establish healthy work habits that will work well for you and give you a fair amount of spare time to do what you love outside work.

• What does an ideal workday look like for you? What steps can you take to make that a reality?

• What hobbies and activities would you like to make time for? What type of family activities or date nights would you incorporate?

After taking the time to reflect on and complete the above five steps, your education career will be ready to get the boost it needs.

Are you looking to make some career moves? Or are you seeking to make a career change? How about transitioning to an instructional coach position? Maybe you thought about writing a resume to become a curriculum developer to spice up your career. Take the steps you need to; you will be happy you did.

If you want to ensure that your resume and cover letter help you stand out, we invite you to check out our resume writing services. We’ll ensure that your education resume stands out for all the right reasons for hiring managers and applicant tracking software.

Contact Candace Alstad-Davies directly at candoco@telus.net or toll-free at 1-877-738-8052.

Wherever you are in your career journey, you’ve probably had that odd moment of thinking about what might have been. Perhaps you’re fantasizing about moving along in your career and opening the door to new skills or opportunities. Or you may even be considering a new career path altogether.

Very few of us talk seriously about changing careers, and even fewer do it. This is understandable when you consider how much of our identity we invest in what we do for a living and how much of our lifestyle depends on a steady, sufficient income.

It takes courage to pursue your career goals in today’s uncertain world. But if you’re contemplating taking that big step toward a career change, there are various signs to look for that indicate it’s time to move onward and upward with your career goals.

Unmistakable Signs Indicating You Should Make a Career Change

1. You’re Bored and Lack Passion

Let’s face it: everyone gets bored occasionally, even in the most creative and challenging roles. Boredom isn’t always bad; it can be a helpful way of measuring our life experiences. After all, how would we know if something is exciting or engaging if we’ve never experienced boredom?

But, before writing off that you’re spending eight hours a day inventing pointless busy work to keep yourself occupied, it’s worth examining what’s going on. Chronic boredom can undermine even the most determined workers and suck the joy out of your career.

If you’re bored every time you’re at work (or at your place of study), it may be that the only cure is a change of scenery. Boredom can be a sign of intellectual or spiritual growth, indicating you’ve grown out of your environment; in the same way, a child outgrows their old games and toys and seeks something new and challenging. On that note:

2. Your Career is Not Challenging

It’s often tempting to view life as a running race, keeping your eye on the finish line. In reality, it’s more of an obstacle course, and many of these obstacles present enjoyable challenges. Humans thrive on these tasks—many sports and hobbies revolve around functions and rewards.

While encountering too many stressful challenges at once will leave you burned out and wanting to change careers in destructive ways, never being challenged at all will leave you unsatisfied.

Not being challenged in their job is why people leave ‘easy money’ jobs and often fail to thrive in work environments where they meet little or no resistance in their day-to-day work. Humans don’t do well if they’re treated like numbers. If your role or your boss isn’t giving you enough responsibility or challenges, it might be time to move on and make a career change.

3. Your Current Career or Job is Not Meeting Your Goals

As an experiment, sit down for ten minutes and write out a list of your work-related goals. Make them as minor as you want (you want to use the photocopier more) or as ambitious as you want (you want to become CEO). Then, take stock of how many of them your job—and your boss—are helping you meet.

Many individuals seem unaware that an excellent job with a great manager can help them achieve personal and career goals, even if these fall outside their regular duties. A good job will provide opportunities for training, education, and promotion.

If you’re not being encouraged to set workable goals or feel discouraged, it may be time to ask yourself whether your current career is where you want to spend 30 to 60 hours of your week.

4. Job Opportunity Knocks

Time and again, in my life and the lives of the people I’ve spoken to, I’ve seen this happen: you spend years thinking about making a career change. Or maybe you thought of training in something new without any real concrete idea of when or how it would happen—or even if it would happen. And then one day, seemingly out of the blue, you’ll have a chance conversation with a friend-of-a-friend, check a newspaper you seldom read, or click a link online you’d have ignored the week before. Behold: the job opportunity falls into your lap.

This opportunity will probably not be perfect. You may be offered an entry-level role that you believe is below your skill set, or it may not seem like the right time given your personal life. Opportunities are rarely perfect, but if one has just presented itself, something might prompt you toward your desired career and lifestyle.

5. You Become Obsessed with Your Hobby

Many of us are used to viewing a ‘hobby’ as something we do between our ‘real job’—the one that makes us money. For some, though, their hobby pulls them in until it becomes an obsession, and they cultivate their skills until they perform at a very high level.

