Taking a day off is always challenging for teachers. It is sometimes more work than it’s worth. But that shouldn’t discourage you from doing it, especially when you need a mental health day or when you are actually sick!
So many teachers spend more time than necessary writing excessively detailed lesson plans to make everything extremely convenient for the substitute teacher. I am here to tell you that your guest teacher will figure things out and your students will survive without you!
If you follow some simple tips, you can plan for a substitute teacher in 30 minutes or less.
Create a Reusable Sub Plan Template
Having a reusable substitute plan template is a must! I reuse the same one every year and modify it. If you have a reusable template for your sub plans, then you have taken the first step to getting your plans done.
Remind your sub to introduce themselves and set expectations first thing in the morning.
Be sure to include in your template:
- Class Schedule
- Names of students who leave for Speech or Special Education
- Names of students with medical issues
- Rules and awards that you give out
Keep Your Sub Plans Simple
It’s likely you will not know who is subbing for your classroom; therefore, you’ll have no idea if the substitute is tech-savvy or not. I remember being a substitute teacher and nothing was worse than trying to figure out how to use a device while the students were waiting.
Create lessons that do not require the substitute to use any devices, or at the very least minimize the amount of devices used. If I can plan in advance, I print a few worksheets or have students work out of their consumable books or notebooks.
That doesn’t mean I don’t assign work on Google Classroom, but if there are any videos I want my students to watch, I will post them on the Google Classroom stream page as a backup plan.
Detailed lesson plans require your guest teacher to refer back to them multiple times, so it’s best to not get too detailed. Your sub will figure things out. Give the names of 2 stellar students your sub can refer questions to.
Keep Your Same Routines in Your Sub Plans
You may be tempted to change your daily routines, but I caution you against this. Students love routine and it really throws them off when a substitute teacher does things differently, and believe me, they will let your substitute teacher know!
If you do reading groups in the morning, keep the same routine. If you are reading a chapter book with your students, I don’t recommend having the sub do this. Reading a novel whole class is like going on an adventure together, and your students won’t want you to miss that. Plus your sub will have no idea what is going on in the story.
The best option is for your students to read short reading passages. Don’t want to print? Readworks.org has some great short stories with questions. Your students will have to bring their Chromebooks to the reading table, but be sure to print the reading passage for your sub with an answer key.
Use Readers Theater Lessons in Your Sub Plans
Time is so limited with students that you never want to assign “busy work” to them while you are away. Aim to keep your lessons engaging and effective so that learning is still happening while you are gone.
So what lesson do you have your substitute teach that is easy for your sub to implement but still challenging for your students?
My go-to lesson is Readers Theaters based on historical events. Reader’s Theater is engaging and is great for practicing fluency and vocabulary. For Readers Theater Tips for Class Performances and Fluency read this blog post. Some of my best sellers Readers Theater are below. Grab them at my store.
If you have never used Historical Readers Theater in your classroom, I encourage you to give it a try. Your students will love it!
Include an Art Lesson in Your Sub Plans
I rarely get a chance to do art in my classroom because other things take priority, so why not have the sub do it. If you are lucky enough to have an actual art teacher, you may want to skip this, but at my school, we don’t have an art teacher, so that responsibility falls on me.
The art lesson should be something simple that only requires coloring or drawing. In the past, I’ve assigned drawing lessons that usually go along with what we are studying. For example, if we are working on the food chain, I might have my students draw a picture of a predator.
You can send a video link to your students in Google Classroom of an art lesson on YouTube that you would like them to work on. I especially love art lessons from Kids Hub. They are easy to follow and fun!
Have Your Substitute Teacher Review Math Concepts
The best math lesson for your substitute teacher is to review something that was already taught. Think about what your students need to practice. If you teach upper-grade elementary, have your students review concepts that your substitute teacher will know how to teach.
For example, teaching add and subtract unlike fractions with visual models is something that your substitute teacher may not know how to do. So keep your math review lessons basic and provide them with an answer key!
The day a substitute teacher is in your classroom, is not the day to teach any new math concepts, no matter how behind you are! If your sub is teaching something new, you won’t be there to gauge whether your students understood the lesson or not.
You also won’t know which students need to be retaught. Not just that, the substitute teacher may teach a new math concept in a way that is not aligned to Common Core.
Review math concepts by having your students play games. Some digital games that students love are Kahoot and Blooket. If you put the games on homework mode, your guest teacher won’t need to set it up.
Students can also review basic concepts with a math project. I have a Lemonade Stand Math project and a Music Festival Theme Math Project that make great sub plans. You can sample some FREE pages of the Music Festival Math Project by clicking HERE.
Label Books and Material with Post-it Notes
Post-it notes are your best friend when it comes to planning for a sub. For example, I will paper clip Science worksheets, and put a post-it on top with the word “Science 2:00 pm-2:45 pm”.
I pile up those groups of worksheets and TEs in the order that everything needs to be taught throughout the day.
I also place post-it notes on small books that are needed during reading groups, or inside TE to mark the page where a lesson can be found. I also write short notes on post-its if there is something I want the guest teacher to skip or teach differently.
Don’t Assign a Test
Your students will never perform as well as they would on a test if you were there. So make sure to not assign a quiz or test when you are gone. There are exceptions. If you have to take a day off during state testing, do it. You are entitled to those days and if you are sick or need a personal day, you are permitted to take the day off according to your contract. Sometimes it is, what it is.
Final Thoughts
Planning for a substitute teacher is a pain. I get it. But with these simple tips, your students will have a productive day of learning, and your substitute will have a stress-free day. You got this! Giselle