1. Meeting new children
I love getting to meet a new class and trying to work out all the characters that are in the class. It can be good to know to watch out for little Mary or little Johnny doesn't like change but I prefer when I can go into class knowing nothing about them them and treating them all equally. Some children get a bad reputation and love the chance to be able to be the good child rather than the child whose name is called first every time something happens.
2. Talking to other teachers
Okay I will admit not every school you go into other teachers will want to speak to you. I have found in Ireland teachers tend to be much more friendly and willing to talk to the sub. I love the chance to talk to other teachers and get little nuggets of information. It might be something they learned at a course, a success they had with a child, or getting the names of different resource websites.
3. Seeing different classrooms
Classrooms are changing for the better. Displays in classrooms now are amazing. I can't wait to see some Irish classrooms but with more and more resources for display becoming available for the Irish classroom it should be brilliant. I love to see really good displays and take pictures to influence how my own classroom will be next time. On supply/subbing you get to go into so many different classrooms and see different types of displays for so many different topics.
4. Teaching different classes
Not everyone is cut out to be an teacher of infants and likewise not everyone wants to be a senior teacher. I love the opportunity to discover where I work best. I love teaching the material that is learned in the senior classes, particularly maths and history but I also love working with the infants and seeing the progress they make on a day to day basis. I find the English curriculum more exciting for the infant classes as I get to teach the more challenging material and still get to see the day to day progress.
5. Paperwork
I still have some planning prepared for days when nothing is left and have some go to resources and my memory stick but I love not having to do all the paperwork associated with being a class teacher. That said I always mark what I teach and leave a note of everything taught and how the class behaved but I love the freedom of not spending my weekends planning and assessing and marking and resourcing. Anything I do I do it because I want to - not because I have to.