When this happens, it may be time to do some soul-searching about where your talents lie and how to use them to the fullest. I’ve known public servants, born gym instructors, and call center employees whose hobbies included producing professional-quality photographic portraits.

Work out what you love to do, then investigate whether there is a way to be paid for doing it. If the answer is ‘no’ or ‘not yet,’ that’s worth taking on board, too. You may still view your hobbies not as guilty pleasures but as personal training for your desired career. When the opportunity presents itself, you’ll want to be ready.

6. Money Isn’t Your Job Motivator

Let’s face it: it’s easy for someone else to tell you to throw in the towel on your current job and change your career if they don’t have to pay your bills. Fear of economic failure is a major reason people remain unsatisfied with their jobs or are underemployed; the current job market can sometimes feel too risky to cross-train or make a career change.

This anxiety is particularly understandable if we have dependents relying on us (spouse, children, elderly parents, etc.) or expensive investments that need to be protected (e.g., a mortgage).

Upskilling or changing your career can sometimes cause your income to take a temporary hit, which is enough of a deterrent for many people. Before you walk away from pursuing your dreams because you’re afraid of what it might mean in terms of income, take a thorough and honest look at how you’re doing financially. You may adjust your lifestyle so that your reduced circumstances don’t result in anyone going hungry.

7. Your Personal Life is Suffering

In today’s gig economy, there’s a tendency to glorify the work ethic that chains you to your desk for sixteen hours a day, inhaling coffee for dinner, at the expense of all other aspects of your life.

It’s natural for employees to please their bosses by going above and beyond, especially in an environment where their positions are not guaranteed. Moreover, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that an office full of exhausted workaholics is a common workplace culture and proves that everyone on staff is dedicated to what they do.

A good job will provide—even outright enforce—a healthy work-life balance, from having a fair leave policy to encouraging social outings between employees. If your current position doesn’t embrace you as a well-rounded person with various relationships and interests outside of work, it might be a sign you need something more in your career.

8. Your Instinct is Crystal Clear – You Know

These are examinable, quantifiable ways to tell when to move on from your current job and consider a second job option. But there’s another way that will rarely disappoint you: use your intuition.

Most of us have an inner prompt that tells us when something is correct and isn’t. It sounds like something out of a fantasy novel, but science indicates that it results from our brains observing something. For example, the organization you work for has a very high layoff rate, and your intuition comes to a conclusion based on what you’ve observed (that you should look to upskill or change careers before you’re laid off) without you consciously realizing how you came to that conclusion.

Or perhaps it’s just your soul talking to you. In any case, it never hurts to listen.

Are you looking to transition into a teaching or any other education role? Or are you seeking to make a career change out of education?

If you want to ensure that your resume and cover letter help you stand out, we invite you to check out our resume writing services. We’ll ensure your academic resume stands out for all the right reasons when hiring managers use the applicant tracking software.

You can also contact Candace Alstad-Davies directly at candoco@telus.net or toll-free: 1-877-738-8052

Tech tools are proving to be very effective for engaging students and maximizing their learning potential. They are a great method for facilitating all learners’ types and levels and reaching out to students’ various interests. Technology is also excellent for communicating with parents, administering assessments, and monitoring student progress. Most importantly, technology proves to be a very effective way to help differentiate your lessons.

Integrating tech tools in your classroom can be beneficial for many reasons:

• Actively engages students and encourages a desire to learn;
• Enhances technological skills, which are crucial in today’s technology-driven society;
• Boosts written communication and research skills;
• Promotes both independent and collaborative learning, depending on the program or device;
• Differentiates instruction to facilitate various types of learners;
• Assists with lesson development, presentation, student assessment, and record-keeping.

Blended learning is modernizing classrooms rapidly, and it is difficult for teachers to keep up.

Before you integrate a new technology, ensure you understand how to use it, teach students with it, and maximize the learning potential.

If you wish to provide students with a top-notch education, consider integrating technology on a greater basis and vary the programs you use. So many different options are available to you that are educational, interesting, and help students actively learn. The possibilities are almost limitless. I’ve assembled ten of my favorite educational tech tools that help enhance a classroom.

Below are ten tech tools to help enhance and differentiate your lesson plans.

1. Document cameras

A document camera is a real-time image capture device that displays images to a large audience. It is like an updated version of an overhead projector. Teachers can use document cameras to take pictures and refer to them during lesson plans. They are a great way to complement lectures and engage visual learners.

