"Got a pulse? You, too, can substitute teach."

Not every reader appreciated this and similar Deseret Morning News headlines regarding the world's most thankless profession. They challenged us to find out what it's really like in the trenches.

So we did. Four full-time Deseret Morning News education reporters were each assigned to substitute teach three days in different parts of the Wasatch Front.

Stephen Speckman was dispatched to Davis School District; Laura Warner to Alpine; Tiffany Erickson to Salt Lake City and Jennifer Toomer-Cook to Jordan. Speckman and Warner taught elementary school grades; Erickson, middle school; and Toomer-Cook at middle and high schools.

We learned a lot.

We laughed a lot.

And — with the exception of one of us curling up in the fetal position following a particularly challenging day — we liked it a lot.

But don't get us wrong.

We won't do it again.

We tip our hats to those who will.

Here are accounts of our "sub for a day" experiences.