re: What do you think about elementary school teacher as a career?

Teaching, if done properly, is more of a vocation than a job. And it is becoming more difficult every day with demanding and often unreasonable parents, lots of paperwork that has to be done on your own time, and rules about keeping certain children in the regular classroom. Your plan is good, i. e. substituting to be sure you want to do this before you commit to the educational requirements,etc. My wife is teaching at a private school after 30 plus years in public, so I hear about the challenges every day.