2. Smart Board

A Smart Board is an interactive whiteboard that uses touch. This technology encourages active student engagement and hands-on participation. It is an effective way to accommodate multiple intelligences and promote cooperative and collaborative learning.

3. TED Talks

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The website hosts conferences and discussions that take place all over the world. TED Talks covers various topics, reinforces critical thinking skills, and promotes creativity and collaboration. Topics showcased by TED Talks can be applied to school, work, and home.

4. WebQuests

WebQuests are an inquiry-based activity that can be utilized for every grade and core subject. A WebQuest comprises six key parts: introduction, task, process, resources, evaluation, and conclusion. Teachers can actively engage students, introduce new material, and assess student learning. They are also quite easy to develop and can be adapted to suit a changing student population.

5. WordPress

WordPress is an online program used to build free websites and blogs. Teachers can use it to create a class website, maintain communication with parents and students, and enhance students’ technological and writing skills. Educators can also control access to the content and keep students’ writing private.

6. Skype

Skype is a great tool for hosting guest speakers worldwide, staying in touch with pen pals, and communicating with other teachers and classrooms. It took weeks to months to send and receive letters in the pen pal program; however, Skype (and email) allows instant student communication. This is also an effective method for students to learn about other cultures, cultivate compassion, and become engaged globally.

7. Edutopia.com

Edutopia is a fantastic website that discusses almost any educational topic you can think of, including technology in the classroom, classroom management, brain-based learning, curriculum planning, student engagement, and teaching strategies, to name just a few. This website allows teachers to post articles, read about different issues and ideas, and converse. In addition to written posts, Edutopia hosts various videos. This website should be your number-one go-to for classroom ideas! One fantastic post is titled 100+ Tools for Differentiating Instruction Through Social Media.

8. iPads

iPads can use by individual students in groups or as a whole class. Various apps can be added to make videos, read and write, conduct projects and experiments, etc. If your classroom or school’s technological budget is tight, consider writing a grant proposal for new iPads or other devices.

9. PowerPoint

PowerPoint may not be the newest form of technology, but it’s a tried and true method for presenting information. PowerPoint presentations are easy to create and can be as simple or complex as possible. Your slideshow can include text, pictures, video, and sound clips, thus appealing to diverse learners. The software can also develop exciting games such as Jeopardy or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Students can also make their own PowerPoint presentations to share with the class.

10. Podcasts

Like TED Talks, podcasts can be recorded and listened to anywhere. You can find podcasts on almost any topic students will enjoy and find applicable. This is a great way to complement lesson plans and facilitate students with auditory learning styles.

Aside from the tech tools above, there are websites and tools to motivate reading practice for students. 

Incorporating technology tools into your resume will increase your credibility. Staying current is paramount to successful classroom teaching.  

Technology should not take over your classroom; instead, it should supplement some activities and complement and reinforce the information you present to students.

Many of the above tools are either free or relatively inexpensive. Consider applying for grants and/or organizing school-wide fundraisers to buy or update your classroom technology, especially the more expensive hardware. It is well worth it because you will get years’ use out of these helpful tech tools, like Smart Boards and iPads.

Regardless of the technology you choose, discuss online safety with students. Many predators out there are looking to contact children and/or steal sensitive information. Ensure students know not to provide their date of birth, phone number, home address, photos of themselves, or any other identifying information to individuals they do not know. However, this is good information for everyone to keep in mind.

Technology has numerous uses and benefits that can help enhance your classroom and improve the learning experience. Using various products, software, and websites, you can reach out to your students in a way never before.

Integrating technology is necessary to strengthen connections with students, reach learners of all styles and levels, and produce an interactive and engaging classroom.

However, remember that technology is not solely for students; it can be an excellent tool for you as an educator. It can make your life much more straightforward, help you discover new ideas, and help you communicate with others on a more practical level. So now is the time to get excited about integrating tech tools into your classroom and rev up your students’ learning!

If you would like help with your education career direction, academic resume, goals, or job search, contact me by email / candoco@telus.net or call 1 877 738 8052.

You can also view our services here.

I’d be happy to help! Learn more about Candace.

These substitute teaching resume writing tips and strategies will help you land a teaching job. If you are a brand-new educator looking for a teaching position, a standout supply teacher or substitute teacher resume is essential to landing a job interview.

Since your hands-on teaching experience may be lacking, you must focus on your instructional and classroom management skills to grab the reader’s attention.

