Over the past six years, staffing agencies have grown to help address a serious teacher shortage. Districts that are stretched thin can turn to a staffing agency to save time recruiting, training and onboarding substitute teachers.

Agencies and districts collaborate well together, but what about the individuals navigating these systems? Is going with one more beneficial than going with the other? To find out, we searched a few subreddits to get opinions of people with direct experience.

For many people, substitute teaching offers the benefits of teaching with more flexibility. Subs can choose which subjects they cover and which buildings they prefer to work in. Additionally, there is no full-time requirement—substitute teachers can work as many as five days a week, as little as one day a week, or even a couple days a month.

Diverse personnel make school districts sparkle, with teachers just part of the big, interconnected network dedicated to learning. Support staff like administrative workers, counselors, paraprofessionals and more all play a role in ensuring students get the most out of their day at school.

Paraprofessionals in particular support learning measures by providing tailored, one-on-one support to students in the classroom. A paraprofessional could be assigned to a classroom to support a teacher or to an individual student to help close learning gaps.

Conferences have long been vital hubs for professional networking, idea exchange, and career development. In recent years, the landscape of professional development has undergone a significant transformation, breaking down geographical barriers and opening up unprecedented opportunities for educators. New Jersey-based teachers now have the ability to participate in events not just within the state, but across the country and around the world.

Travel and study programs recognize this unique opportunity to engage educators in one-of-a-kind professional development opportunities—many far from home. These excursions all have the purpose of expanding educators’ horizons so they may expand multicultural learning in the classroom.