We have assembled some resume writing tips you can implement to help ensure your substitute teacher’s resume and cover letter properly highlight your skills and experience as a potential supply teacher. If you are in the process of becoming a supply teacher, these tips and strategies will help immensely.

Below, you will find the help you need to write your substitute teacher’s resume to land more interviews.

8 Substitute Teacher Resume Writing Tips to Communicate Proficiency

1. Focus on Fundamental Teaching Skills

Your supply or substitute teacher resume should highlight your excellent instructional and classroom management skills, with behavioral management as the utmost priority. Since students are known to act up or misbehave when their regular teacher is away, discussing how you cultivate a calm, well-disciplined, and focused learning environment is a sure way to get you noticed!

Another substitute teacher resume writing tip is to utilize any relevant experience as a student teacher, tutor, camp counselor, parent volunteer, or paraprofessional in which you employ sound classroom management techniques.

The ability to establish a positive rapport with students and keep them motivated to learn goes hand in hand with excellent classroom management skills. How do you develop a rapport with students? What activities do you implement to keep students engaged? Highlight these topics in your introductory resume summary and areas of expertise section. Also, include the core competencies in your teaching responsibilities and accomplishments.

2. Convey Your Adaptability to Substitute Teaching

If you are applying for a substitute teaching position, you know you could end up in any classroom, from K-12. Therefore, you must show potential employers that you can quickly adapt to changing situations, student populations, and subject areas. Highlight your flexibility in your previous teaching roles, related positions, and any other prior jobs in your resume introduction and application letter. Adaptability is a skill that cannot be oversold in your substitute teaching resume.

3. Demonstrate Your Creativity and Innovation

As a new teacher, you should be reasonably up to date on innovative teaching techniques and methods for fostering creativity in others. As outlined above, adaptability is crucial for success as a substitute teacher. By demonstrating your creativity and innovation within your substitute teacher resume, you will not only pique the reader’s interest but also make your flexibility evident.

Communicating in your substitute teacher’s resume that you can facilitate all learner types and levels while maintaining an engaging, focused class will grab the reader’s attention.

What creative teaching methods, activities, games, or projects do you implement to engage students? Perhaps you utilize technology, jeopardy games, role-playing, learning centers, jigsaws, or other cooperative learning groups. Whatever creative and innovative activities you employ, highlight them in your substitute teacher resume and cover letter.

4. Showcase How You Integrate Technology into the Classroom

21st-century education is very technology-centred. As such, it is a critical piece to highlight in your substitute teaching resume to demonstrate proficiency in the craft and knowledge of blended learning. You may want to list the devices, software, websites, apps, and platforms you regularly use in the learning environment or that you are familiar enough with to implement.

It would be best to discuss how you get students actively involved with technology, the types of related projects you incorporate, and how they enhance students’ technological skills. Showcasing your knowledge and expertise in this area will reassure potential employers that you will utilize classroom technology effectively during a regular teacher’s absence.

5. Express Interest in Professional Development and Lifelong Learning

If you can convey your commitment to strengthening your teaching skills and enhancing your content knowledge, you will be one step above the competition! Proving you are willing and eager to develop and improve is an admirable quality, regardless of the position you are applying for.

When writing your substitute teacher resume, you want to list the professional development opportunities you have attended, including workshops, in-services, post-secondary courses, conferences, etc. Also, in your cover letter, mention your commitment to professional development as an educator. This will again highlight your openness to different ideas, change, and flexibility.

6. Highlight Relevant Education Achievements

One of the best ways to demonstrate proficiency on your substitute teacher resume is to focus on teaching accomplishments. These should be listed in bullet points under the applicable position. For instance, in paragraph form, you will first list your responsibilities under each professional position. Then, underneath that, list your accomplishments for each job you’ve had in bullet points.

Your accomplishments should demonstrate a skill set or trait and be quantifiable.

If you struggle to uncover job achievements, use the CAR acronym: Challenge, Action, and Results. First, think of a particular challenge or problem you faced. Then, describe the action you took to resolve or address that problem. Finally, include the results.

Sample Substitute Teacher Resume Writing Questions to Ask Yourself:

• how you were able to help a particular learner overcome his challenges;
• how you established a well-behaved class environment;
• how you substituted in a classroom with no provided lesson plans;
• or how you improved students’ test scores.

7. Include Formal Education and Credentials

Even though this should go without saying, when you get caught up in writing your resume, it can be easy to forget the most basic but crucial items. Hiring school districts will want to see your post-secondary education, including Associate’s, Bachelor’s, and Master’s Degrees, as well as teaching certifications or licenses.

Do not simply write “Bachelor of Arts Degree.” What did you major in? Your degree should be written as a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education or a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Also, don’t worry if some or all of your formal education doesn’t directly relate to teaching.

A background in something else can often benefit your teaching by bringing your skills and knowledge from other areas to the classroom. If you have the credentials you need to substitute teach, a school should be happy with them.

In addition to your degrees and licenses, remember to list relevant professional development courses, seminars, conferences, or certifications. Listing relevant professional development will demonstrate your commitment to lifelong learning and growth as an educator.

8. Incorporate an Area of Expertise Section in your Substitute Teacher Resume

As mentioned above, your supply teacher or substitute teacher resume or curriculum vitae should include a section devoted to your relevant core competencies.

The expertise summary section of your resume is dedicated solely to your teaching skills and knowledge of pedagogy. These should include hard skills such as classroom management, technology integration, differentiation of instruction, assessment of learning, and motivation of students. Keywords are needed for a few reasons. One is to get past the applicant-tracking system and reach a human.

This section should appear near the top of your educator’s resume and include 8-12 traits in a list or table format. You want a potential employer to notice and admire these skills immediately!

Next Step: Writing Your Substitute Teacher Resume

This blog post uses the word ‘relevant’ many times for a reason. When writing a resume for any profession, you only want to include relevant details. Many job seekers include details that aren’t essential to their target position. Don’t do this – only include the items that add value to a school community and its students.

Digging for valuable information is critical to landing a job interview for a supply or substitute teaching position. It takes time, skill, and patience to uncover significant accomplishments from past experiences and showcase them visually appealingly.

If you need help creating your substitute teacher resume, library media specialist resume, or any other job search document, please get in touch with us. Writing substitute teacher resumes and other job search documents to advance our clients’ careers has been our specialty for 16+ years.

You can view our services here.

You can also contact Candace Alstad-Davies directly by email: candoco@telus.net or toll-free: 1-877-738-8052

Building Resilience in life and your career is paramount to moving forward. These career tips should help you recover quickly and recover from job difficulties.

Whoever said looking for a teaching job or making a career change into education is not a big deal was uninformed, or they have just been fortunate with each career transition.

We all go through the job-search process multiple times in our lives. Moreover, for those of us who made the mistake of picking the ‘wrong’ career in the first place, who will save us?

The uncertainties involved in job searching are mind-boggling. What are schools “really” looking for in an applicant? Are they just trying to find the cheapest teacher, or are they serious about hiring? Will they consider experience instead of relevant education or vice versa?

Once the interview process begins, the list grows.

• How many are interviewing for this teaching position?
• Are they better, worse, or comparable to your credentials?
• How long might it take?
• Will they inform you if you don’t get the job?
• What if you get rejected?

And oh, no, if you are unemployed, it is even harder to secure employment than it is for someone already working and trying to change jobs.

With all these significant uncertainties come big rejections, which means we must build resilience to weather the storm. Handling rejection is not easy—when someone repeatedly says you are not “fit” for a role, it takes enormous courage to stand back up and keep moving forward. So, what do you do when nothing seems to be going your way?

10 Premium Career Tips to Build Resilience

Do your homework

One aspect of building resilience is being proactive and knowing what to expect by researching your career aspirations. If you are trying to transition to a new career in education, research as much as possible, talk to familiar friends or acquaintances who are already teachers, attend professional events, and subscribe to relevant newsletters. Conducting adequate research will increase your chances of making an informed decision. You wouldn’t want to be neck-deep in a new teaching career or job and realize you made a mistake that could have been avoided by investigating and turning over every stone to avoid surprises.

Take the plunge, and don’t make excuses.

Getting out of bed and heading off to work can be painful if you do not like what you are doing. Looking for a career change might seem daunting at first, especially if you have been in your current role for many years, your resume needs a major overhaul, you are unsure about the job market, and so on.

Try to look at the big picture. In the long run, if making a move seems beneficial and feels emotionally satisfying, it is worth the time and effort. But to avoid feeling overwhelmed, I recommend enlisting the help of a professional resume writer and interview coaching service to gain the confidence needed to attend interviews and increase your odds of success.

“There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out.” – Sophie Kinsella

Persevere

Michael Jordan’s quote about missing thousands of crucial shots throughout his career is legendary. More recently, Tom Brady, the quarterback who steered the Patriots to their dramatic overtime win in the Super Bowl, remarked, “That is why you play until the end.”

Rejections are expected when you start putting yourself out there. Not every interview ends with an offer. But to understand that, after many “No’s,” there will eventually be a “Yes,” you must keep with it and persevere.

Stay the course, be challenging, and never let up. You will eventually win that teaching job you so desperately want.

Be Don’t

Don’t repeat the same steps repeatedly and expect different results. If you apply to several jobs every day but rarely receive calls for interviews, you probably need to dig deeper to find out why. Your resume is probably going into the black hole, meaning it hasn’t passed the applicant tracking systems.

Take your research further by contacting an acquaintance at your target school or district.

What matters is not how you land that new role, as long as you do it honestly, but whether you get there. Referrals, online applications, and recruiters are just a few ways to reach that prospective school principal. When one job search method doesn’t work, there is no harm in trying others.

Learn, learn, learn – and stay current.

Learning new skills is essential to every job, whether you are looking for a new one or not. If that new teaching job you are eyeing requires skills you do not currently have, investing in and learning those new skills makes sense. Various online resources are available for those who like the flexibility of learning.

Subscribe to relevant teaching newsletters to keep abreast of what is happening in education. Join professional education associations and attend industry seminars and networking events. You might be able to impress your interviewer with that newly acquired knowledge, setting you apart from other candidates.

Know when to say No

There are many opportunities throughout the education industry, but not all leads will be a good match. When you get rejected several times, it is tempting to say, ” To whatever comes your way.” However, resisting the urge to accept something just because it was offered to you is vital. Take a step back, and if you’re not sure or think something is missing, you are probably right.

Build Resilience by reaching out.

You have been eyeing that dream job for a few weeks now. You submitted your application, ensuring every detail was perfect; however, you have still not heard back from them. And you know that the position is still open! How could they not see that you are ‘perfect’ for that role?

Reach out to that neighbor (or that friend’s friend or that LinkedIn connection) who teaches there and might be able to refer you as an excellent candidate for a role. But why would that person help you find a job –what’s in it for them? This is where we need to tap into the essential human need to feel needed, or, in other words, the need to feel helpful to others.

People are more willing to help than we think. A cup of coffee or an offer to buy lunch would go a long way in establishing these relationships. That person might refer you to someone with a much better career opportunity.

Connect with others who are in a similar situation—whether they’re searching for a teaching job or transitioning to a new career. Share job search resources, exchange career strategies to strengthen resilience, and provide mutual moral support. Finding comfort in knowing you’re not alone can make the journey more manageable and uplifting.

Keep an open mind

Your friend thinks you are great for this new job at her school; however, you are unsure. Would it hurt to meet the school principal and spend some hours getting to know the school and what they are looking for?

In the worst case, you will probably make a few friends at that new school who will remember you when they come across another more suitable career opportunity. We usually think we know what we want and keep working towards that goal when we are meant to be doing something else!

Pat yourself on the back!

You have polished your resume, submitted applications, contacted contacts, and updated your LinkedIn profile. All that work is not easy, but you have executed it and made a brave choice to improve your current situation. And it deserves a pat on the back (or even a movie and a night out with pals!).

Be positive and be grateful.

Applying for teaching jobs and embracing interviews (if at all) can be emotionally exhausting, only to be rejected repeatedly. And if you are already employed, it eats away at precious family time.

In job-hunting, we forget that the people around us need our attention – our spouse, kids, and friends. It is easy to take out our frustration on our spouse or, especially, our kids. This only alienates them and deprives us of a vital source of support. Instead, make a sincere effort to focus on the positive aspects and spend time with loved ones, secure in the feeling that something out there is waiting for you and that it is just a matter of time before you find it. Mastering the art of career resilience takes patience and a positive attitude.

Be grateful for what you already have. As you wait for that offer, knowing that you have done your best, take a step back and relax. That dream teaching job will be yours sooner or later.

Are you looking to transition into a teaching or any other education role? Or are you seeking to make a career change out of education?

If you want to ensure your resume and cover letter will make you stand out in a pile of applicants, we invite you to check out our resume writing services. We’ll ensure your resume sticks out for all the right reasons when hiring managers and applicant tracking systems.

If you need help building your career resilience, contact Candace Alstad-Davies directly at candoco@telus.net or toll-free: 1-877-738-8052.